420 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. V., No. 120. 



and for some time previous thereto was occu- 

 pied by a band of Seneca Indians. 



The chief features of this mound, as shown 

 in fig. 1, which represents a vertical section 

 of it, are the pit and large central stone vault 

 (No. 1). The former was found to be two 

 and a half feet deep below the natural surface- 

 line, a&, and about forty feet in diameter, the 

 diameter probably indicating the original ex- 

 tent of the mound. 



The upper portion of the vault had fallen in, 

 wedging the stones so tightly together that it 







Fig. 1. — Section op mound near Irvine, Penn 



was somewhat difficult to remove them ; but 

 the original form and mode of construction 

 could easily be made out without the aid of 

 imagination, as the lower portion was undis- 

 turbed. The builders had evidently miscalcu- 

 lated the proportions necessary for stability ; 

 as the diameter, from outside to outside, was 

 fifteen feet, though the walls were very thick 

 near the base, while the height could not have 

 exceeded seven feet : hence it is probable that 

 it had fallen in soon after the dirt was thrown 

 over it. The stones of which it was built were 

 obtained in part from the bed of the neigh- 

 boring stream, and partly from a bluff about 

 half a mile distant, and were of rather large 

 size ; many of them being, singly, a good load 

 for two men. 



The, bottom was formed of two layers of flat 

 stones, separated by an intermediate la} T er of 

 sand, charcoal, and remains, five inches thick 

 (at the time it was excavated) . It was ap- 

 parent that these layers had not been disturbed, 

 save by the pressure of the superincumbent 

 mass, since they were placed there. The in- 

 termediate layer was composed in great part 

 of decomposed or finety pulverized charcoal. 

 In this were found the teeth, decaying jaw's, a 

 single femur, and a few minute, badly decayed 

 fragments of the bones of an adult individual, 

 and with these the joint of a large reed or 

 cane, wrapped in thin, evenly-hammered silver- 

 foil. The latter had been wrapped in soft, 

 spong} 7 bark of some kind, and this coated 

 over thickly with mud or soft claj'. The 

 weight of the stones was so great that the 

 femur was found pressed into a flat strip, and 

 the reed split. I was unable to determine 

 certainly whether the burning had taken place 



in the mound or not. The few bones found 

 did not appear to be charred, and the same 

 was true of the cane-joint : on the other hand, 

 the bark, although wrapped in cla} T , was very 

 distinctly charred. 



A careful analysis of the metal-foil has been 

 made by Professor Clark, the chemist of the 

 geological bureau, who pronounces it com- 

 paratively pure native silver, containing no 

 alloy. Although wrapped around the cane, a 

 portion of it appears to have been cut into 

 small pieces of various shapes, two of which 

 are represented in fig. 

 2, a and b. Where the 

 margins remain unin- 

 -* jured, they are smoothly 

 and evenly cut. The 

 joint of cane which has 

 been taken between the 

 nodes is nine inches 

 long, and must have been about an inch in 

 diameter. A small stone gorget was obtained 

 from the same layer. 



At No. 2, on the north-east side of the pit, 

 were a few large stones which may have formed 

 a rude vault, but were in such a confused con- 

 dition, this being the point disturbed by the 

 first slight excavation, that it was impossible to 

 ascertain their original arrangement. Among 

 them were found parts of an adult skeleton. 

 The person who dug into the pit at this point, 

 finding human remains, stopped work, and^re- 

 filled the opening he had made. 



Fig. 2. 



The Senecas, as I am informed by *Dr. 

 Irvine, who has resided here since 1822, pro- 

 tested that they did not know who built these 

 mounds ; which statement seems to be borne 

 out by the fact that intrusive burials, probably 

 of their dead, were discovered in the other 

 tumulus. Cyrus Thomas. 



A FOSSIL ELK OR MOOSE FROM THE 

 QUATERNARY OF NEW JERSEY. 



Last summer Rev. A. A. Haines presented 

 to the museum of Princeton college a remark- 

 ably perfect skeleton of a large elk or moose, 



