﻿170 



Cincinnati Society of Nat it ml History. 



PETRIFIED HUMAN BONES FOUND TN .1 MOUND 

 NEAR FORT HILL. 



By Walter A. Dux, M. D.* 



The specimens of bonef I present you this evening are a part of 

 those recently taken from a mound near the earth works at the mouth of 

 the Great Miami river by Mr. Carter Harrison. The unusual condition 

 of these specimens deserves your careful notice. 



I. In the first place, the bones are covered with a hard, stony de- 

 posit, thickest on the anterior surface, but shading off on the lateral sur- 

 faces, leaving the posterior surface nearly free from it. This stony material 

 has, in some situations, penetrated the deeper layers and interstices of 

 bony tissues, and caused true petrification — literally speaking ; in places, 

 too, this stony coat has reunited, by ' 'stony union," pieces of fractured 

 bone. This deposit consists of carbonate of lime (CaO, CO,,, or CaCO ) 

 mixed with particles of dirt and small pebbles, forming a kind of con- 

 glomerate mass, which shows well on one or two rough eminences. On 

 portions of the deposit is a peculiar irregularly grooved and ridged con- 

 dition presenting almost a reticulated, honey-comb appearance. 



II. In the second place, the fractured condition of the bones pre- 

 sents interesting features. Laying aside those fractures, obviously produced 

 in exhuming the skeletons and handling them since, it will be immediately 

 seen that quite a number remain, which will be designated as old fractures. 

 In closer examination, these old fractures present striking points of simi- 

 larity : first, the anterior surfaces have borne the brunt of the cause; 

 second-, the force has been considerable and, apparently, applied suddenly 

 at first, and thereafter acted continuously ; third, the anterior surfaces are 

 depressed, and in places impacted, the posterior being whole or merely 

 fissured. 



III. The condition of the bony tissue, itself, where not infiltrated 

 with the carbonate of lime, gives the appearance of considerable age, 

 crumbling quite easily under the finger, with marked absence of organic 

 matter proper to the normal tissue. The calcareous deposit to the osseous 

 tissue is about all that remains. 



-This paper was read before the Society in the Spring of 1880. In view of the fact that the 

 account given relates to specimens iu the Society's Museum, it is deemed well to place the paper 

 upon record.— [Editor.] 



fThese specimens are now in the Museum of the Society. 



