130 
mound-builders appear to have worked copper only in its cold 
state, and they probably obtained their supply from the shores 
of Lake Superior, as it contains silver in a similar way to 
the ore of that district. The specimen of native copper, h, 
upon Tablet 13, is from the district of Lake Superior, and crystals 
of silver may be noticed on it. According to Professor Wilson, 
the Lake Superior copper contains on an average 3* 10 per cent, 
of silver. Native copper is highly malleable, and the mound- 
builders appear merely to have treated it as a stone^ which pos- 
sessed certain peculiar and valuable properties. It could be 
wrought to an edge or point without liability to fracture, and its 
malleability enabled it to be hammered into many new and con- 
venient shapes. All this was effected without the use of the melt- 
ing-pot, and probably without the knowledge that copper could be 
reduced by heat, and cast at once in any desired form. 
C 39. 
Upon Tablet 14 ^2: to ^ are pieces of copper ornaments, 
found on the mound "altars;" they are all much injured by 
fire. Upon Tablet 14 h is a piece of plate copper, which 
may have formed part of the covering of the base of a stone 
smoking-pipe, like the specimen upon Tablet 19. Upon 
Tablet 15, « toy, are pieces of plate copper, which have perhaps 
been used for covering stone smoking-pipes. Upon Tablet 16, 
a to are other pieces of thin copper ; c, d, and e may have 
been used for covering pipes ; f, g, and h are parts of personal 
ornaments. Like the other mound objects, they are much in- 
jured by fire ; a may have served as an ornamental band for the 
base of a smoking-pipe. 
Upon Tablet 17, a to are remains of personal ornaments of 
copper, molten from the heat to which they have been exposed. 
Upon Tablet 18, is a copper ring; b to /"are copper beads, 
made of two plates of thin copper, united at the edges by 
hammering. They are flat on one surface and convex on the 
other. Some of these objects are perforated with holes, 
through which thread may have been passed to attach them to 
the dress or the person. 
Upon Tablet 19, a to c are pieces of molten copper, from 
the mound ''altars." Upon Tablet d is part of the base 
of a stone smoking-pipe, covered with sheet copper, which 
has been beaten over at the sides; e, upon the same Tablet, 
is part of the base of a stone smoking-pipe, with a tube of 
