46 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
B 3 (measuring 4 inches). The surface of this stone has been 
polished to a greater extent than in D 2. The smaller end is not 
only polished, but has its tnpering extremity rounded off. Subse- 
quently to the polishing process, the lateral portions have been sub- 
mitted to the action of some substance which has rubbed and ground 
off the polished surface, apparently 'with a view of rendering the sides 
more acute. 
D 1 (measuring 3^^^ inches). A similar process has been exercised 
on this specimen, on the lateral portions, whilst along the median 
line, the ridge, which was so prominent a feature in B 1, has been 
artificially obliterated. The polished portion extends a small dis- 
tance up the blade. The acuminated point has been broken away, 
exhibiting a hexagonal fracture. 
B 2 (measuring 3y^o inchcvs). This celt, of a lighter 
porphyry than the others, presents the facet-shaped 
arrangement of the lateral portions, which is exhibited 
to a greater extent in B 1. It is polished at the 
sharp extremity. The acuminated extremity is ob- 
tusely rounded ; near it, a deeper facet than the rest 
is removed, with the probable purpose of rendering 
more firm its attachment by some ligature to its 
handle. No such device is found in the four other 
celts. 
The above five celts, therefore, offer each distinc- 
tive characters, and probably indicate different fa- 
shions and patterns of the sculptor's, or rather cut- 
Fig. B 2. ler's, art in Chiriqui. The specimen B 1, by its rough 
facets, its slight degree of polish, its general flat appearance, and its 
comparative simplicity of workmanship, seems to indicate its being 
the product of a nation not much superior in civilization to the der.i- 
zens of the Kjokkenmoddings in Denmark. Eeasonable ground of 
doubt may exist as to whether it belongs to the same era as the four 
porphyritic celts. The nation which produced such works of art as 
some of the Chiriqm pottery and gold objects, would surely have ar- 
rived at a higher degree of perfection in its weapons. It is undoubt- 
edly, also, a finished celt, complete as far as its maker intended it to 
be — not a mere spoilt model, thrown aside. The absence of proof 
respecting its actual collocation with the Chiriqui antiquities, would 
lead me to assign to it a far higher historical remoteness, and render 
it possibly coeval with the remains of the old short-headed (brachy- 
cephalic) mound-builders of ]S"atchez, whose epoch in time antiqua- 
rian archaBology in North America has as yet been unable to ascer- 
tain. 
The four porphyritic celts have no such distinctive characters. 
They might be the work of the earliest inhabitants of Chiriqui, or the 
product of the idle Indian of the present year. 
A careful examination of the various types of celts, as denoting 
distinctness of race, has led me to the conviction that the Chiriqui 
celts are entirely sui generis. They differ from the more heavy cut- 
