160 
FLORIDA STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
deposition in crevices and caverns has already been considered in 
the discussion of cavern formation. 
In the first annual report 1 of this Survey, mention was made of the 
occurrence of sulphur near Floral City, and it was suggested that the 
deposit may have been the result of the decomposition of hydrogen 
sulphide gas escaping from underground waters. 
Human Remains: — For many years Florida has proved a very 
important collecting ground for human relics. Both sand and shell 
mounds are common along the coast; and sand mounds occur at many 
localities on the banks of the principal streams farther inland. Some 
of the sand mounds appear to have been used for dwelling places 
while others served as burial grounds. Several accounts have been 
published, describing the skeletons, implements and pottery obtained 
by excavating in these mounds; and a partial list of the papers may be 
found in the bibliography accompanying Moore’s paper in the Journal 
of the Academy of Natural Science, Philadelphia . 2 Apparently all 
of the mounds are built of Pleistocene sands or shells of living species 
of mollusks, and they are doubtless of Recent age. 
In 1871, attention was drawn to a skeleton which was found by 
Mr. J. G. Webb near Osprey, Manatee County. Subsequently, other 
human remains were discovered in the same county. The exact 
localities are 3 : the farms of Mr. J. G. Webb and of Mr. J. W. Webb, 
both near Osprey; Hanson Landing; 8 miles north of Osprey; and 
1 miles south of Osprey. 
Chemical analysis showed that the bones had undergone consider¬ 
able change, especially in the dimunition in the phosphates and other 
compounds of lime, and a corresponding increase in silica and iron. 
The increase in iron was notably large, and there were other changes 
which seemed to show a marked antiquity of the remains . 4 However, 
the close resemblance of these remains to recent Indian bones, ap¬ 
peared to contradict the chemical evidence. 
In consequence of the importance of the find, the locality was 
visited by Dr. T. Wayland Vaughan, of the United States Geological 
Survey, and his report, which is summarized here, is published in full 
in the paper cited above . 5 
Osprey is situated on a narrow tongue of land rising some 15 to 20 feet above 
sea level, about one-third of a mile long and from 100 to 150 feet wide. The 
1 Sellards, E. H., First Annual Report of Florida State Geol. Survey, 1907- 
1908, pp. 44-45. 
2 Moore, Clarence B., Acad. Nat. Sci., Journal, Philadelphia, vol. xiii, 1908. 
3 Hrdlicka, Ales. Skeletal Remains in North America, Smithsonian Institu¬ 
tion, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bull. 33, 1907, pp. 53-64. 
4 Ibid. p. 57. 
5 Ibid. pp. 64-66. 
