Professor Hall, gives the following definite opinion, in the Albany
Argus of Monday, the 20th of October:
GENTLEMEN:--Your paragraph in this morning's issue, relative to
the Onondagas Stone Giant, does injustice to the proprietor of
that most remarkable object.
Dr. Woolworth and Prof. Hall left here on Thursday afternoon, with
the intent of visiting, as they had been solicited to do, the
supposed fossil giant or statue--for there were conflicting opinions
in regard to its nature. On Friday morning they left Syracuse for
Cardiff with Dr. Wieting and Judge Woolworth of the former place.
As soon as practicable after their arrival, the tent was cleared of
visitors, the party named were admitted and left to their undisturbed
investigations for a full quarter of an hour; and when it is
understood that the crowd outside were enough to twice fill the tent,
and all desirous of seeing, and that the receipts of the owner for
tickets were $26 per hour, it seemed scarcely civil to occupy a
longer time.
The Giant, as has already been stated, is a statue of crystalline
gypsum (not a cast) lying upon its back, or slightly inclining to
the right side, and in an attitude of rest or sleep. The head
is directed to the east, southeast, and the body, without support
or pedestal, lies upon a thin stratum of gravel, which has been
covered by about three feet or more of fine silt, in the bottom
of which are some partially decayed roots or branches of trees--
doubtless floated there at the beginning of the silt deposit.
The water, oozing from the southwest, along this gravel bed, has
dissolved that side of the statue and gives it a pitted appearance,
such as masses of gypsum or limestone acquire when long exposed
to the action of the water. The earth at the sides of the pit
bear no evidence of having been disturbed since its original
deposition, and, to all appearances, this statue lay upon the
gravel when the deposition of the fine silt or soil began, and
upon the surface of which the forests have grown for succeeding
generations
Altogether, it is the most remarkable object yet brought to light
in this country, id altogether, perhaps, not dating back to the
stone age, is, nevertheless, deserving of the attention of
archaeologists. H. Albany, NY, October 23, 1869.
From the Syracuse Journal Oct. 25, 1869.