METALS, MINERALS, FOSSILS, SHELLS, ETC.
Frequent allusion has been made, in the preceding pages, to the
numerous rare and beautiful varieties of minerals, fossils, and
shells, disclosed from the mounds; but no opportunity has been
afforded to speak of them with desirable fulness. The identification,
accurate or approximate, of the localities from whence these
were obtained, will serve, in a degree, to reflect light upon
the grand archæological questions of the origin, migration, and
intercommunication of the race of the mounds. In this respect
they are of value; for, in the investigations here attempted, we
are compelled to press into the work of elucidation, every fact
and circumstance which can, in any way, affect the subject of our
inquiries. The discovery of «obsidian», a purely volcanic production,
in the mounds, in a region entirely destitute of the evidences
of immediate volcanic action, is, to the commonest apprehension,
a remarkable fact, a subject of wonder; but neither marvels nor
mysticism have aught to do with science. The fact, to the mind of
the rational archæologist, is suggestive only of the inquiry, Whence
was this singular product obtained? Its presence cannot be accounted
for, in the quantities discovered, except upon the supposition that
it was transported from a distance; which supposition involves, of
necessity, intercommunication or migration. To measure the bounds of
intercourse, casual or constant, or define the course of migration,
it is necessary to ascertain the exact primitive locality of the
product in question. So far as we are informed, the nearest point of
its occurrence is Mexico, the ancient inhabitants of which country
applied it extensively to the very purposes for which it was used by
the race of the mounds.
In this process of investigation, there are many circumstances which
must come under view and receive due consideration, before we venture
upon the simplest conclusions. They are, however, entirely omitted in
this connection; the object of the illustration being simply to show
in what general manner facts of this kind may be made subservient,
and of what importance they may become in a system of research, in
which we have neither written record nor even the voice of tradition
to give direction to our inquiries.
It so happens that it is difficult in every case to detect the
true nature of the remains discovered, and often quite impossible
to point out their original localities. Hence the necessity of
presenting a comprehensive view of their extent and character, so
that other laborers in the field of antiquarian research may be able
to institute comparisons, and indicate localities, and thus gradually
work out the grand problems involved in our aboriginal history. The
process may appear [p279] tedious and intricate, and the results
hardly worth the labor of their development; that is, however, a
question open to discussion. The mode of investigation here indicated
is, at any rate, the only one which philosophy sanctions, and which
can ever lead to satisfactory results.
THE METALS.—Silver and copper are the only metals, pertaining to the
race of the mounds, which have been taken from their depositories.
The discovery of gold has been vaguely announced, but the fact is
not well attested.[175] It is not unlikely that articles of gold
have been found, with brass dial-plates, silver crosses, and other
vestiges of European art, among the recent deposits in the mounds;
and it is far from impossible that the metal may yet be disclosed,
under such circumstances as to justify the conclusion that it
was not, as from existing facts it seems to have been, an entire
stranger to the ancient people. Its discovery will be no matter of
surprise; as yet, however, we have no well authenticated instance of
its occurrence. Mention is made, in a published work, of a silver
cup, “finely gilded in the interior,” which was said to have been
found in a mound at Marietta. It will be early enough to ask for
the verification of the statement, when any one shall be found to
claim for the cup any other than a European origin, or assign it an
antiquity beyond the period of the first European intercourse.
As has been already observed, considerable quantities of wrought, and
some small fragments of unwrought native copper, have been extracted
from the mounds. Axes, as we have seen, have been found, wrought
from a single piece, weighing upwards of two pounds each. The metal
appears, in all cases, to have been worked in a cold state. This is
the more remarkable from the fact that, in some instances, the fires
upon the altars were sufficiently intense to melt down the copper
implements and ornaments deposited upon them. The hint thus afforded
does not seem to have been seized upon. In consideration of the
amount of the metal discovered, implying a large original supply, and
the fact that it is occasionally found combined with silver in the
peculiar manner characterizing the native deposits upon the shores
of Lake Superior, we are led to conclude that it was principally, if
not wholly, derived from that region. This conclusion is sustained
by the recent investigations upon the shores of that lake. These
have led to the discovery that the aborigines, from a very remote
period, resorted there to obtain the metal. There is also evidence
that some of the more productive veins were anciently worked to a
considerable extent. “A few rods north of the present ‘«location»’
and works of the North-west Mining Company, and near the foot of the
bluff, are excavations in the earth and rock, in which are found
numerous rude implements of stone, such as hammers and wedges. Pieces
of copper, partially wrought into shape, are to be found at various
places around the works. Upon the earth and rocks thrown from the
pits, large trees are now growing. One of these pits is sunk almost
entirely in the rock, and is not far from seven feet deep. [p280] To
the north-west of this, an open cut mas made, twenty-four feet on the
course of the vein, and from it was taken not less than a bushel of
hammers and wedges of stone and pieces of copper. A few rods to the
northward of the present works on the eastern vein of the ‘Copper
Falls Location,’ and also at some distance to the south-east of the
mines at the Eagle river, similar traces of ancient mining are to be
observed.”[176] [p281]
The tribes visited by De Soto indicated some portion of the South
Appalachian chain as the locality whence they obtained the copper
in their possession. We are ignorant of the sources whence the
Indians on the Hudson procured the copper which was found among
them; it probably reached their hands by a course of exchange with
western tribes, and came from the north-west. Silver has been found
in very small quantities, and was evidently exceedingly rare among
the mound-builders. The specimens recovered are pure, and were
undoubtedly derived from the same locality with the copper.
It is not certain, but nevertheless extremely probable, that the race
of the mounds were acquainted with the art of reducing lead from
its ores; the absence of the metal may be accounted for by the fact
that, from its nature, it could not be applied by them to any useful
purpose. Too soft for axes or knives, too fusible for vessels, and
too soon tarnished to be valuable for ornament, there was little
inducement for its manufacture. Still, unless we suppose that it was
valued and used to a limited extent, we can hardly account for the
amount of galena found in the mounds. The nearest locality, from
which it can be obtained in quantities equal to those found, is the
mineral region of Illinois.
FOSSILS.—A variety of fossils, selected for purposes of use or
ornament, are obtained from the mounds. Among the more remarkable may
be mentioned the fossil teeth of the shark, and some large teeth,
probably cetacean. About one hundred of the latter were found in one
mound; but they were too much burned to be recovered entire. One of
the largest measures six inches in length, by about four inches in
circumference at the largest part. They are destitute of enamel, and
have a pulp cavity at the base, something like those of the whale,
from which, however, they differ widely in shape. They have not yet
been identified, although they have been examined by several eminent
naturalists. The mound-builders evidently used them for various
purposes, and some of the articles supposed to be ivory may have been
made from them. Some of the specimens have been variously wrought,
drilled, sawn, and polished. The striæ produced by sawing are
distinctly visible. Accompanying these were found several beautifully
carved cylinders of a compact substance resembling ivory. These were
variously and tastefully ornamented. One of the rods was originally
fourteen inches in length, and, when found, was closely enveloped
in sheet copper. It has been suggested that these were carved from
the ribs of the manitus; the bones of which animal, [p282] we are
informed by Bartram, were much used by the Southern Indians for
articles of use and ornament.
[Illustration: Fig. 197.—Half size.]
Several of the fossil teeth of the shark recovered from the mounds
are represented in the cut, Fig. 197. It will be observed that they
are of different species. They seem to have been used for various
purposes. Some have holes drilled through them near the base; others
are notched, as if designed to form spear or arrow-heads. Raleigh
observed some used as such among the Indians of Carolina. It seems
most probable that they were designed for cutting purposes. No. 2 is
fragmentary; the remaining portion was not found. It will be seen
that it had a hole drilled through it near the base, and was notched
at the sides. We are of course ignorant of the locality from which
they were obtained. It is a well known fact, however, that they are
abundant in the tertiary formations of the Lower Mississippi.[177]
From this direction must have come the teeth of the alligator, a
number of which have been obtained from the mounds.
PEARLS.—Mention has been made, on a preceding page, of the great
number of pearls found in the mounds. It is incredible to suppose
that a hundredth part of these were obtained from the molluscs of
our rivers. The question then arises, whence were they obtained? As
has already been stated, the Indians of the South and South-west
used them extensively as ornaments at the time of the Discovery, and
at that time, it appears from the chroniclers, maintained regular
fisheries for them.[178] If we may credit the early writers, they
were abundant among all the nations inhabiting the shores and islands
of the Gulf, and were found in considerable numbers on the Atlantic
coast, as far north as Virginia. Raleigh saw them on the coast of
North Carolina. Heriot, in his Voyage to the Shores of Virginia,
says: “Sometimes in feeding on muscles we find pearls; but it was
our hap to meet those which were ragged and of a pied color, not
yet having discovered the country where we heard of better and more
plenty. One of our company, a man of skill in such matters, had
gathered from among the savage people about [p283] «five thousand;»
of which number he chose so many as made a fair chain, which for
their likeness and uniformity in roundness, orientness, and piedness,
of many excellent colors, with equality in greatness, had been
presented to her majesty, had not a casualty by sea lost them.”
Ribaulde, at an earlier day, (1562,) wrote in extravagant terms of
the quantities of pearls which he saw on the coast of Florida. “They
had also a great abundance of pearls; which they declared unto us
they took out of oysters, and in so marvellous abundance, as is scant
credible: and we perceive that there are as many and faire pearls
found there, as in any country of the world. For we saw one man who
had a pearl hanging at the end of a chain of gold and silver, as
great as an acorn at the least.”
The Decades of Peter Martyr teem with exclamations of surprise
and wonder at their great number and beauty; they elicit both his
praise and his philosophy.[179] We may therefore safely derive the
pearls found in the mounds from the Gulf. Together with numerous
other remains, they go to establish an extensive communication with
southern and tropical regions, or a migration from that direction. At
present it is believed no pearl-fisheries are maintained, except upon
the coast of California.
[Illustration: Fig. 198.]
MARINE SHELLS.—The «cassis» and «pyrula perversa» of Lamark; the
«oliva», «marginella», and «natica»; as well as the columella of a
shell, probably the «strombus», have been found in the mounds. A
«cassis» of large size, from which the inner whorls and columella
had been removed to adapt it for use as a vessel, was found in mound
No. 5, in the great enclosure, Plate X. It is doubtful whether this
particular shell belongs to the era of the mounds, or is of a later
date. Portions of these shells have nevertheless been found upon the
altars, and they were consequently known to the mound-builders. This
specimen is eleven inches and a half in length, by twenty-four in
circumference at the largest part. Specimens have been found in the
vicinity of Nashville, from which the inner whorls had been removed
so as to give place to an idol of clay or stone.[180] Fragments only
of the «pyrula», Fig. 198, have been found in the mounds; although
quite a number have been [p284] discovered entire in excavating at
different points in the Scioto valley. In digging the Ohio and Erie
canal, there was found near Portsmouth, its southern terminus on the
Ohio river, a cluster of five or six, which appeared to have been
thus carefully deposited by the hand of man. They were about three
feet beneath the surface. The columellæ of some large shell, probably
the «strombus gigas», have also been discovered. Most of the shell
beads and ornaments from the mounds appear to have been manufactured
from them.
All these shells are found in the Gulf. The «strombus» is observed on
the shores of the West Indies and Florida; the «cassis» occurs in the
same localities, as do also the «pyrula» and the minor shells above
mentioned. A very large number of the «marginella» were taken from
the Grave creek mound.[181]
FLUVIATILE SHELLS.—Examples of the «unios» of the Western rivers also
occur in the mounds, generally entire, but sometimes manufactured.
The «unio ellipticus», «crassus», «rectus», «verrucosus», and
«ovatus» have been identified, all existing, at the present time,
in the neighboring streams. They occur side by side with the marine
shells and other remains heretofore noticed.
MINERALS.—This department is very rich, and comprises some very
interesting and beautiful varieties,—mica, transparent, opaque,
silvery, and graphic; obsidian; quartz, many varieties; serpentine;
porphyry, several beautiful kinds; manganesian garnet, in crystals;
variegated slate, beautifully colored; catlinite or red pipe-stone
(?); limestone, common and coralline, etc., etc.
MICA is abundant in the mounds and in the vicinity of ancient
works, where it is often ploughed up. It seems to be extensively
disseminated, south as well as north. The common, transparent,
silvery or opaque, and graphic or hieroglyphical varieties, have
been discovered; some specimens have a golden color, much resembling
“Dutch leaf.” It is in general neatly cut into ornamental figures,
scrolls, discs, and oval plates. These plates are frequently a foot
or more in diameter, and a fourth or half an inch in thickness. In
a mound at Circleville, a plate is said to have been found, three
feet in length, one foot and a half in breadth, and one inch and
a half in thickness. It has been suggested that these plates were
designed as mirrors; but there seems to be no good foundation for
the supposition.[182] The opaque varieties, from their beauty, seem
to have been uniformly applied to ornamental purposes, having often,
as appears from the holes occasioned by the process, been worked
into scarfs or attached to the martial or priestly robes of the
ancient people. The mineral seems also to have been consecrated to
some religious purpose. It appears at various points in the mounds,
and is sometimes found resting on the breasts or above the heads of
[p285] skeletons. It has also been found covering one sacrificial
altar, and regularly disposed in the form of a crescent before
another. (See pages 144 and 154.) The suggestion has been advanced
that it was consecrated to some divinity, equivalent to the Mexican
«Tezcatlipoca», “Lord of the Light.”
The mica of the mounds is often found fissile and fragile, perhaps
the result of exposure to heat, but generally quite compact and
possessing its original tenacity. Some very fine specimens of the
graphic or discolored mica have been found in the mounds of the
Scioto valley and elsewhere. Fifteen or twenty beautiful oval plates
of this variety were taken recently from a low mound near Lower
Sandusky, Ohio. They are beautiful specimens, stained with a solution
of some of the oxides of iron or manganese, during the process of
crystallization.
Mica, like many other substances, crystallizes in oblique rhombic
prisms whose planes are 60° and 120°. When these planes are colored,
they resemble many letters of the alphabet. The specimens in question
are iridescent, exhibiting all the prismatic colors when the light
falls upon them in a certain direction. These circumstances no
doubt gave rise to the idea that they were painted hieroglyphics.
Graphic mica occurs, in place, on the Schuylkill, some distance above
Philadelphia, and probably in other localities. No original deposit
of the mineral exists in the State of Ohio.
OBSIDIAN, the «itzli» of the Mexicans, and «gallinazo stone» of
the Peruvians. Frequent reference has been had to this mineral,
precluding the necessity of an extended notice here. It has been
observed in five of the mounds excavated in the Scioto valley,
from one of which a number of large and very fine specimens were
obtained (page 155). It is only found in the form of implements, such
as knives and spear and arrow-points. This mineral is a volcanic
product, and occurs, so far as known, no nearer than Mexico, where it
is found in abundance. It is also found in Peru, and was extensively
used by the ancient inhabitants of both countries, for cutting and
warlike implements. They also, notwithstanding its obstinacy and
fragility, worked it elegantly into mirrors, ornamental rings, and
masks.[183] Some specimens have been discovered in the mounds of
Tennessee, which were doubtless obtained from the same source with
those found on the Ohio.[184] All the specimens discovered are glassy
black, subtranslucent, and break with a clear conchoidal fracture.
According to Humboldt, the mountains of Jacul or Cerro Gordo, on
the route between Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico, furnished the
celebrated «itzli» quarries or mines of the ancient Mexicans; the
locality is still known as «El Cerro de los Nabijas», the Mountain of
Knives.[185] This is believed to be the nearest point of its [p286]
occurrence. Lieut. Fremont observed some small nodules in the rocks
of the «Sierra Nevada», lying to the eastward of the valley of the
Sacramento. He also found numerous fragments on the hills bordering
the Lewis fork of the Columbia river.
PORPHYRY.—Most of the sculptured pipes of the mounds are made of a
very fine and beautiful description of porphyry. It occurs of many
shades of color. Some varieties are of a greenish-brown base, with
fine white and black granules; others of a light brown base with
white, purple, and violet-tinged specks; but most are red, with white
and purplish grains. In some specimens the base scarcely exhibits
any admixture either of grains or crystals, and strongly resembles
the red pipe-stone of the «Coteau des Prairies». All are of intense
hardness,—a natural characteristic, or in some degree the result of
the great heat to which they have been subjected. It generally breaks
with a granular fracture, sometimes disengaging the grains of the
foreign material. Under heat it splinters, often on very nearly the
same plane; pieces partly fused into a porous, dull mass, have been
remarked. Heat has also the effect of giving a bright black color to
the fragments more particularly exposed to its influence, and some of
the restored sculptures present a striking contrast in the appearance
of their parts. It would seem incredible that the different fragments
originally pertained to the same piece, did they not exactly fit to
each other. One or two of the varieties seem to have an argillaceous
base, adhere slightly when applied to the tongue, and have a marked
argillaceous odor; these exhibit a rather dull surface, while the
others are exquisitely polished. It is difficult to tell how the
ancient inhabitants worked this obstinate material with the elegance
and finish which their sculptures display. It resists the best
tempered blade, and yields reluctantly to the finest grit stones.
Yet it is clear from the markings on certain specimens that it was
cut by some kind of implement. We can only account for the fact by
supposing that it was once much softer than it now is. Under such a
supposition, it is not improbable that it may have been derived from
a locality mentioned by Du Pratz, on the Missouri. So far as the
external features of the stone are concerned, the description is very
exact; we are left in doubt, however, as to the size of the granules,
which in the mound pipes are seldom larger than mustard seeds.
“In this journey of M. de Borgmont, mention is made only of what we
meet with from Fort Orleans, from which we set out, in order to go to
the Padoucas; wherefore I ought to speak of a thing curious enough
to be related, which is found on the banks of the Missouri; and that
is a pretty high cliff, upright from the water. From the middle
of the cliff juts out a mass of «red stone with white spots, like
porphyry», with this difference, that what we are now speaking of is
almost soft and tender like sandstone. It is covered with another
sort of stone of no value; the bottom is an earth like that on other
rising grounds. The stone is easily worked and bears the most violent
fire. The Indians of the country have contrived to strike off pieces
thereof with their arrows, and after they fall in the water plunge
in for them. When they procure pieces large enough to make pipes,
they fashion them with knives and awls. This pipe has a socket two or
three [p287] inches long, and on the opposite side the figure of a
hatchet; in the middle of all is the bort or bowl to put the tobacco
in.”[186]
The fashion of the pipe here described is that adopted by the modern
Indians; and the paragraph is introduced as suggestive, rather
than as indicating the unknown locality of this singular stone. A
description of red porphyry is said to occur upon the shores of Lake
Superior; but in the absence of specimens for comparison, it is
impossible to say how far it resembles that found in the mounds.
Many of the ancient carvings are executed in a description of
compact slate, of a dull green ground, relieved with stripes of a
dark black color, giving the stone a fibrous appearance, and leading
many uninformed persons to suppose that it is petrified wood. It has
a very fine grain, cuts clearly and readily, and receives a high
finish. It seems to have been chiefly used for ornamental purposes.
No one has, as yet, been able to identify its primitive locality. A
single implement of this material was found a number of years ago,
near Middletown, Connecticut. (See page 218.)
Another variety of stone, of a high specific gravity, dark ground,
thickly interspersed with minute flakes of salmon-colored mica, is
also found. It is not abundant. It has thus far defied scrutiny, and
its primitive locality is unascertained. It is often very tastefully
worked into rings, figures of animals, etc. It cuts without
difficulty, and receives a very high polish.[187]
The axes, pestles, etc., of the mound-builders, like those formerly
in use by the Indian tribes, are composed of tough sienitic rocks,
greenstone, etc. The material must have been derived from primitive
localities, or from boulders of primitive rocks.
Besides these varieties of stone, we find articles composed of
every description of quartz; of brown hematite; steatite, black and
mottled; slate; limestone, etc. Some very pretty articles are worked
from coralline limestone.
FOOTNOTES:
[175] Archæologia Americana, vol. i. p. 176. The report here alluded
to has been traced to its source. The ornament was not of gold but of
copper.
[176] These statements are confirmed by several observers. The
subjoined passages are from a letter from the eminent geologist and
mineralogist, Prof. W. W. MATHER.
“I am informed by gentlemen connected with the survey of the
government mineral lands, that abundant traces of ancient mining
are to be observed at the Copper Falls and Eagle river mines. It is
stated that on the hill south of the Copper Falls mine an excavation
several feet in depth, and some rods in length, was discovered
extending along the course of the vein. Fragments of rock, etc.,
thrown out of the excavation, were piled up along its sides, the
whole covered with soil, and overgrown with bushes and trees. On
removing the accumulations from the excavation, stone axes of large
size, made of greenstone, and shaped to receive withe handles, were
found. Some large, round, greenstone masses, that had apparently been
used for sledges were also found. They had round holes bored in them
to the depth of several inches, which seemed to have been designed
for wooden plugs, to which withe handles might be attached, so that
several men could swing them with sufficient force to batter or break
the rock and the projecting masses of copper. Some of them were
broken, and some of the projecting ends of rock exhibited distinct
marks of having been battered in the manner here suggested.”
The great Ontonagon mass of virgin copper, now deposited in
Washington, when found, exhibited marks of having had considerable
portions cut from it, and the ground around was strewn with fragments
of stone axes which had been broken in endeavors to detach portions
of the mass. Henry («Travels» p. 195) observes that the Indians
obtained much copper from the above localities, which they worked
into spoons, bracelets, etc. He saw one piece in their possession,
weighing twenty pounds.
The following additional information embraced in a private letter
to a gentleman of Buffalo, under date of June 15, 1848, relating to
ancient mining on the shores of Lake Superior, will prove highly
interesting in this connection. The new discoveries which it
records seem to establish that the mines were anciently extensively
worked, and the copper extracted in large masses. Were it not for
the abundance of stone implements in the excavations, it might be
supposed that they were the traces of the later operations of the
French.
“The gentlemen connected with Vulcan Mining Company have made some
very singular discoveries in working one of the veins which has been
lately found. They discovered an old cave, excavated centuries ago.
This led them to look for other works of the same kind, and they have
found a number of sinks in the earth which they have traced a long
distance. By digging into those sinks, they find them to have been
made by the hand of man. It appears that the ancient miners worked
on a different principle from that adopted at the present time. The
greatest depth yet found in these holes is thirty feet. After getting
down to a certain depth, the ancient miners drifted along the vein
making an open cut. These cuts have been filled nearly to a level by
the accumulation of soil, and we find trees of the largest growth
standing in the depressions, and also find that trees of a very
large size have grown up and died, and decayed many years since in
the same places there are now standing others of over three hundred
years’ growth. Last week they dug down into a new place, and about
twelve feet below the surface found a mass of copper weighing from
eight to ten tons. This mass was buried in ashes, and it appears the
ancient miners could not handle it, and having no means of cutting
it, probably built fire around it to melt or separate the rock, which
might be done by heating and then dashing on cold water. This piece
of copper is pure and free from corrosion. The upper surface has been
pounded smooth. It appears that this mass of copper was taken from
the bottom of a shaft, at the depth of about thirty feet. In sinking
this shaft from where the mass now lies, they followed the course of
the vein, which dips considerably, this enabled them to raise it as
far as the hole came up with a slant. At the bottom of the shaft were
found skids of black oak from eight to twelve inches in diameter,
these sticks were charred through, as if burnt; large wooden wedges
were also found in the same situation. In this shaft were discovered
a miner’s ‘gad’ and a narrow chisel made of copper. I do not know
whether these copper tools are tempered or not, but they display
good workmanship. There have been taken out of the excavations more
than a ton of cobble-stones, which have been used as mallets. These
stones were nearly round, with a groove cut round the centre, for the
purpose of putting a withe around for a handle. The Chippewas all say
that this work was never done by Indians. This discovery will lead to
a new method of finding veins in this country, and may be of great
benefit to explorers. I suppose the miners will continue to find new
wonders for some time yet, as it is but a short time since they first
found the old mine.”
[177] B. L. C. WAILES, Esq., Proceedings of Sixth Annual Meeting of
the American Association of Naturalists and Geologists, p. 80.—Also
Prof. GIBBS, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. second series, vol. i.
[178] De Soto’s Expedition, Supplement to Hakluyt’s Voyages, p. 715.
[179] Peter Martyr, Supplement to Hakluyt’s Voyages, pp. 415, 417,
419, 455, 469, 471, 475, 493, 500, 517, 520, 530, 539, 599; Oviedo,
in Purchas, vol. iii. p. 972.
[180] Transactions of «American Ethnological Society», vol. i. p. 361.
[181] American Pioneer, vol. i. p. 200.
[182] Capt. LYON mentions finding among the Esquimaux, on the
North-east coast, “a mirror composed of a broad plate of black
mica, fitted into a leather frame, so as to be seen from either
side.”—«Narrative», p. 68.
[183] The Mexicans used blades of obsidian in the construction
of their swords; their sacrificial knives and razors were of the
same material; and, from practice, they became so perfect in their
manufacture that, according to Clavigero, “in the space of one hour,
an artist could finish more than a hundred.”—«Clavigero», vol. ii. p.
288.
[184] Transactions of «American Ethnological Society», vol. i. p. 361.
[185] Researches, vol. ii. p. 204.
[186] DU PRATZ, History of Louisiana, p. 179.
[187] A specimen of this mineral was submitted to JAMES T. HODGE,
Esq., of New York, for examination, with the following results: “It
resembles mica in appearance, in fine scales, cemented in one lump.
Color, reddish brown. Before the blow-pipe it does not change. It
fuses with soda, with difficulty, into a dark bead,—soluble in nitric
acid, leaving a considerable residuum of «silicia». The qualitative
analysis gave «alumina», «iron», and «potash», all of which are
ingredients of mica.”
[p288]