lected in Maine, New Brunswick, and Pennsylvania, were likewise made by Mr. Boardman, Dr. Todd, Mr. Blake, Mr. Haley, Mr. Leonard Peabody, Mr. Hollis, and Mr. J. Hamilton. From Colonel E. Jewett, of Utica, the Institution has received an extensive and choice collection of relics especially rich in pipes and ornaments, beads, amulets, &c., gathered principally in New York and adjacent States. Mr. Robert Howell, of Tioga county, New York, has made several interesting contributions in the same line, and others have been received from the same region at the hands of Mr. Stephen Forman and Mr. Jacob Stratton. Scarcely inferior in extent and variety to the collection of Mr. Jenks is one made by the late Hon. George M. Keim, of Reading, principally in central Pennsylvania, but also in Texas and Ohio. In this is found the first specimen of a choice flint hoe, similar to that described by Professor Rau, in the Smithsonian Report for 1863, a second specimen of which has just been received from Mr. Granville Turner, of Illinois. The collection of General Keim was presented to the Institution by his children as a memorial of their father, and a very large and choice cabinet of minerals has, we learn, been given by them to Lehigh University with a similar object Specimens from western Pennsylvania have been received from Dr. Walker.

The principal donations from the vicinity of Washington have been made by Mr. O. N. Bryan, some of which are very choice; by Mr. J. W. Slagle, and Mr. Tyler. Specimens from the eastern shore of Virginia have been presented by Mr. C. R. Moore. Mr. W. H. Edwards, of West Virginia, has contributed a number of choice articles from the Kanawha river and elsewhere, some of them unique. Mr. E. A. Dayton, an esteemed correspondent of the Institution, in the course of an extended tour through Tennessee and Kentucky last year, took advantage of the occasion to gather collections, and.awaken an interest in the subject which has resulted in large additions to our cabinet. Our attention. having been called by Mr. Dayton to a remarkable stone idol found near the mouth of a cave at Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, a correspondence was entered into with its owner, Captain E. M. Grant, which resulted in its being sent to the Institution. The most important collection of ethnological material yet received, however, is that presented by Captain J. H. Devereux, of Cleveland, Ohio, embracing a large number of nearly every variety of ancient stone implements, principally of Tennessee and Ohio, among them specimens of pottery of very different patterns from those usually met with. Some of them are remarkable for smoothness of surface and symmetry of outline, as well as for the style of ornamentation. We have stated before that a series of casts of the principal objects described in the first volume of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge had been purchased, and it may be mentioned in this connection that other articles described in the same volume are in possession of Mr. W. S. Vaux, of Philadelphia, who obtained them through the purchase of the valuable collection of Mr. James McBride, of Ohio, whose

cabinet was freely open for study to Squier and Davis. From Lieutenant Belden and Captain Mills, of the United States army, Drs. C. C. Gray and Matthews, fine collections of dresses and implements of existing tribes of Indians have been received. The most extensive series, however, of modern objects of this kind pertaining to the United States, and obtained during the year under review, is that gathered by Dr. Edward Palmer, in the Indian territory, including specimens relating to the Comanches, Kioways, and other neighboring tribes. The collection consists of war implements, such as bows, arrows, shields, battle-axes; hunting and fishing implements, such as hooks, spears, nets, &c.; a large variety of dresses, ornaments, including ear and finger rings, breast-plates, &c.; tobacco-pouches, pipes of various materials, bowls, spoons made of wood and horn, a variety of whips, articles used for gambling, including packs of cards made of skins, and bundles of sticks with which bets are decided, from the manner in which they fall when thrown upwards; also floor coverings made of parallel sticks attached by sinews; the whole forming very complete illustrations of the manners and customs of the tribes before mentione 1.

Some of the most important additions of the year to the stone series were included in a collection presented by Dr. Yates, of California. This collection embraced, in addition to a number of characteristic implements of the natives of California, moulds of those found under the lava of Table mountain, and which formed the subject of an animated discussion at the meeting of the American Association in Chicago last summer. Itis proposed to make casts from these moulds for distribution to the principal museums in this country and abroad. Extensive collections were made in Alaska, during the year, by Dr. T. T. Minor, surgeon of the United States steamer Wayanda, embracing stone articles of superior finish. Other objects, to which much value is attached, from the same region, have been received from Captain Howard and Captain J. W. White; and very extensive collections made by Mr. Dall are on their way. Mr. R. Macfarlane and Mr. Strachan Jones have furnished continuations of collections previously contributed, in articles relative to the Esquimaux of the northern coast of America. Thanks to the co-operation of the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, among whom may be mentioned Messrs. Ross, Gaudet, Hardisty, and Kirkby, but especially Macfarlane, the Institution is in possession of what would appear to be a full representation of the life of the Esquimaux of that region, as illustrated by their dresses, weapons of war, their implements for fishing and the chase, household articles, ornaments, &c.

In this connection mention should not be omitted of a number of interesting stone implements contributed by Mrs. H. R. Schoolcraft, of Washington, the widow of the celebrated ethnologist, some of which are described in his elaborate work on the Indian tribes of North America. Among other articles for which the Institution is indebted to the liberality of Mrs. Schoolcraft is a cast of the inscription on Dighton Rock,

Massachusetts, sometimes supposed to be of Runic origin, but which, like the drawings on the same rock, are generally considered as having been made by the primitive Indian occupants of that region.

It will have been observed that nearly all the additions to the ethnological collections referred to, have been from the United States and British possessions. Very important donations have, however, been received from other parts of America. Captain J. M. Dow, of New York, has presented the Institution with a collection of ancient pottery, of stone images and implements from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Chiriqui, some of them of remarkable character. Other specimens of Chiriqui pottery were included in the collection of Colonel Jewett, already referred to. Mr. George A. Latimer, of Porto Rico, has presented remarkable stone implements of the ancient inhabitants of the West Indies, among which is a specimen in the shape of an ellipsoidal stone ring, not unlike a horse collar in form, though rather less in size, being about 15 inches in its largest diameter. It was possibly worn about the neck as a badge of office in public processions. From Captain Dow we have received another wrought stone in the form of a large inverted U. It is conjectured that it might have been placed across the neck of the victim when stretched on the altar of sacrifice.

The occasion here presents itself of stating that in a communication, through the Department of State, from Mr. de Cesnola, United States consul at Cyprus, we were informed that a remarkable discovery of Phoenician and Greek antiquities had lately been made in that island, and that two boxes of the specimens were in readiness to be transmitted to Washington as presents for the National Museum. On the receipt of this information a letter was addressed to the Secretary of the Navy, asking that, if. not incompatible with the rules of the service, some United States vessel, being in the vicinity, might be authorized to stop at the island and procure the articles above designated. To this letter a prompt answer was received from the Navy Department, containing the information that orders in accordance with the request had been issued to the commander of the Mediterranean squadron. The following are some of the facts in regard to the discovery in question. In the month of December, 1867, a Greek laborer, digging for building-stone within the precincts of a little village called Galli, found a very old ovenshaped tomb, containing pieces of skulls and other bones, and also some curious colored vases. On examining the ground a few yards in circuit other tombs were found, indicating the existence of an ancient burialsite. The discovery was kept secret from the authorities of the place, but was disclosed to the foreign consuls on the island, by whom the search was prosecuted. The American consul, Mr. Cesnola, obtained from the Turkish government at Constantinople a firman allowing him to search for antiquities wherever he might desire. With this he suc ceeded in discovering the existence of a series of Phoenician tombs beneath the ancient Greek burial ground. These tombs, which were

oven-shaped, with the mouth closed by large stones, were six and a half feet below the level of the Greek interments, and from nine to eleven feet below the surface of the earth. The articles found in the graves and tombs were of gold, silver, precious stones, bronze, copper, glass, marble, and terra cotta. The whole collection numbered 2,310 pieces; the expense of the digging, $7,300 in gold, was defrayed by an association composed of the English, French, and American consuls, and an English banker. We need not say that the safe arrival of the portion of these relics intended by Mr. Cesnola for the Smithsonian Institution will be looked forward to with much interest.

But the explorations of the Institution in regard to ethnology have not been confined to the contents of mounds or to implements gathered from the surface of the ground, or brought to light by casual excavation. It is well known that in almost every part of the world contiguous to the sea there exist accumulations of shells collected into heaps or mounds. These mounds were long supposed to have been produced by natural causes, but comparatively recent investigations have shown that they are the remains of the festal or daily repasts of the ancient inhabitants. Thus their examination becomes an object of special interest; yet nothing had been done in this department of research in our own country until lately, when examinations were commenced by Professor Rau in New Jersey, Professor Wyman on the coasts of Florida, Maine, and Massachusetts, and by gentlemen connected with the Essex Institute, (now the Peabody Academy of Science,) in the vicinity of Salem, Massachusetts. During last summer, Professor Baird, of this Institution, after taking part in the Salem exploration, instituted an investigation as to the shell-heaps of the coast of New Brunswick. In this enterprise he received the voluntary assistance of Mr. G. A. Boardman, Dr. Todd, of St. Stephens, Mr. Josiah Simpson, of St. David's, and Dr. Parker, of St. Andrews. They examined several new depositories, which yielded unexpectedly large numbers of implements of horn, bone, and stone, together with the remains of the animals which had served as food. Of this exploration a full account will hereafter be prepared for publi cation in the report of the Institution.

Nor yet are lacustrian structures and shell heaps the only sources from which a knowledge of the manners and customs of pre-historic times may be acquired. The early inhabitants of almost every part of the world took advantage of natural caverns as places of shelter, and in these have left the indications of their former presence. An examination of the deposits of earth on the floors of these caverns, and sometimes even beneath the incrustations produced by the evaporation of the water charged with lime, which has dripped from the ceiling, have often disclosed the bones of men, and also artificial implements, mingled with the remains of extinct animals. A cave of this kind, in central Pennsylvania, was examined a number of years ago by Professor Baird, not with a view to the discovery of archaeological remains, but those of the

animals which might have inhabited the cavern in previous geological periods. The débris which he obtained were carefully preserved, but not subjected to a critical examination. The Professor, however, has more recently resumed the investigation in the light which new facts have shed upon the connection of these caves and their contents with the character, the pursuits, and the condition of men in pre-historic times. An account of the result of these researches will also, in due time, be published.

The ethnological specimens we have mentioned are not considered as mere curiosities collected to excite the wonder of the illiterate, but as contributions to the materials from which it will be practicable to reconstruct by analogy and strict deduction the history of the past in its relation to the present. In the case of the remains of animals and plants, from which the geologist reconstructs the flora and fauna of ancient times, inferences are drawn from petrifactions, shells, bones and teeth. These, however, are not sufficient in the case of anthropology, and, in addition to the study of human skeletons and crania, recourse must be had to the relics of the works of the men of the past; to the remains of their houses, tombs, fortifications, temples, implements, and ornaments, in order to determine their relation to the races which now inhabit the earth. Ethnology, it must be admitted, is at present in an elementary condition in the period through which all science must necessarily pass-that of the collection of material; and, consequently, the only deductions which can be drawn to-day are principally of a provisional character. It is true that the evidences in favor of the greater antiquity of the appearance of man on the surface of the earth than has been heretofore generally admitted have been accumulating from year to year, yet it can scarcely be said with fairness that the question is fully settled. Other hypotheses than those which have been advanced may be suggested to explain the facts observed. But, be this as it may, the investigation should be prosecuted without regard to preconceived views. We may rest satisfied that religion and true science cannot be at variance; the one properly understood, and the other rightly interpreted, must agree in final results. In short, we should follow the rule laid down by the Bishop of London in a lecture delivered at Edinburg, that: "The man of science should go on honestly, patiently, diffidently -observing and storing up his observations and carrying his reasonings unflinchingly to their legitimate conclusions, convinced that it would be treason to the majesty at once of science and of religion if he sought to help either by swerving ever so little from the straight line of truth." Care however must be taken that the provisional hypotheses of science are not mistaken for absolute truths, and premature attempts be made to explain discrepancies between the two great domains of thought, which, after all, may arise from partial views of the connection of phenomena.

3 s