The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1868-08-19
.SIITuE INTuIIG
Dartf.tus
Antlqus.g of Mar


-o1iA thousand generations have passed away
since his creation. The session OF The Amer
ieah Science Association, which is holdingits
annual meeting In Chicago, on the 9th inst,
was mainly occupied with the reading and
discussion OF three papers ON the Antiquity
OF Man, ofNwhich the following are the IL
Ties; l. Abstract OF the Geological EvI-
dehces Of Mans antiquity in the United
States, by Charles Whittlesey. ?. The An
iiquity of Man in North America, by j. W.
Foster 8, On the, ,Vesugcs of Pre- Historic
kse.s in California, by VIM 7. Blake. A
most Important paper on this subject is to be
read on Monday, by Prof Whitney, when
the discussion of the subject win be contin-
ued '.,... ...al ...5
Col. Whittlesey enumeratsd several races
which had fiourished in America before the
lied Man hunted in her forests. First, the
mound builders second, race In. the ter
ritory which is now Wisconsin third, q
Warllke race in the region south of lakes
Ontario and Erie and fourth, a religious
people in Mexico. How long ago these ra-
ees fourished is uncertain, but 1t was sever.
althousand years before the Christian Era.
Pottery, arrow-heads, and other works of
man, have been found in conjunction with
and beneath the bones of the mastodon and
megAtherirm. In regard to the time the In
diAns have occupied this country, the fol-
lowing fact throws some light. Three skele-
tons were found beneath heap of accumu-
lations several feet in depth. The crania
wAs-so perfect that there was left no doubt
OF their being the crania of red men. These
bones were computed to have been placed
in their sepulchre 1900 years ago. A jaw
and tooth wese found in a stratum and pro-
nounoed by Professor Agassiz to have beon
there 10000 years, These must have
belonged to the bronze men or the stone
mem as they are called. Colonel Whittle-
sey gave an account of the discoveries made
of the relics of ancient races by Mons Bou-
cher de PERI in the year 1868, at Abbeville,
: in France, on the banks of the saone.
Colonel Foster began by stating that recent
discoveries show that man is among the most
ancient of animals, and was cotenpOrary
with the great pach yderms and monstrOus
beasts of prey now extinct The antiquity
of the races, some of whose implements are
: of bronze, and who are therefore called the
''bronze races" is given at from 8, 900 to g.
600 years, according to the computations Of
different geologists and investigators, while
those of the "stone men" is estimated al
from 1000 to 10, 900 years. But these esti-
mates are vastly lower than recent discover
les warrant for, the human race. Along the
banks Of the Nile excavations have been
made TO great depth, and from them frag.
ments of burned brick have been taken out
On these data, calculating from the depth
ofmud deposited by the Nile each century,
Al age of SO, 900 years Is given to the mer
who burned these bricks The pyramid,
are founded on the handiwork of man buriec
deep beneath the soil on which their hoary
foundations rest The feet OF Napoleon'i
soldiers, upon which thirty centuries looked
down upon the piles of granite above them
trod upon earth which for three centuries Of
centuries had embraced the relics of NIGH
ty race. The discovery of human skele
ton IN California, deep down in the golC
drift, and covered by five successive deposits
of lava, also carries back the antiquity OF
man 70 > period IA, beyond the Stone age
, Coionef Foster then exhibited An arrow head
found in the Valley of San, Joaquin so fee
below the surface, Tho Island of Petit,
Ause, st The mouth of the Mississippi river
is a solid mass Of salt, covered with IL fee
of earth yet in that salt by the side of the
remains of the fossil elephant, was found {
petrihed piece of mstting-a drawing Of
which was exhibited. In excavating for the
foundation of the gas works in New OrIean.
DR.. Dowler, at the depth of 10 feet, found
the remains of man. Their age must have
been myriads of years. In relation to til,
habits of the mound builders and other an
cient races of America, he would make q
few remarks. no people who lived solel,
by the chase could accomplish the might,
works which they constructed. These moun
builders were far in advance of the red mel
in civilization. They mixed copper exten
sively, yet there is no evidence of their hay
ing snlelted IT, They hammered it into til
utensils for which they made use of it. b
exhibited copper knife, found in Illinois
a reehe of the mound builders. The ancie1
Peruvians bad no knowledge of iron The
carried on commerce with different par
of the continent rs relics prove The
II clothed themselves In woven fabrics.
the plastic arts they attained a profcienc
far surprising that Of the stone men of El
rope. In conclusion Colonel Foster drew
parallel between the European and Amer
can evidences of the antiquity of man. At