, 1873-06-15

nopo out Of pulvetized granite. We should the,
not only know that we were created ont Of tn
dust Of the earth, but we should be able to trac
the process and prove our pedigree.
Among the numerous treatises On the an
iquity OF man which have issued from the pres.
Of late years, none is deserving Of higher zanl
than that Of Col J. Y. Foster, Of this city, en-
titled "Pre-Histo1io Races q the United
statcs," just published by 8. q. Griggs d Co.
This is Chicago production in every aense-
ts1t, printing, engraving, gliding, and binding.
It consists. for the most part, Of = careful com-
pilation Of all the discoveries made up to the
present time, OF the monuments, bonea, imple-
ments, works OF art, and mining operations Of
Continent, together with the conclusions
reached by comparative anatomy and c1aniology
thereon.
Necessarily connected with this subject ara
the discoveries made in Europe and in the VAL
ley Of the Nile relating to prehistoric racer and
extinct animals, and the climatic changes that
have converted the polar regions, which once
sustained lu1uriant vegetation, together with
such animals IS the hairy elephant, the nasto-
don, the fossil horse, and the great Irish stag,
into frozen waste This latter problem leads
to astronomical computations to show ut what
remote period the earth could have been in such
positions with reference to the sun az to
allow such changes Of temperature. We
are told thAt this might have happened
100000 years ago also, that it might have hap
pened 80o, 900 years ago, snd that Sir Charles
Lyen prefers the latter PERIOD as the date Of the
Drift Epoch. These computations, We may re-
mark, are not universally accepted by mathe-
maticians- Whatever may be the data Of ths
Drift, it is now certain that man appeared upon
the earth Immediately after it, and it is ques~
ton whether be did not appear before. Two
human skulls, and number Of ornamental
stones, polished and drilled by human hands,
have bsen found in the Post-PIocene OF Cali
fprnia-anterior to the Drift. Col. Foster does
not vouch for the authenticity OF these discover
les, but 10 gives an extract from q let
ter from Prot. Whitney, the Geologist OF
that Stats, saying that the question
to be investigated is, whether man existed prior
to tho Post-Pliocene. There are some signs OF
man even in the Mocena.
These remote inquiries are Introductory to the
body Of Col Fosters work, which mainly con-
GERMS the Mound-Buildars. That thare wns
rnce Of men differing from the North American
Indians in manners, customs, arts, and cranial
development inhabiting this Continent some hum
dreds Of years prior to its discovery by Colu-n-
bus, iB now incontestiblY proven Trees, which
started in the twelfth century, are found growing
upon mounds which contain their bones and
up On the same sites, flourished their time,
fallen, and mingled with the soil, we cannot
know. It In uuly certai.a tnaE mo DULLES enn
other things found in tho soil arc more ancient
than tho trees now growing over them. The
discoveries thus far made show that,
during their occupancy Of. the Missis-
stppi Valley the Mound -Buildars Cwo quote)
"devaloped traits in their domestic economy
snd their civil relations which distinguished
them by q EeIl-marked line OF division from the
Indian who WAS found in possession OF the Con-
tinent at the time Of its European discovery.
Their monuments indicate that they had entered
upon career Of civilization; they lived in eta-
tionary communities, cultivaing the soil and
relying On it's generous yield as means Of sup
port; they clothed themselves, in part
at least, In garments regularly spun and
woven; they modelled clay and carved
stone. even OF the most obdurate character, into
images representing animste objects, including
even tho human face and form, with close ad-
herence to nature; they mined and cast copper
into variety Of useful forms; they quar1ied
mica, steatite, ebert, and the novaculite alates,
which they wrought into articles adapted to per-
sonl ornament to domestic use, or to the chase:
unlike the Indians, who we're ignorant of the
curative properties OF salt, they collected
the brine Of the Balines into earthen
vessels nodded in baskets, which they
eraporated into form which admitted Of
transportation: they arected an elaborate line
Of defense, stretching for many hundred miles.
to guard against the sudden irruption Of
enemies: they had national religion, in which
the slements were the objects OF supreme ndora~
ton: temples we're erected upon the platform
and natohdres lighted upon the high
cat SUBMITS: and in tho celebration Of tho nys-
teries Of their faith, humlsfn humsn sacrifices we're
probably offered up. The magnitude Of
their structures, involving an tnipitude
Of labor, such aa could bo exFend-
ID only in community where cheap food
prevailed, and the great extent of their CONNER
:ial relations, reaching to widely-separated por-
lions of the Continent, imply the existence Of
! stable and efficient Government, based qq the
,uhordination OF the masses. As the ci7iliza-
ions Of the Old Wpr1d, growing out Of the Pc
:ultar conditions of soil spd climate, developed
certain forms Of art which arc original and
1nique, so. on this Continent ne .sse the
rude conception in the t1uncated pyra~