The Portland daily press., 1879-01-23
ss,issy of Nataral Hist DRY.

| So,isfy of Natural Hist DRY.
| At the meetine held Monday evening Mr..
Fuller, having on previous occasion described
| the djfferent kinds of animals used for food by
| the Aborieines of this State, as determined by
the b.pes found in the shell heaps that abound
along the coast, took up the subject of their
potterv In no instance has whole vessel
ever been found in these positions. and very
rarely. if ever, an entire one even in their
places of sepulture. Generally all the vessels
are in fragmentary condition, and at or near
the bottom of the shell heaps. In explanation
of these facts he stated that the interior sur
faces of these fragments were almost uniformly
| blackened as if, after having served the pur-
poses of cooking, they had been used as chat
ing dishes in which to build small fires.
Moulded from clay the cross fracture shows
| imbedded in it very numerous pebble stones or
| fine gravel, whilst the outer surface is smooth
| and capable of receiving the decorations which
in varied but yet quite artistic style they have
| almost uniformly applied to them. Whilst
some are deeply and regularly indentsd as with
type of some peculiar figure or letter, others
are covered with perpendicular series Of
carved triangles, the open part of each triangle
| and adjoining series, the whole being crossed
| by dashes of straight and parallel lines. Still
another set has decoration similar to that
made by the fle-maker, where he crosses his
file with parallel ridges and then at another
angle intersects these with other parallel
ridges. These specimens were obtained at
Indian town and other islands at the mouth
of the Sheepscot river, during a cruise
made by some members of the Society
during the last summer. In reply to
a question it was stated that the shells
were almost wholly those of the common clam,
not any of the oyster being found in this re-
gon or anywhere else along the coast except
sparingly in the vicinity of Portland, until
Marlborough is reached. Yet living oysters
of large size were found farther up the river in
considerable abundance by this party and have
been known to exist there for many years. I'M
mense beds of oystsr-shells are found from four
to eight feet under the mud in Back Cove and
Portland Harbor, proving that they once lived
here in abundance, yet but few oyster-shells
are ever found in the numerous shell heaps
that abound in the vicinity of Portland. At
Marlborough, as is well known, they are
found in great abundance, and there form i'm
mense heaps of somewhat mythical origin. |
Mr.. Manning gave an account of his explora- |
tions in these shell heaps, the description OF
which we must reserve for another occasion.
DR.. Wood exhibited specimens of metallic
wool Obtained by Mr.. Sparrow of this city at |
some Of the iron-blast furnaces in Massachu. |
sets. 1t is made by directing the blast upon |
the molten slags as they issue from the fur |
mace. light vaporv cloud is forced by this /
means into and through large curved cylindri- |
cal tube and falls from the open end of it up /
on the floor in soft white flakes like snow. |
Under the microscope it is seen to be composed /
OF very fine, straight curved, and cylindrical /
tub9s, many of which have Dubious swellings |
along their course at the extremity like Their
mometer balbs They resemble very closely /
the fbres Of that species of Asbestos known as
Mountain Cork or that curious ibrous mass |
elected from the voc ,noes at Hawaii and |
called by the natives Peles hair An account
was given of some of its chemical characters,
bat there bad not been time enough to complete
the analysis. 1t is manufac ured now in con-
siderable quantities, and sold to take the place
of falting for covering hot water pipes.
A specimen was also exhibited Of soft and
very beautiful silken floss, the product of
plant growing upon the slopes of the mountains |
at Hawaii, known, botanicaly, as the Arg
yroxphium or Silver Swori. This was Oh
tanned at the Sandwich Island departm7 nt, at |
the Exposition. 1t belongs to the same class
of plants with the Aster and Sunaower. Under |
the microscope it is ssea to be formed of fat
tened tubes with frequent joints, of great beau
IT, AS mass it of a rich golden texture,
glttering with iridescent hues, and were it |
capable of being woven, would make gar
ment fit for fairy land.
The sedimentary matter from the strainers
upon tbs Sabago pipes was then described, and |
specimens of the Diatoms Dasmds and other
organic structures were placed uoder the |
microscope for examination. There was quite /
large variety of these exquisite structures, and |
some that have not before been observed. |
There was, also, noticeable absence of confer
void growths or any organisms indicative of |
impurity in the water.
Dr.. Wool further stated that ha had pleas
ant piece Of infor m alton t, communicate to the |
Society. All will remember the unique table /
of Redwood, that occupied the centre of our |
lecture loom, in our old Hall, 20 ruthlessly |
destroyed by fire. The top wss one piece of |
wood, ten fset loog. six feet four inches in |
width, and two inches thick, aud was highly |
valued donation from Capt. E. G. Soul, of Free |
port, Me- Mr.. VIM r. Wood was the last per- |
son in the building on that fearful night, and, |
with the will, bat not quite the strength of |
Sampson, he endeavored to carry off the table |
and succeeded in pitching it from the |
trestles and over once or twice, in |
the direction of the door. Bal the windows |
had already bean destroyed by the terrific ex- |
plosion OF powder with which the adjoining |
building had bsen mined, and the flames were |
rolling into the room driven, by furious gale |
that rendered such an uuwieldy object difficult |
to manage. He was obliged to leave it to its |
fats aud escape for his life through the library,
saving, however, in his flight valuable micro |
scope that he found there.
What he could not save he seems to have |
been bent upon restoring, and through one OF
his correspondents 10 San Francisco, who has |
entered heartily into the project, he has to-day
received the information that plank of Red
wood has been obtained and will be shipped
on board the St. John Smith now lying st hat
port The dimensions as given are, length |
fourteen feet, width seven fact and'thickress
three inches. In due time, therefore, we may
nave tHo Satl5Iacllon CT seeing cur very uSe1ul |
and valuable table restored to US with many
superadded layers of annual growth. We trust |
that it is to b. one among many others of the
attractive objects that will grace the erection of
our new hall on Elm street.
Upon the table were donations from Mr.
Senter, two large and fine specimens of Lithodes
Arctica; Charles D. Smith, skull of very
large monk fish; John NJ. Gould, Indian war
spear; Mr.. Carney, vertebre of horse nackerel;
NJ. Manning, mounted specimen of the great
northern diver; Miss NJ. E. Miller, of Hole,
several p&ues CT i:idescent glass from an old
building in that place, and from W. Wood the
complete set of photographs of the anatomy of
Lucanus aud Harpalus before spoken Of made |
by franklin G. Hill, of Yellow Springs, Ohio.
Another Green One.
Thomas Hoffman was cared for at the Third |
Police Station, Boston, Friday night, and gave |
the following account of himself: Cams from