Page:Observationsonab00squi.djvu/60

 OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 55

This was taken from a mound in Butler Coun- ty, Ohio, and is now in the possession of James McBride, Esq., a zealous antiquarian of Hamilton, in that state. It repre- sents the head of a bird, somewhat resembling a toucan, and is executed with much spirit. It was probably originally attached to some vessel, === from which it was broken before being deposited where it was afterwards found. It is engraved half size of original.

This is an outline repre- sentation ofa rattle of baked clay, found in a mound near Nashville, Tennessee. It has the form of a human head, with a portentous nose and unprecedented phrenological developments. It is smooth and well polished, and con- tains six small balls of clay, which were discovered by perforating the neck. They must necessarily have been introduced before the burning of the toy. Similar conceits were common in Mexico and Peru, and were observed by Kotzebue upon the Northwest Coast.

Among the minerals found in the mounds, mica is most abundant. It occurs both in the sacrificial and sepulchral mounds, and seems to have been invested with a supersti- tious regard, and associated with certain burial and reli- gious rites. Some idea can be formed of its abundance from the fact that bushels are sometimes taken from a