ANTHROPOLOGY. ARCHEOLOGICAL IMPOSTURES.-To hoax is eminently an American proclivity or habit, a kind of friskiness not without a tinge of mischief, and always reckless, which pervades our society far and wide, and which is gratified by creating what is called "a sensation." Sometimes there is a sinister or selfish motive behind, and a deliberate imposture is practiced with the view to pecuniary advantage. Of this the "Aztec children" and the "Onondaga giant" are clear examples. The latter fraud, it is to be hoped, is defunct; the former flourished for years after it had been thoroughly exposed. I have hunted down a score or more of these frauds on popular credulity, only to find a dozen others springing up in the place of each one slaughtered. Skeletons of giants resolving themselves into bones of the mastodon; great jawbones fitting over the faces of common mortals just as though two spoons of equal size could not fit into or over each other-inscribed plates, such as of mica discolored by infiltrations of iron, etc., etc., ad nauseam. Not long ago I received a letter from a savant in Vienna, regretting that I had not given "a full and particular account' of the extraordinary vault, with its statues and inscriptions that had been discovered in the rocks of the Palisades of the Hudson, and hoping that I would prevail upon some competent western correspondent to make a farther careful examination of the recently discovered ancient tunnel under the Mississippi River, opposite St. Louis! During the last summer I received a note from a gentleman, whose name is not unknown as a north-western explorer, enclosing a slip from a Kansas paper, giving an account of the discoveries of "Professor Henry L. Scott, LL. D., of Georgetown, Ky.," near Evanstown, Shelby Co., Utah, in one of the cañons of Rear River in the Uintah Mountains. I quote from the article: "Having secured the help of some half dozen men, Professor Scott immediately directed his course towards the South, where a bastard canon starts out from one of the Uintah spurs. Fortunately he had with him a half-breed who could converse with the Shoshones, who range all through that section, and through the interpretor he learned from Wa-pa-on-ta (Stag), a sub-chief of the Shoshones, that about fifteen miles from Evanston was a mound of extraordinary dimensions. The Professor immediately repaired to the place, and to his great gratification discovered a tumulus of as fair and positive proportions as any described by Squier and Davis. He immediately commenced the work of excavation, and in three days had the inexpressible pleasure of laying bare what was certainly a vault. He found a cavity about eight feet long, three wide, and four deep. Its bottom, sides and ends were made of triangular shaped stones, evidently quarried from the red granite of the Wasatch range. There was no top or covering to the vault, but from the nature and color of the earth immediately over it, the Professor thinks that an arch of burned clay had been used. But one skeleton was found, which on exposure, immediately crumbled into dust; it appeared to indicate that of a man not over five feet ten inches. The bones lay east and west- the skull east. At the foot, and apparently between the feet, was found an ordinary-shaped earthen pot, with a capacity perhaps of half a gallon, cone-shaped, and without any mark or engraving whatever on it. Along the left side lay an iron bracelet with a spring clasp, perfectly preserved. On each side of the skull were two medicine stones, shaped like a cigar, full of holes, and of half-pound weight. The stones were very similar to Tennessee marble or Scotch granite. On the right side of the skeleton the Professor found a silver plate about the size and exactly the shape of an artist's palette. No mark whatever was distinguishable on this piece, but it is of the purest silver. It may have been used as a shield, though the Professor inclines to the belief that it was a "charm," and that the skeleton was that of some medicine man or priest." I replied to my correspondent that I thought the whole story a "hoax,” but if it would please him would soon find out if it were or not. I accordingly addressed a letter to the editor of the paper in which the article originally appeared, asking him on what authority the publication was made. He answered that it had been written by a sub-editor (giving his name) who, however, had left his employ, but to whom he would forward my letter. A few days ago I secured a note from the sub-editor aforesaid, in which he says: "To be frank with you, Explorations in Utah' was a sensation, written to offset the forthcoming report of Professor Powell in the Colorado Canons,' and Colonel Samuel Adams' in Colorado,' both of which have since appeared. From personal observation in the region mentioned, I know both reports to be very erroneous." I should perhaps mention that "Professor Scott's" explorations were alleged to have been undertaken under the belief that the race of the mound builders of the Mississippi Valley had migrated to Mexico and Central Mexico, and that traces of their transit might be found on the way.-E. G. SQUIER. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. T. Dupuy, M. D.-Your specimens though inconveniently small for determination, are: 1, Polypodium incanum; 2, Aspidium patens; 3, Parmelia pertata variety olivetorum; 4, Ramilina fraxinea; 5, Parmelia speciosa variety gramelifera. Southern spe cies of lichens and ferns are very acceptable. Send along some more. Your remarks upon the Tillandsia usneoides are interesting; may we hear more from you on the hab its of the plants of your vicinity?-J. L. R. BOOKS RECEIVED. Annual Meteorological Synopsis. By J. B. Trembley, M.D., Toledo, Ohio. Pamph. 1870. The One Hundred Dollar Prize Essay on the Cultivation of the Potato. By D. H. Compton. 8vo, pamph. Illustrated. Orange Judd & Co. New York, 1870. (25 cts). The Geological Survey of Ohio, its Progress in 1869. Report of an Address delivered to the Legislature of Ohio, February 7, 1870. By J. S. Newberry, Chief Geologist. 8vo, pamph. 1870. Narrative of a Bear Hunt in the Adirondacks. Read before the Albany Institute, January 18, 1870. By Verplanck Colvin, 8vo, pamph. J. Munsell. Albany, 1870. Proceedings Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. No. 4. December, 1869. Discourse on the Life and Character of George Peabody. of Baltimore. 8vo, pamph. 1870. Journal of the Queckett Microscopical Club. No. 10. R. Hardwicke, for the Club. (1s, a number.) By S. T. Wallis. Peabody Institute April, 1870. 8vo. Plates. London. Alaska and its Resources. By W. H. Dall. Large 8vo. Cloth. 628 pages. Many Illustrations and Map. Boston, 1870. Lee & Shepard. $7.50. First Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Indiana, made during the year 1869. By E. T. Cox, State Geologist, assisted by Messrs. Bradley, Haymond and Levette. 8vo, cloth. pp. 240. 4 maps. Indianapolis, 1869. On Existing Remains of the Gare-Fowl (Alca impennis). By Alfred Newton. [From "The Ibis" for April, 1870.] Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection. A Series of Essays. By Alfred Russel Wallace. pp. 384. 12mo, cloth. London and New York. 1870. Macmillan & Co. The Naturalist's Guide in Collecting and Preserving Objects of Natural History, with a Complete Catalogue of the Birds of Eastern Massachusetts. By C. J. Maynard. Illustrated. pp. 170. 12mo, cloth. Boston, 1870. Fields, Osgood & Co. [$2.00.] Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York. Vol. ix. No. 10. April, 1870. Universal Decimal Weight, Measure and Coinage Association. Circular No. 1. May, 1870. On the Pre-Carboniferous Floras of North-eastern America, with special reference to that of the Erian (Devonian) Period. Abstract of the Bakerian Lecture. By J. W. Dawson. [From Proceedings Royal Society. London, 1870.] AMERICAN NATURALIST. Vol. IV.-AUGUST, 1870.- No. 6. THE LYRE BIRD. BY GRACE ANNA LEWIS. THE Lyre Bird finds in the south-eastern portion of Aus Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. IV. 41 tralia a region peculiarly adapted to its nature. At a variable distance from the sea rises a range of mountains, the swell of which is undulating rather than precipitous, while the summits expand into immense open downs and grassy plains. These are studded with belts and forests of trees, and appear like a succession of vast parks. As the hills and plateaus sink into the cup-like depression of the interior, marshy grounds alternate with parched and sterile barrens; but seaward, the soil is of almost inconceivable richness. Here, a tropical luxuriance prevails. Forests of immense, ever verdant, blooming trees, are broken by rich meadow-like districts admirably suited to grazing purposes. Indeed, the country as described, is so charming, that it might be considered almost a Paradise were it not for the intense heat of summer, increased, as it is, by the hot dry winds which blow southward from more northerly regions. Parching droughts are succeeded by torrents of rain, which, collecting on the hills and.plains, and advancing through their streamlets, pour in swollen floods down the mountain sides to the sea, carrying destruction on every hand. Thus are the seaward slopes washed into gullies and ravines, which are left obstructed by fallen trees and branches. Over these active nature soon spreads a mantle of greenness and bloom, by means of rapidly growing creeping vines, forming almost inaccessible fastnesses. In these secluded haunts the Lyre Bird hides itself from the gaze of man. It is found over a large extent of country, but is peculiar to the mountain districts of Australia, and especially to those on the southeastern face of the continent. Two species are known; one, Menura superba, the well-known Lyre Bird, the other a closely allied species, Menura Albertii. Australia is a country of wonders, where even the leaves of the trees are so disposed that they present but little surface to the scorching sun, and, consequently, are almost valueless for shade; and where, both in the vegetable and animal world, are curious forms existing nowhere else on the globe. Here is a rich display of birds with gorgeous plumage, and here also are found many remarkable only for their unlikeness to all others. Among the latter is a family, the members of which, with their peculiarly large feet, scratch up grass, herbage, and soil, and throwing these backward, in concentric circles, finally raise a mound which forms a veritable hot-bed. In this they deposit their eggs, and the heat engendered by the decaying vegetable matter quickens the life-germ, as in ordinary hatching does the warm body of the brooding mother. What is especially curious is that the Lyre Bird, while incubating its eggs in the method common to birds, has a similar habit of raising mounds which it devotes to a wholly different purpose. These elevations seem to be intended as orchestras for the display of musical powers, and both morning and evening they betake themselves thither, frequently while they whistle, sing, or imitate the notes of other birds, raising and spreading their tails with all the pride of the peacock. M. Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, refers both the Lyre Birds and the "Mound Builders" to one family, that of the Megapodidæ, or the Great Feet. It is by no means wonderful that this thought should have suggested itself to the mind of the learned naturalist, for there certainly is, in several respects, a striking similarity between the Lyre Bird and the Megapodes, a resemblance so strong as to be perceived even by the casual observer. But this similarity seems capable of explanation on other grounds than those of a family relationship, nor need we even suppose that the birds in question belong to the same order. The Lyre Bird has been known for more than half a century, but possibly, our fullest information is derived from the English naturalist, Gould, who, with his wife, travelled in Australia for the purpose of ornithological investigation. more than twenty years ago, and who since has, from time to time by his correspondence, obtained facts of much importance to ornithological science. To his pen, and to her |