designs are apparently confined to the Atlantic slope, and are not found to any extent beyond the limits of the district occupied by the stone-grave people. Early explorers along the Atlantic coast mention the use of engraved gorgets by a number of tribes. Modern examples may be found occasionally among the Indians of the northwest coast as well as upon the islands of the central Pacific.

The symbol of the cross, which occurs in various forms in the art of the mound builder, is first in order, but, as my subject is extremely large, I shall omit its consideration for the present.

Scalloped Disks.-In making a hasty classification of the many engraved gorgets I have found it convenient to place in one group a numerous and somewhat extraordinary class of designs which have been engraved upon scalloped disks. Like the cross, the symbol here represented is one that cannot with certainty be referred to an original. The general shape of the disks is such as to suggest to most minds a likeness to the sun, the scallops being suggestive of

As this orb is known to be an object of first importance in the economy of life-the source of light and heat-it is naturally an object of veneration among many primitive peoples. It is well known that the barbarian tribes of Mexico and South America had well-developed systems of sun-worship, and that they employed symbols of many forms, some of which still retained a likeness to the original, while others had assumed the garb of animals or fanciful creatures. These facts being known, it seems natural that such a symbol as the one under consideration should be referred to the great original which it suggests.

The well-known fact that the district from which these gorgets come was, at the time of discovery by the whites, inhabited by a race of sun-worshipers-the Natchez-gives to this assumption at shadow of confirmation. So far as I am aware, however, no one has ventured a positive opinion in regard to their significance, but such suggestions as have been made incline toward the view indicated. I feel the great necessity of caution in such matters, and, while combatting the idea that the designs are ornamental or fanciful only, I am far from attributing to them any deeply mysterious significance. They may in some way or other indicate political or religious station, or they may even be cosmogenic, but the probabilities are much greater that they are time symbols. Before venturing further, however, it will be well to describe one of these disks. I have examined upwards of thirty of these, the majority of which

are made of shell; a typical example is presented in Fig. 1. This specimen was obtained from a mound near Nashville, Tenn., by Prof. Powell. It was found near the head of a skeleton, which was much decayed, and had been so disturbed by recent movements of

FIG. I.

Shell disk from a mound at Nashville, Tennessee.

the soil as to render it difficult to determine its original position. The shell used is apparently a large specimen of the Busycon perversum, although the lines of growth are not sufficiently well preserved to make a positive determination of the species. The substance of the shell is well preserved; the surface was once highly polished, but is now pitted and discolored by age. The design is engraved on the concave surface as usual, and the lines are accurately drawn and clearly cut. The various concentric circles are drawn with almost geometric accuracy around a minute shallow pit as a center. These circles divide the surface into five parts—a small circle at the center being surrounded by four zones of unequal width. The central circle is three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and is surrounded by a zone one-half an inch in width, which contains a rosette of three involuted lines; these begin on the circumference of the inner circle in three small equidistant perforations, and sweep outward to the second circle, making upwards of half a revolution. These lines are somewhat wider and more deeply engraved than the other lines of the design. In many specimens

they are so deeply cut in the middle part of the curve as to penetrate the disk, producing crescent-shaped perforations. The second zone is one-fourth of an inch in width, and in this, as in all other specimens, is quite plain. The third zone is one-half an inch in width, and exhibits some very interesting features. We find placed at almost equal intervals six circular figures, each of which incloses a circlet and a small central pit. The spaces between the circular figures are thickly dotted with minute conical pits somewhat irregularly placed; the number of dots in each space varies from thirty-six to forty, making nearly two hundred and thirty in all.

The outer zone is subdivided into thirteen compartments, in each of which a nearly circular figure or boss has been carved, the outer edges of which form the scalloped outline of the gorget. Two medium sized perforations for suspension have been made near the inner margin of one of the bosses and next to the dotted zone; these show slight indications of abrasion by the cord of suspension. These perforations, as well as the three near the center, have been bored mainly from the convex side of the disk.

Whatever may be the meaning of this design, we cannot fail to recognize the important fact that it is significant,—that an idea is expressed. Were the design ornamental, we should expect variation in the parts or details of different specimens resulting from difference of taste in the designers; if simply copied from an original example for sale or trade, we might expect a certain number of exact reproductions: but in such a case, when variations did occur, they would hardly be found to follow uniform or fixed lines; there would also be variation in the relation of the parts of the conception as well as in the number of particular parts; the zones would not follow each other in exactly the same order; particular figures would not be confined to particular zones; the rays of the volute would not always have a sinistral turn, or the form of the tablet be always circular and scalloped. It cannot be supposed that, of the whole number of these objects at one time in use, more than a small number have been rescued from decay; and these have been obtained from widely scattered localities, and doubtless represent centuries of time, yet no variants appear which indicate a leading up to or a divergence from the one original central idea. A design of purely ornamental character, even if executed by the same hand, could not, in the nature of things, exhibit the uniformity in variation here shown. Fancy, unfettered by ideas of a fixed nature,

such as those pertaining to religious or sociologic customs, would vary with the locality, the day, the year, or the life.

The student will hardly fail to notice the resemblance of these disks to the calendars or time symbols of Mexico and other southern nations of antiquity. There is, however, no absolute identity with southern examples. The involute design in the center resembles the Aztec symbol of day, but is peculiar in its division into three parts, four being the number almost universally used. The only division into three that I have noticed occurs in the calendar of the Muyscas, in which three days constitute a week. The circlets and bosses of the outer zones give them a pretty close resemblance to the month and year zones of the southern calendars.

My suggestion that these objects may be calendar disks will not. seem unreasonable, when we remember that time symbols do make their appearance with many nations during the early stages of barbarism. They are the result of attempts to fix accurately the divisions of time for the regulation of religious rites, and among the nations of the south constitute the great body of art. No well developed calendar is known among the wild tribes of North America, the highest achievements in this line consisting of simple pictographic symbols of the years; but there is no reason why the mound-builders should not have achieved a pretty accurate division of time resembling, in its main features, the systems of their southern neighbors.

The Bird. With nearly all peoples the bird has been an important symbol. Possessing the mysterious power of flight, by means of which it could rise at pleasure into the realms of space, it naturally came to be associated with the phenomena of the sky,-the wind, the thunder, the lightning, and the rain. In the fervid imagination of the red man it became the actual ruler of the elements, the guardian of the four quarters of the heavens. As a result of this the bird is embodied in the philosophy of many tribes. The eagle, the swan, the woodpecker, the owl, and the dove were creatures of unusual consideration; their flight was noted as a matter of vital importance, as it served to indicate the future fortunes of the hunter and warrior.

The dove, with the Hurons, was thought to be the keeper of the souls of the dead, and the Navajos are said to believe that four white swans dwell in the four quarters of the heavens and rule the winds.

The storm-bird of the Dakotas dwells in the upper air, beyond the range of human vision, carrying upon its back a lake of fresh water; when it winks its eyes, there is lightning; when it flaps its wings, we hear the thunder; and when it shakes out its plumage, the rain descends. Myths like this abound in the lore of many peoples, and the story of the mysterious bird is interwoven with the traditions which tell of their origin. A creature which has sufficient power to guide and rule a race is constantly embodied in its songs, its art, and its philosophy. Thus, highly regarded by the modern tribes, it must have been equally an object of consideration among