al figure. Mr. MacLean's researches and measurements have
shown that the ridges last spoken of are but part of what is either a
distinct figure or a very important portion of the original figure. As
figured, it certainly bears a very close resemblance to a frog, and such
Mr. MacLean concludes it to be.

There is both a similarity and a difference between this work and those
of Wisconsin. The fact that it occurs isolated, the other effigies in
Ohio being many miles away, shows that some special purpose must have
been subserved by it. There the great numbers gave us a hint as to their
purpose. In this case, however, nearly all observers conclude that it
was a religious work. Mr. MacLean, after describing these three figures,
propounds this query: "Does the frog represent the creative, the egg
the passive, and the serpent the destructive power of nature?" Not a
few writers, though not acquainted with the presence of the frog-shaped
figure, have been struck with the combination of the egg and the
serpent, that plays such an important part in the mythology of the Old
World. We are told that the serpent, separate or in combination with
the circle, egg, or globe, has been a predominant symbol among many
primitive nations. "It prevailed in Egypt, Greece, and Assyria, and
entered widely into the superstitions of the Celts, the Hindoos, and the
Chinese." "Wherever native religions have had their scope, this symbol
is sure to appear."<54>

Even the Indians have made use of this symbol. On Big Medicine Butte, in
Dakota Territory, near Pierre, is a train of stones arranged in the form
of a serpent, which is probably the work of the Sioux Indians. Around
about on the hill is the burying-ground of their chiefs. This was to
them sacred ground, and no whites were allowed near. The stones are
about the size of a man's head, and are laid in two rows, from one to
six feet apart. The length in all is three hundred and fifty feet, and
at the tail, stones, to represent rattles, are rudely carved. The eyes
are formed by two big red bowlders. No grass was allowed to grow between
the two rows of stone.<55>

It seems reasonable to suppose that the few isolated effigy mounds we
have outside of Wisconsin were built to subserve a different purpose
than those in that State. Mr. Peet has made some remarks on their
probable use that seem to us to cover the ground, and to do away with
any necessity of supposing on the part of its builders an acquainta