fragments of corncob.

No. 156258. This consists almost entirely of plant rootlets
and sand.

No. 156259. This consists chiefly of the leaves of some
coniferous tree, either an _Abies_ or a _Pseudotsuga_.

All the seeds with the exception of those of the leguminous
plant are dead and their seed-coats rotten. The leguminous
seeds are still hard and will be subjected to a germination
test.[169]

For a specific and positive identification of these seeds it
will be necessary either for a botanist to visit the region
from which they came or to have at his disposal a complete
collection of the plants of the vicinity. Under such
conditions he could by process of exclusion identify the
seeds with an amount of labor almost infinitely less than
would be required in their identification by other means.

Very sincerely yours,

FREDERICK V. COVILLE, _Botanist._

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: See "The Prehistoric Culture of Tusayan," _American
Anthropologist_, May, 1896. "Two Ruins Recently Discovered in the Red
Rock Country, Arizona," ibid., August, 1896. "The Cliff Villages of
the Red Rock Country, and the Tusayan Ruins, Sikyatki and Awatobi,
Arizona," Smithsonian Report for 1895.]

[Footnote 2: The reader's attention is called to the fact that this
report is not intended to cover all the ruins in the section of
Arizona through which the expedition passed; it is simply a
description of those which were examined, with a brief mention of such
others as would aid in a general comprehension of the subject. The
ruins on the Little Colorado, near Winslow, Arizona, will be
considered in a monograph to follow the present, which will be a
report on the field work in 1896. If a series of monographs somewhat
of this nature, but more comprehensive, recording explorations during
many years in several different sections, were available, we would
have sufficient material for a comprehensive treatment of southwestern
archeology.]

[Footnote 3: It may be borne in mind that several other clans besides
the Patki claim to have lived long ago in the region southward from
modern Tusayan. Among these may be mentioned the Patun (Squash) and
the Tawa (Sun) people who played an important part in the early
colonization of Middle Mesa.]

[Footnote 4: Report upon the Indian Tribes, Pacific Railroad Survey,
vol. III, pt. iii, p. 14, Washington, 1856. The cavate dwellin