d Mr. Croyden. "On the contrary, we have found in
our own hemisphere specimens of this prehistoric pottery. In some
cases baskets of twigs were woven and lined with clay, after which
they were baked in the fire and the twigs burned off. Other pieces
were built up from coils of clay wound round and round, and when
partly hardened these were worked together with a tool in order that
the cracks might be filled. All through the western part of our
country have been found clay relics of various early tribes of
Indians; and in some places are giant mounds in which have been buried
all sorts of crude clay jugs and bowls. Since these primal peoples
used for materials the natural clays and earths they succeeded in
producing some excellent colors, too."

Mr. Croyden paused.

"Was the potter's wheel in use then?" questioned Dr. Swift.

"Probably not. There is no trace of it in this early work. It is not
until the historic age that we have the potter's wheel, the oldest and
first mechanical device mentioned in history. Mexicans, Peruvians,
Egyptians, Greeks, Assyrians, Romans, Gauls, Teutons all used it."

"I have seen some of the old Mexican or Aztec pottery," declared
Dr. Swift, "and it was very interesting. It was of reddish clay, and
I was told it was much like the variety made in Peru. Not only were
there roughly modeled dishes and jars in the collection, but also all
sorts of strange clay idols. You see, instead of worshipping the gods
of goodness, Theo, these early peoples thought they could propitiate
the gods of evil if they worshipped them instead; accordingly they
made all sorts of grotesque images, some of them very hideous. None of
this clay work was glazed, of course, for at that time men had not yet
discovered that they could put a glaze over the surface of objects and
thus protect them and render them water-tight. It was a great pity
that Cortez and his followers destroyed this early Mexican
civilization, which was surprisingly advanced.

"I suppose the Peruvians had also gone quite as far if not further
than the Aztecs when in 1531 Pizarro invaded South America," rejoined
Mr. Croyden. "They were making some very good pottery decorated in
red, black, and brown; and they must have known how to bake it, or the
colors in the design would not have lasted until now."

Mr. Croyden rose to stamp out a spark that had snapped from the
fireplace onto the fur rug at his feet.

"Strange, isn't it, how much of our knowle