l, were minced to a soft paste, or
even entirely gone. At Adakh a fancy prompted me to dig into a small
knoll near the ancient shell-heap, and here we found, in a precisely
similar sarcophagus, the remains of a skeleton, of which also only
the cranium retained sufficient consistency to admit of
preservation. This inclosure, however, was filled with a dense peaty
mass not reduced to mold, the result of centuries of sphagnous
growth, which had reached a thickness of nearly 2 feet above the
remains. When we reflect upon the well-known slowness of this kind
of growth in these northern regions, attested by numerous Arctic
travelers, the antiquity of the remains becomes evident.

It seems beyond doubt that in the majority of cases, especially as
regards the caves of the Western States and Territories, the interments
were primary ones, and this is likewise true of many of the caverns of
Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, for in the three States mentioned many
mummies have been found, but it is also likely that such receptacles
were largely used as places of secondary deposits. The many fragmentary
skeletons and loose bones found seem to strengthen this view.

EMBALMMENT OR MUMMIFICATION.

Following and in connection with cave burial, the subject of mummifying
or embalming the dead may be taken up, as most specimens of the kind
have generally been found in such repositories.

It might be both interesting and instructive to search out and discuss
the causes which have led many nations or tribes to adopt certain
processes with a view to prevent that return to dust which all flesh
must sooner or later experience, but the necessarily limited scope of
this work precludes more than a brief mention of certain theories
advanced by writers of note, and which relate to the ancient Egyptians.
Possibly at the time the Indians of America sought to preserve their
dead from decomposition, some such ideas may have animated them, but on
this point no definite information has been procured. In the final
volume an effort will be made to trace out the origin of mummification
among the Indians and aborigines of this continent.

The Egyptians embalmed, according to Cassien, because during the time of
the annual inundation no interments could take place, but it is more
than likely that this hypothesis is entirely fanciful. It is said by
others they believed that so long as the body was preserved from
corruption the soul rem