guardians; perhaps tribal totems marking territorial limits; some may
have been of use as game drives; some may even have served as fetich
helpers in the hunt, like the prey gods of Zuñi. We may never know
their full meaning. It is sufficient here for me to remind you what
they are and where. They are nearly confined to a belt of moderate
width stretching through Wisconsin and overlapping into Minnesota and
Iowa. Within this area they occur by hundreds. Dr. Lapham published a
great work on the effigy mounds in 1855, in which he gave the results
of many accurate surveys and described many interesting localities.
Since his time no one has paid so much attention to the effigies as
Stephen D. Peet, editor of the _American Antiquarian_, whose articles
have during this year been presented in book form. Mr. Peet has paid
much attention to the kind of animals represented, and has, it seems
to us, more nearly solved the question than any one else. He
recognizes four classes of animals--land animals or quadruped mammals,
always shown in profile; amphibians, always shown as sprawling, with
all four feet represented; birds, recognized by their wings; and
fishes, characterized by the absence of limbs of any kind. The land
animals are subdivided into horned grazers and fur bearers. Of the
many species he claims to find, it seems to us the most satisfactorily
identified are the buffalo, moose, deer, or elk; the panther, bear,
fox, wolf and squirrel; the lizard and turtle; the eagle, hawk, owl,
goose and crane; and fishes. One or two man mounds are known, although
most of those so-called are bird mounds--either the hawk or the owl.
Sometimes, too, "composite mounds" are found. Nor are these mounds all
that are found. Occasionally the same forms are found _in intaglio_,
cut into the ground instead of being built above it, but just as
carefully and artistically made. Notice, in addition to the form of
these strange earth works, that they are so skillfully done that the
attitude frequently suggests action or mood. Nor are they placed at