form of a manatee appearing on any object claimed to have originated at
the hands of the Mound-Builders, and from the fact that artists have
interpreted its outline so differently, this figure, given by the
latest commentators on the Cincinnati tablet, is interesting, and has
seemed worthy of mention. As, however, the authenticity of the tablet
itself is not above suspicion, but, on the contrary, is believed by many
archæologists to admit of grave doubts, the subject need not be pursued
further here.

[Illustration: Fig. 13.--Cincinnati Tablet. (Back.) From
Short.]


TOUCAN.

The _a priori_ probability that the toucan was known to the
Mound-Builders is, of course, much less than that the manatee was, since
no species of toucan occurs farther north than Southern Mexico. Its
distant habitat also militates against the idea that the Mound-Builders
could have acquired a knowledge of the bird from intercourse with
southern tribes, or that they received the supposed toucan pipes by way
of trade. Without discussing the several theories to which the toucan
pipes have given rise, let us first examine the evidence offered as to
the presence in the mounds of sculptures of the toucan.

It is a little perplexing to find at the outset that Squier and Davis,
not content with one toucan, have figured three, and these differing
from each other so widely as to be referable, according to modern
ornithological ideas, to very distinct orders.