follows: Of forty-five of the animal carvings, including a few of clay,
which are figured in Squier and Davis's work, eleven are left unnamed by
the authors as not being recognizable; nineteen are identified
correctly, in a general way, as of a wolf, bear, heron, toad, &c.;
sixteen are demonstrably wrongly identified, leaving but five of which
the species is correctly given.

From this showing it appears that either the above authors' zoological
knowledge was faulty in the extreme, or else the mound sculptors'
ability in animal carving has been amazingly overestimated. However just
the first supposition may be, the last is certainly true.




SKILL IN SCULPTURE OF MOUND-BUILDERS.


In considering the degree of skill exhibited by the mound sculptors in
their delineation of the features and characteristics of animals, it is
of the utmost importance to note that the carvings of birds and animals
which have evoked the most extravagant expressions of praise as to the
exactness with which nature has been copied are uniformly those which,
owing to the possession of some unusual or salient characteristic, are
exceedingly easy of imitation. The stout body and broad flat tail of the
beaver, the characteristic physiognomy of the wild cat and panther, so
utterly dissimilar to that of other animals, the tufted head and
fish-eating habits of the heron, the raptorial bill and claws of the
hawk, the rattle of the rattlesnake, are all features which the rudest
skill could scarcely fail to portray.