Page:The Journal of geology (IA journalofgeology11893univ).pdf/173

finally upon record, an excellent thing to do, appeared in Science for February 3, 1893.

The question may now be raised as to the value to be attached to this find, since the observation is one upon which much is made to depend. In September, 1892, I visited Newcomerstown and examined the site of the discovery of this interesting object, which is shown in the accompanying plate. The town is built along the margin and on the slopes of a glacial terrace, formed about the end of a spur of the hills which projects into the valley on the north side of the Tuscarawas. The exposures of the gravels in the railway ballast pit are excellent, showing them to be ordinary irregularly bedded deposits of sand and gravel. It is a sufficiently promising place for the recovery of such implements or objects as the gravels may happen to contain. The formations are very loosely bedded, and it takes but a short time after the desertion of the site by workmen, especially if the weather is wet, to cover the exposures with talus. Large masses are liable to fall, carrying with them all objects resting upon and near the surface. A collector not on his guard, or not appreciating the nature or significance of finds, might readily, when afterwards questioned about the matter, give a faulty diagnosis of the conditions of discovery. The case in hand is one in which double assurance of verity is called for, yet it is one in which uncertainty resulting from the lack of experience and possible, I may say probable, carelessness of the collector is augmented by the treachery of the gravels. This uncertainty is again emphasized by the discovery, made at the time of my visit, that this terrace is probably an old Indian village site, and certainly a shop site where flint was flaked, many rejects and flakes occurring upon the very brink of the pit. Of course I found no duplicate of the specimen in question, for duplicates are raræ aves; but I saw enough to convince me of the danger of hastily and unqualifiedly making use of the observation made by Mr. Mills, especially since the material of which this object is made occurs in the neighborhood, and must have been used by the Indians inhabiting this site.