everything about them appear to be Eastern--their language, religion,
calendar, architecture, &c. Their worship of fire in the open air,
avoiding the use of temples, is precisely that of Zoroaster, as is
also their leading doctrine of two spirits--good and evil--ruling the
world; and the allegory of the _egg of Ormuzd_ has been found in an
earthwork on the top of a hill in Adams's County, Ohio. 'It represents
the coil of a serpent, 700 feet long, but it is thought would reach,
if deprived of its curves, 1000 feet. The jaws of the serpent are
represented as widely distended, as if in the act of swallowing. In
the interstice is an oval or egg-shaped mound.' This repetition of a
symbol is considered as further proof of Eastern derivation.

Do not suppose, however, that this is a sample of the whole volume,
for ample details and information are given on all matters connected
with the Indians--their arts, habits, pursuits, pictorial literature
(so to speak), sports, and agriculture. Some idea of their
capabilities in husbandry may be gathered from the fact, that in
Michigan, ancient 'garden-beds' have been discovered, extending for
150 miles along the banks of rivers. Students will find a mine of
information in this book, which, though but the first of a series,
contains nearly 600 pages--a rare feast for ethnologists.

The Royal Irish Academy in Dublin have published a report of their
proceedings, which comprise reports on rain-falls, meteors, ancient
urns, and other Irish antiquities, besides Roman and Carthaginian; on
hygrometry, chiefly with regard to the pressure of the dew-point; and
on artificial islands. Of the latter, it appears that several exist in
different parts of Ireland; but the one to which attention is
particularly directed is near Strokestown, Roscommon. The lake
Clonfinlough having been drained by the Board of Works, the structure
of the islet, which had long occupied its centre, was laid bare. It
proved to be about 130 feet in diameter, constructed on oak piles,
forming a sort of 'triple stockade,' with stems laid flat towards the
centre for a floor, over which earth, clay, and marl were heaped, with
two flat irregular stone-floors covering the whole at different depths
below the surface. Two canoes were also found, each hollowed out of a
single tree, and a great collection of miscellaneous ornaments and
domestic utensils--all of which being illustrative of different
periods of Irish history, will rec