Animal Carvings from Mounds of the Mississippi Valley

Animal Carvings from Mounds of the Mississippi Valley is by Henry W. Henshaw. The contents list, among others, has sections called Introductory, Manatee, Toucan, Paroquet and Knowledge of tropical animals by Mound-Builders. The text says some of the sculptured animals from the mounds have excited much interest, and that the main purpose of the present paper is to examine critically the evidence offered in behalf of the identification of the more important of them.

On the authority of Mr. Dall, the Busycon (Pyrula) perversa is not only found in the United States, but extends along the coast up to Charleston, S.C. The text speaks of the erroneous identification of the manatee, the toucan, and of several other animals having been pointed out. The text says the argument that because a tribe or people is less given than another to conventional methods of art, it therefore must necessarily be in a higher stage of culture, is entitled to much less weight than it has sometimes received.