Ohio History Journal

286        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

worship. It may have been the great religious temple of the mound

builders for the Ohio Valley. The book gives a full account of the

rescue of the mound from destruction, by Prof. F. W. Putnam, the

eminent American archaeologist of Cambridge, Mass. Professor Putnam

succeeded in interesting some worthy and philanthropic ladies of Boston

who purchased the property, restored it and presented it to the Peabody

Museum. The latter institution subsequently transferred it to the trus-

tees of Harvard University who in turn (1900) deeded it to the Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society under whose care and control

it now remains. This wonderful and awe-inspiring relic of the mound

builders is the greatest of its kind in magnitude and mystery in the

entire territory in which the mound builders of America seemed to have

found field for their strange monuments. In this volume the author

gives not only a complete and accurate description of the serpent but also

the various theories advanced by the leading archaeological writers and

students upon its origin, age and use. A large portion of the volume is

further devoted to the worship of the serpent, perhaps the primal form

of worship in the most primitive stage of nearly every race. The little

volume has met with a most welcome reception not only by students and

scholars but the general reader who is interested in the curious and inex-

plicable. The author has devoted much careful attention to the literature

on the worship of the serpent and has consulted nearly all of the authori-

ties now accessible upon this fascinating subject. The mound was first

described by Squier and Davis in their monumental volume on the mounds

of the Mississippi Valley and which was published about 1848 under the

auspices of the Smithsonian Institute. The monthly publication known

as RECORDS OF THE PAST, published in Washington, D. C., and edited by

Professor G. Frederick Wright and Mr. Frederick Bennett Wright, in its

April number presents a very complete and complimentary review of the

book, reproducing many of its illustrations. In conclusion the reviewer

says: "Much could he written as to the various theories held by differ-

ent people, but a very good idea has been given by Mr. Randall of the

most commonly accepted theory by the persons who have studied the

subject carefully. Altogether this little book is the most authoritative

treatise upon the Serpent Mound of Ohio which we have seen, and we

can confidently recommend it to the circle of readers of the RECORDS OF

THE PAST."

 

 

THE OHIO CANALS.

Another volume issued by the Ohio State Archaeological and His-

torical Society late in the fall of 1905 and which has not yet been noticed

in the pages of the Quarterly is the "HISTORY OF THE OHIO CANALS; their

construction, cost, use and partial abandonement." This volume contain-

ing some 200 pages is the result of the studies of two post-graduate

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Editorialana.                        287

 

students of the Ohio State University, Mr. C. P. McClelland and Mr.

C. C. Huntington, working under the direction of Professor J. E. Hagerty

of the Department of Political Science and Economics, Ohio State Uni-

versity, and by whom the preface is written. In an introductory note

by the Secretary of the Society it is said: "This monograph does not

attempt, of course, to discuss in any way the question of the policy of

the State as to the retention or abandonment of the canals. The pur-

pose has simply been to put forth in concise and accurate manner all

the data necessary for a thorough understanding of the constructive,

financial and economic history of the Ohio canals."

Probably no other single publication presents in so concise and

complete a manner all the information concerning the various features of

the history and construction and use of the canals as does this volume.

It treats exhaustively of the cost to the state, method of raising the

money, manner of building, extent of traffic and travel upon the same;

the industrial and economic effect, both direct and indirect, upon the state.

There are complete tables of the financial features of the canals, rates

of toll and so on for each successive year from 1827 to the present time.

An excellent map of the Ohio canals, proposed, existing and abandoned,

drawn by Mr. A. H. Sawyer of the Canal Commissioner's office accom-

panies the little volume. For many years there has been a great demand

for the varied information which this little volume supplies. It is sold

by the society at the prices of 50 cents and $1.00 for paper and cloth

editions respectively.

 

 

ELECTRIC RAILROAD TO SERPENT MOUND.

We have received a prospectus setting forth the proposed electric

railroad which is to be built from Hillsboro, Highland County, through

Peebles and West Union, Adams County, to Aberdeen, Brown County,

and touching at many intervening towns. This project particularly in-

terests the members and friends of the Ohio State Archaeological and His-

torical Society, as the road will pass the entrance of the Serpent Mound

Park, thereby rendering Serpent Mound accessible in a manner which

has never before existed. As it is now it can be reached only by

vehicle travel from Peebles, the nearest railway station some six miles

distant. Inconvenient as its location now is, hundreds visit it each year

but with the proposed methods of approach the number of visitors will

be vastly increased and the interest taken in this wonderful pre-historic

monument will be greatly extended. Those of a highly sentimental and

poetic temperament may be somewhat "shocked" if indeed they do not

lament, that this curious earth structure of a vanished race is to be a

side station of the  electric currents of modern rapid transit. But the

advance of modern conveniences is no respecter of persons, existing or

extinct. It is a far cry from the centuries ago when the Mound Builders

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