Excerpt from The Archaeological Collection of the United States National Museum: In Charge of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C Though the Smithsonian collections chiefly embrace aboriginal manufac tures, ancient and recent, derived from the northern half of the continent, or, in other words, from the vast territory bounded by the Atlantic and the Pacific, the arctic regions and the southern frontier of Mexico, it possesses, in addi tion, many valuable specimens, and even large collections, from the Antilles and from Central and South America. Perhaps the most important of these collections is one from Porto Rico, presented by the late Mr. George Latimer, for a long time a resident of that island. It comprises many specimens of pottery of a peculiar character, and several hundred articles of stone, among them one hundred and twenty-seven celts, numerous pestles, masks, rubbing stones, and, above all, a rich series of those curious oval or horse-collar-shaped objects, which have for many years attracted the attention and elicited the comments of archaeologists, both in Europe and in America. This collection is probably unsurpassed by any other derived from the Island Of Porto Rico. The Central American States are represented by hundreds of specimens of pottery and objects of stone, some of them of remarkable character. The large stone idols Obtained by Mr. E. G. Squier in Nicaragua, and described and figured by him in his well-known work on that State, are among the most valued relics of the National Museum. Peru has furnished a large collection of pottery, consisting of one hundred and twenty vessels moulded in the peculiar style formerly prevalent among the aborigines of that country, and also a number of mummies, or rather desiccated human bodies. The other parts of South America - Chile, Guiana, Brazil, and even the southernmost region of the continent, Tierra del Fuego - have likewise contributed their share to enrich the Museum of the capital. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.