Metates or grain-grinders, pestles and rubbing stones belong to the milling industry among the Indians. The metates are generally quite large and heavy, and could not well be transported with the limited means at the command of Indians. They are therefore well adapted to the uses of village Indians, who remain permanently in a place and prosecute agricultural pursuits. They are generally of rectangular shape, and from 10 to 20 inches in length by 6 to 12 in width, and are composed of various kinds of rock, the harder, coarse-grained kinds being preferable, though in some instances sandstone is employed; the most desirable stone is porous lava. These stones are sometimes carried with families of the Pueblos moving short distances to the valleys of streams in which they have farms in cultivation. In the permanent villages they are arranged in small rectangular bins (see Fig. 508), each about 20 inches wide and deep, the whole series ranging from 5 to 10 feet in length, according to the number of bins or divisions. The walls are usually of sandstone. In each compartment one of these metates or grinding stones is firmly set at a proper angle to make it convenient to the kneeling female grinder. In this arrangement of the slabs those of different degrees of texture are so placed as to produce an increased degree of fineness to the meal or flour as it is passed from one to the other. But a small number of these slabs were collected on account of their great weight. Accompanying these metates are long, slim, flat stones, which are rubbed up and down the slabs, thus crushing the grain. These hand-stones are worn longitudinally into various shapes; some have two flat sides, while the third side remains oval. The same variety exists in regard to the texture of these rubbing-stones, as in the concave grinders. The pueblo of Zuñi, from which the most important portion of the collection was obtained, is situated in New Mexico, near the western border, about two hundred miles southwest from Santa Fé. At the time of Coronado’s visit to this country the pueblo was located at what is now known as “Old Zuñi,” on the summit of a high _mesa_. The modern Zuñi is situated upon a knoll in the valley of the Zuñi River, about two miles from the site of the old town. Certain writers have regarded Zuñi, or rather “Old Zuñi,” as one of the “Seven Cities of Cibola.” The evidences found at and around both the old and present Zuñi are certainly not sufficient to warrant this view, and further and more careful investigations are necessary.