G. GENERAL NATURAL HISTORY AND ZOOLOGY. 235 



traps for the martens, the skins of which they secure. The 

 natives, therefore, have plenty to eat, and can obtain all they 

 need otherwise than by trading their peltry. Whenever the 

 rabbits become scarce, however, the martens do not congre- 

 gate, and the Indians have no fixed points at which to estab- 

 lish themselves for the season ; and being reduced to very 

 great straits for lack of food, are then obliged to depend upon 

 fishing, or hunting the buffalo, deer, or other animals. 12 A, 

 January 25, 1872, 240. 



USE OF THE BOOMERANG BY AMERICAN INDIANS. 



It is a fact not generally known among ethnologists that 

 the Indians alon2f the Colorado River and elsewhere in Ari- 

 zona and California make use of an instrument shaped almost 

 precisely like the Australian boomerang. This instrument, 

 as used in Australia, consists of a flat piece of wood, bent 

 with one or two gentle curves nearly in the same plane, and 

 generally with a slight twist. It requires great skill to use 

 this weapon with effect, but the Australians perform great 

 feats in knocking down and killing objects of the chase with 

 it. The American boomerang, however, lies more commonly 

 in one plane, instead of being slightly twisted, and is princi- 

 pally used by the Indians in killing rabbits, in which they 

 acquire very great skill. 



Specimens of this implement, obtained from the Yuma In- 

 dians by Dr. Edward Palmer, are in the ethnological depart- 

 ment of the National Museum at the Smithsonian Institution. 

 San Francisco Bulletin^ June 21, 1872. 



DWARFED HUMAN HEAD. 



Among the more interesting collections lately received by 

 the Smithsonian Institution, in the department of ethnology, 

 is a mummied human head, retaining all the form and features 

 of life, including the hair, lips, etc., but reduced by some pe- 

 culiar process so as not to exceed the size of an ordinary fist. 

 These heads are found among the Javaro tribes in the prov- 

 ince of Chimborazo, in Peru, and are said to be of very great 

 antiquity, there being no indication of recent preparation. 

 They are believed to be the heads of enemies slain in battle, 

 and preserved in this way as trophies of victory. 



The interior of the head has been entirely emptied of flesh, 



