POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



57i 



louder the cough, the keener appears to be 

 the enjoyment of the smoker and his com- 

 panions. The pipe is passed round, until 

 the whole of the smokers are engaged in 

 violent contortions, accompanied by an al- 

 most terrifying coughing." 



Aboriginal Art in Copper. Very inter- 

 esting specimens of objects made of wood 

 and covered with copper have been found 

 among the relics of the American aborigines. 

 Several have been described by Prof. F. W. 

 Putnam and by Warren K. Moorehead, both 

 of whom have found them in Ohio. Other 

 objects have been found of copper sheathed 

 with silver, gold, or meteoric iron. It is 

 shown clearly that the American aborigines 

 in the Mississippi Valley and in South Amer- 

 ica had the art of cold-hammering copper, of 

 beating it so as to overlie and fit upon a 

 warped or curved surface, and of turning the 

 edges under. Yet more elaborate work is 

 exhibited in two specimens sent to the Na- 

 tional Museum by Lieutenant G. T. Emmons, 

 United States Navy, of figures of humming- 

 birds in wood, well carved and painted red, 

 each wing and tail of which is overlaid with 

 a covering of sheet copper, pressed down to 

 fit and turned under at the margins so as to 

 be held fast. The surfaces are adorned with 

 the conventional wing and eye signs of the 

 Haidas. Especial attention is invited by Mr. 

 Otis T. Mason to the carving on the copper. 

 The furrows and ridges are all cut with steel 

 tools. The work is regarded by Mr. Mason 

 as " above and beyond the ability of the 

 aboriginal metallurgists of the Mississippi 

 Valley." 



Korean Hats. The hats of the Koreans 

 are described by Mr. H. S. Saunderson as 

 shaped somewhat like inverted flower-pots, 

 with broad, straight brims, measuring nearly 

 two feet across ; while the crowns are about 

 six inches high and three inches in diameter 

 at the top. " The shape is undoubtedly due 

 to the way the hair is dressed. These hats 

 are made of horsehair or very finely split 

 bamboo, beautifully plaited, and are var- 

 nished, as a protection against the weather. 

 They are invariably stained black, except for 

 half mourning, when they are string-color 

 (that is, of natural hemp). They are usually 

 fitted with bands which are tied under the 



chin, but in the case of high officials these 

 bands are replaced by a long string of beads 

 joined at each end to the hat. This hat does 

 not fit upon the head itself, but rests upon 

 a tightly fitting skullcap, held in place by 

 strings tied round the head. The natives 

 are very careful of their hats, for they are 

 expensive, and when it rains they always 

 protect them with little coverings of the oiled 

 paper for which the country is famous, and 

 of which they make their waterproof coats, 

 tobacco pouches, and fans. The officials, 

 when on court duty, wear even more extraor- 

 dinary hats than these, but their shapes are 

 so fantastic that it is perfectly impossible to 

 describe them. In the winter, fur and wadded 

 head-dresses are worn under the hats. . . . 

 The official servants wear hats made of black 

 or brown camel's-hair felt with small round 

 crowns and large flat brims ; while those worn 

 by the soldiers are much the same in shape 

 as the gentry's, but are made of black felt, 

 have much smaller brims, and are bound with 

 red." The most curious hats are those of 

 the mourners, shaped like enormous toad- 

 stools, and so large as to hide the face. They 

 are made of plaited bamboo strips, and are 

 not colored. The women wear nothing on 

 their heads, except in winter, when they put 

 on curiously shaped fur caps, open at the 

 crown and adorned in front and behind with 

 red silk tassels. 



Uses of Wire. Wire is shown in Mr. J. 

 Bucknall Smith's book on its manufacture and 

 its uses, to be employed for a great variety of 

 purposes, and these having a very extended 

 range. It is used for the delicate hair springs 

 of watches, and in the form of large cables 

 supports suspension bridges. It is also used 

 in the manufacture of pins, needles, and fish- 

 hooks ; it has been applied in coils to the 

 construction of heavy ordnance, and it forms 

 the periphery of a huge fly wheel recently 

 constructed in Germany. Wire ropes are 

 valuable in supplying the means of haulage 

 in mines ; by their help materials are trans- 

 ported in the air over a rough country ; they 

 are used for the traction of tram cars, and 

 of barges along canals ; and, being stronger, 

 lighter, more durable, and cheaper, they ad- 

 vantageously replace hempen ropes for tow- 

 ing, moving, hoisting, and other purposes. 

 Filigree work is formed of fine silver and 



