592 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Fig. 



-Miniature Wooden Mask. Delaware Indian. 



tionalized representation of some animal form. This is con- 

 firmed, I think, by referring to Fig. 4, which represents another 



specimen of gorget of 

 most interesting charac- 

 ter. The difference be- 

 tween the two is very de- 

 cided, and yet the re- 

 lationship is not lost. 

 What, indeed, the figure 

 depicted on this circular 

 gorget is intended for is 

 problematical. That it 

 is animal-like no one will 

 dispute. And with the 

 two gorgets described, 

 both of which are very 

 old and made of stone, 

 compare the illustration 

 here given (Fig. 5) of 

 the handle of a wooden 

 spoon, of very recent 

 date. Here we see the 

 same ornamentation or 

 representation of the same idea. It is scarcely probable that this 

 should have been accidental, and is, further, an exemplification 

 of the expression of an idea 

 by symmetrically arranged 

 lines, and not an effort mere- 

 ly to relieve the monotony 

 of a plain surface. 



We are now brought to 

 consider realistic represen- 

 tations of familiar objects. 

 The human face is one of 

 these ; and whether the In- 

 dian first made a few lines 

 and dots to express it, or cor- 

 rectly depicted it, is difficult 

 to determine. It can be made 

 to appear very forcibly, upon 

 a smooth surface, by two 

 dots and two lines, thus : 

 * [* ; but did the Indian ever 

 adopt such means ? I have 

 never seen it, but Fig. 6 is 



Certainly an approach to Fl(i> -Miniatube Wooden Mask. 



Delaware Indian. 



