308 Field Museum of Natural History — Anth., Vol. X. 



I think is a plausible explanation. The two pieces show traces of gilding 

 and resemble helmets in their shape and are moulded into the figure 

 of a curious monster which it is difficult to name. It seems to me that 

 it is possibly some fabulous giant bird, for on the sides, two wings, each 

 marked with five pinions, are brought out; a long curved neck rises 

 from below and ends in a head on the top; it seems to terminate in a 

 beak, though the two triangular ears do not fit the conception of a bird. 

 A rectangular crest emerges above the head. It will be noticed that 

 here the same principle of artistic arrangement in the parts of the 

 monster is followed as in the previous example of the frog. 



In the smaller one of the two a flat bottom is inserted which is missing 

 in the other piece. It had been also there, as may be seen from the 

 presence of four teeth inside near the base, for the purpose of holding 

 the bottom. 



In the ya-siu of Fig. 3, Plate XL (4.5 cm long and wide, 3.5 cm high), 

 a tiger-head is produced with felicitous realism. The open jaws exhibit 

 four fangs, a row of incisors and two pairs of the molars on either side. 

 The head rises from a rounded bronze plaque and is provided with a 

 large opening on either side near the base, apparently for the passage 

 of a cord. It looks as if this piece had been fastened in this way around 

 the wrist of the corpse. The religious significance of the tiger has 

 been discussed above p. 182. 



