5o8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



shortest not over thirty-six inches. They are all roughly dressed 

 to a round shape, and are quite devoid of ornamentation. 



Miss Bird's description of their poison-arrows is so exact that 

 I take the liberty of transcribing it entire : " The arrows are very 

 peculiar, and are made in three pieces, the point consisting of a 

 sharpened piece of bone with an elongated cavity on one side for 

 the reception of the poison. The point or head is very slightly 

 fastened by a lashing of bark to a fusiform piece of bone about 

 four inches long, which is in turn lashed to a [reed] shaft about 

 fourteen inches long, the other end of which is sometimes [usu- 

 ally] equipped with a triple feather, and sometimes is not. The 

 poison is placed in the enlongated cavity in the head in a very 

 soft state, and hardens afterward. In some of the arrow-heads, 

 fully half a teaspoonful of the paste is inserted. From the nature 

 of the very slight lashings which attach the arrow-head to the 

 shaft, it constantly remains fixed in the slight wound that it 

 makes, while the shaft falls off." 



The exact composition of this poison is not known, I believe, 

 but aconite {Aconitu77i Japonicum, a monkshood) is doubtless the 

 principal ingredient. The Ainu claim, that a single wound kills a 

 bear in ten minutes, seems to be well grounded, although few for- 

 eigners have ever accompanied them on their bear-hunts. They 

 allege that the flesh is not rendered unfit for eating, though they 

 take the precaution of cutting away a considerable quantity of it 

 round the wound as soon as they can get at the bear. 



In using the bow, it is held upright, grasped near the middle 

 by the left hand, and held as nearly as possible at arm's length. 

 The string and nock of the arrow are caught between the thumb 

 and first inner joint of the forefinger of the right hand. The arrow 

 is passed on the right-hand side of the bow and between the first 

 and second fingers of the left hand. The pull is made toward the 

 right ear, as in Western archery, but, owing to the stiffness of the 

 bow and the shortness of the arrow, it is not a very long pull. 

 That is not necessary, however, for the bow is only used at close 

 quarters, when the aim need not be very accurate. The string 

 was formerly made of attush, but they now use hemp or hard- 

 twisted cotton. 



Attention is now directed to the provision for recreation and exercise in 

 girls' schools. While a great improvement has been realized in the matter, it is 

 still in most schools quite insufficient. The usual provision for calisthenics, light 

 games, and geological and botanical walks, is only held to be good as far as it 

 goes. It can not pretend to contribute to the making of sound women in the 

 sense in which the perfect freedom of activity given to boys tends to make 

 them sound men. Perhaps notions of the degree of physical freedom it is proper 

 to allow girls at school are at fault. 



