126 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.42. 



field oven with its draft hole. Another perforation extends hori- 

 zontally through the wall near the base of the pipe. The exterior 

 of the pipe has as fine a finish as the material will bear and is well 

 shaped. Length, 13f inches; diameters, 2f , 2h, and 1| inches. (Cat. 

 No. 98228, U.S.N.M., New Mexico. Collected by E. W. Nelson.) 

 (PI. 13 a.) 



Another cloud-blower is of coarse tufa of yellow-brown color, 

 excavated from both ends, giving an hourglass-shaped section; 

 form, a truncated cone with raised molding near larger extremity. 

 Traces of vertical bands of red, yellow, and black pigment appear 

 on the surface. Half of the blower is missing. Found in a cere- 

 monial room of the large pueblo ruin on Spur ranch, near Luna, New 

 Mexico. Length, 8f inches; diameter, 4 inches; diameter of mouth- 

 piece, 3 1 inches; lower end, 2| inches; orifice. If inches. (Cat. No. 

 231904, U.S.N.M. CoUected by Walter Hough.) (PI. 13 6.) 



In his important and valuable paper on aboriginal pipes and 

 smoking customs,^ Mr. J. D. McGuire has brought together by far 

 the largest collection of information on this subject. The pipe, 

 this author has pointed out, antedates the use of narcotic herbs, 

 such as tobacco, and he concludes that ''the importance of smoke 

 appears to have been chiefly, if not entirely, due to its supposed 

 medicinal properties." Mr. McGuire also points out that the offer- 

 ings of incense by the Aztecs to the Spanish invaders under Cortes 

 were in many respects similar to the familiar pipe customs of the 

 Indians, and pipes of like shape are traced from southern Mexico 

 to British possessions in the north. 



It is manifest that the custom of smoking did not originate in 

 gustatory enjoyment, but following along the line of the develop- 

 ment of the fire cult, smoke had an esoteric or sacred meaning. 

 The first offerings would be from a static fireplace, such as the 

 camp fire, and as progress was made in the arts of hfe the caring for 

 fire in portable appliances would give rise to braziers in great 

 variety — as, for example, the bowl-shaped censer of the Lacan- 

 dones and the handled censer of the Nahuatl, which correspond 

 respectively, to the static and handled censers of Japan and China. 

 The swinging censer of Europe is evidently a development of a 

 sedentary vase form. The pipe itself seems to be a develoj)ment 

 from a sedentary form which has survived in the "great pipes" 

 sometimes occurring among the North American Indians. As an 

 outgrowth of environment, culture, and customs, smaller pipe 

 forms were adopted and the original intention of smoke offerings 

 was much modified by individual circumstances. We have also an 

 interesting analogy between the handled censer in Mexico and the 

 peace pipe used in ceremonies by the North American Indians, 



> Ann. Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus., 188V, footnote, p. 125. 



