HEATING AND LIGHTING UTENSILS IN NATIONAL MUSEUM 9 



similar use of palm nuts among the Tule Indians of San Bias, 

 Panama.^ The presence of this device in the New World seems 

 anomalous and could be explained by acculturation, the oriental 

 contact with Panama having been long continued. So far as known 

 no other torch of this type has been observed in America. (PI. 4&, 

 fig. 3, Cat. No. 327508; Richard O. Marsh; 18.9 inches (48 cm.) 

 long.) 



TOBCH HOLDERS 



Torch-holding devices have an interesting history, not so familiar 

 as the multitudinous candleholders, nevertheless covering a period 

 about which much is yet to be learned. A torch is usually conceived 

 of as an object to be held in the hand and requiring the attention 

 of one man. Traveling or hunting parties must delegate some mem- 

 ber or servant as bearer and caretaker of the torch. About the camp 

 or living place the temporary torch offers no difficulty when ingenu- 

 ity was sufficient to provide for it. Where torches are used to supply 

 light in ceremonies held on moonless nights and without the great 

 fire which illuminated primitive rites, some need would be apparent 

 to make the torch stationary. This would imply a marked advance 

 over early culture. Such devices are observed among uncivilized 

 peoples and as survivals. These devices are crude and appear as 

 extemporaneous as the various makeshifts to mount the candle, men- 

 tioned later. The problem of setting up the torch is in line with 

 the problem of installing the candle in a later stage of progress. It 

 is noteworthy that the installation of the resin torch in the Simalur 

 Islands, East Indies, shows a considerable advance, paralleling that 

 of the candle and simple lamp in an advanced social stage. The 

 first form consists of a rattan bent into a bow, the ends fastened to 

 parallel strips of wood. The strips are sprung out and a resin torch 

 inserted. The frame resembles a bamboo lamp of Chinese deriva- 

 tion seen in the Philippines. The other specimen is carved from 

 light wood. It consists of an upright set up at one end of a flat 

 long-oval base. The upright has a mortise cut through it about 

 the middle, and through the hole are slipped two thin strips of wood, 

 acting as a clamp for the resin torch. It will be seen that the prin- 

 ciple of the clamp is applied in both specimens. A more primitive 

 clamp is found in the split stick for the insertion of a torch used in 

 the Philippines. (PL 5a, fig. 1, Cat. No. 216338, Sigoeli, Simalur 

 Island; Dr. W. L. Abbott; 22 inches wide, 23 inches high (56 cm., 

 58.5 cm.). PI. 5a, fig. 2, Cat. No. 216339, Sibabo Bay, Simalur 

 Island; Dr. W. L. Abbott; 28% inches high, 10 inches by 18 inches 

 base (72.5 cm., 25.5 cm. by 45.75 cm.).) 



* H. W. Krieger. Material Culture of the Tribes of Southeastern Panama. Buli. 134, 

 D. S. Nat. Mus., Washington, 1926. 



