DRILLING IN STONE WITHOUT METAL. 



399 



ligU. 



cieut Indian bow-drill, wliiclinmy have presented the shape indicated hy Fig. 10. 



The rino% it seems, encircled a massive 

 drill-hohler, to which it was fastened hy 

 pegs driven throngh the holes on its 

 periphery. Their jjvu'pose is thus fully 

 explained. 



]\Iay not an api)aratus of similar con- 

 struclion also have been known in 

 Europe diu-ing the bronze nge, and even 

 at an earlier ])eriod ? In using the pump- 

 drill, descril>ed and figured l)y me, con- 

 stant oscillations of the shaft, tending 

 to enlarge the bore, cannot be avoided; 

 but they are altogether obviated w'hen, 

 as in Fig. 10, the upper end of the shaft or drill-holder revolves around a fixed 

 point. And further, may not in Europe as well as in America the latter more 

 perfect apparatus have superseded, in the course of time, the simpler contrivance 

 with which I have experimented ? This view will not ajopear strange, considering 

 that man in all parts of the globe progressed slowl}-, and that every new develop- 

 ment of ingenuity was based upon the results i)f former experience. I 



The greater number of drilled Indian im]»lements which I had occasion to 

 examine bore the unmistakable marks of having been perforated with hollow 

 drills ; yet I have also seen Indian performances in drilling indicating tlie appli- 

 cation of solid implements. As an illustration I annex (Fig. 11, full size) the 

 drawing of a pipe consisting of almost transparent rock 

 crystal, which was taken from a mound near Bain- 

 bridge, Ross county, Ohio, and is now the property of 

 Dr. Djivis. Its shape, it will be observed, is iliat of a 

 barrel somewhat narrowing at the bottom ; it is regu- 

 larly formed and highly polished. I left the drawing 

 purposely without shading in order to indicate the two 

 hollows, of which the upper one served as the recepta- 

 cle for the smoking material, while, that which meets 

 it from the side was destined for the insertion of a stem. 

 The terminations of the hollows are rounded, and con- 

 sequently have been drilled with a solid implement. 



It is very likely that the hollotc drills of the abori- 

 gines of North America were i)ieces of that hard and 

 tough cane (Anindinaria macrospcrma, Michaux,^ 

 which grows abundantly in the southern part of the 

 United States, mostly along the banks of large rivers, 

 and forms at present an article of trade, being used for })ipe-stems and ii'shing- 

 rods. This cane varies considerably in thickness; sometimes as thin as a straw, 

 it assumes, when fully grown, the diametral proportions of a strong rille-barrel, 

 and even of larger cylindrical objects, in whicli cases it reaches the enormous 

 height of 25 or 30 feet. A })iece of this cane, from whioli the knotty joints have 

 been cut, forms a regular hollow cylinder sufficiently strong to serve as a drill. 

 I learned from Dr. Davis that many years ago a stone pi})e with an unfinished 

 hollow, partly filled with vegetable matter, was sent from i\[ississipi)i to the late 

 Dr. Sanmel G. Morton, of Fhiladelphia. "When subjected to a microscopical 

 examination the vegetable substance exhibited the librous structure of cane, and 

 thus appeared to be the remnant of a drill broken olF in the bore. It is, how- 

 ever, my intention to try the applicability of this cane by drilling experiments. 

 In conclusion, I will observe that the more finished stone articles of the former 

 inhalntants of North America, and especially the pipes from the mounds, are 



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