72 BULI^ETIN 139^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



istic odor, a pleasing color, and was said to prevent the leather from 

 hardening when drying after being wet. The Indians of the north- 

 ern woodlands preferred "smoke tanned" leather. 



The rubber maker of Para uses a smouldering fire, fed with tucuma 

 palm nuts {Astrocaryum tucuma), over which he places a clay chim- 

 ney resembling a bottomless jar or vase with legs beneath. Through 

 this hoias the thick smoke pours in a constant stream, dries, and 

 blackens the rubber.^- 



Ashes likewise had many uses, the most familiar among the Indians 

 being the removal of the husk of the maize grains. The Pueblo 

 Indians understood the alkaline character of ashes and used it as. a 

 detergent. The extraction of alkali from ashes is a very ancient 

 process, and the product was esteemed by the alchemists in pre- 

 chemical ages. 



Rockhill observes that among the T'u-ssu: 



"Fire for preparing fertilizer. The people were busy in the field, 

 cutting the sod and piling it in heaps, to which they set fire. When 

 all roots and grass had been consumed, they threw this top dressing 

 of loess and ashes over the soil, which usually received no other 

 fertilizer. " ^^ 



The bone ash of the reindeer was used by the Labrador Eskimo 

 at Fort Chimio as an absorbent of fat from skins in process of 

 tanning. ^* 



Lime burning and salt making are widely diffused arts in which 

 fire is employed. Primitive potash and salt industries are described 

 by Dr. Louis Lapicque. ^^ 



The production of tar and resins must have been exemplified in 

 the fireplaces of early man through the burning of various vegetal 

 materials. No records appear to occiu" in the Americas of the use 

 of this process, which is analogous to distillation. 



The art of distillation must be thought of comparatively late origin 

 and a secret jealously preserved by the alchemists. In Mexico stills 

 having to all appearance a quite primitive character are found in use 

 among several tribes, but the idea is no doubt of Old World 

 origin. ^^ Examples of a similar character are found in various parts 

 of the world. Koumiss is distilled by the Kalmucks in a simple still 

 producing a kind of spirits. ^^ 



MINOR TECHNOLOGY 



Among the innumerable uses of fire in a minor way may be men- 

 tioned the following: 



" H. H. Smith. Brazil. New York, 1879, p. 86 with figures of rubber maker, gourd jug in wicker, and 

 loias. 

 •3 W. W. Eockhill. Land of the Lamas, New York, 1891, p. 98. 

 »<L. M. Turner. 11th Ann. Report, Bur. Amer. Ethnol., 189 i, p. 280. 



'5 Documents cthnographiquss sur ralimontation mineral. L'Anthropologie, 189(5, vol 7, p. 35. 

 "John Q. Bourke. Distillation by Early American Indians. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 7, July, 1894, p. 297, 

 "Cyclopaedia of Universal Knowledge. Article, Horse. 



