FIRE AS AN AGENT IN HUMAN CULTURE 95 



into the chosen concavity on the fire stick. In this cavity the con- 

 vex end of the drill is now placed. He then apphes the flattened 

 palms of his hands to the upper end of the drill. Proceeding quite 

 slowly, ho causes the drill to rotate by moving the flattened palms 

 backwards and forwards against each other, at the same time stead- 

 ily pressing the drill downward into the cavity of the fire stick. As 

 the pahns pass down the stick the speed of rotation is gradually 

 increased to the maximum. 



"When the lower borders of the hands have arrived within 6 

 inches of the fire stick the third and little fingers of the left hand 

 are thrown around the drill to retain it firmly in position, whilst the 

 right hand is rapidly thrown upwards to enable its third and little 

 fingers to grasp the upper end of the drill. By the right hand the 

 drill is now retained in position, whilst the left is released and 

 brought upwards opposite to its fellow. The flexed fingers are now 

 extended and the flattened palms, again opposed to one another, 

 make another journey down the length of the drill. 



"As the drill rotates smoke appears, whilst the powdered wood of 

 the fire stick, gradually dribbUng down the gutter made in its side 

 leading from the cavity in which the drill is rotating, forms a little 

 mound on the sword blade. The particles forming the pile cohere, 

 but do not smoke or glow. When the mound has attained to the 

 amount that would He on a threepenny piece it is found by experi- 

 ence that a portion of it, the size of half a pea, can be blown up into 

 a solid red-hot ember. The man, therefore, having made his little 

 pile, leisurely picks up a few blades of dry grass, onto which he tilts 

 from the sword blade the Uttle mound of coherent dust and incloses 

 it in the grass. He gently blows on it three or four times, where- 

 upon the grass bursts into flame. 



"Thirty or fort}^ seconds is the average time required to produce 

 the mass ready to blow up. A flame is fairly uniformly started in 

 three-quarters of a minute from the time of beginning to drill. This 

 statement is based on a number of observations carefully made with 

 a stop watch"89 (pi. 28, fig. 2). 



WESTERN HEMISPHERE 



It is clear that in the Western Hemisphere the wood fire drill is 

 universal. That no other forms of wood friction apparatus have 

 been introduced argues the unity of American culture and its long 

 continuance without modification of extraneous influences. Outside 

 of the northern area the fire drill has remained simple, without 

 mechanical additions. 



■ W. S. and Katherine Roatledge. With a Prehistoric People: The Akikuyu of British East Africa^ 

 London, 19ia 



