82 BULLETIN 134, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



be partially absorbed, so that the surface appears to be a grayish 

 black, while a blue triangle appears at the top of the head. The two 

 longitudinal fillets extending along the back of the saurian image 

 have been divided into a series of sections by transversely incised 

 grooves representing dermal plates. Three of the series appear on 

 the tail piece. The tail and head are rounded in section; the closed 

 mouth exposes the lateral projection of the teeth. This alveolar 

 projection of the alligator's teeth, together with the more elongated 

 and rounded head and tail sections, distinguish this carving as 

 representing a different species of saurian from another spe- 

 cies (Cat. No. 327626, U.S.N.M.), represented as having a 

 shorter and broader head and tail and without alveolar projec- 

 tion of the teeth. In the latter carving the teeth are represented 

 by small wooden pegs driven vertically into the lateral edges of the 

 jaw surfaces. Three longitudinal fillets, transversely grooved to 

 indicate dermal plates, cover the back of the figure. Feet are rep- 

 resented by small upright pegs of balsa wood inserted into the body 

 of the carving. Eyes are yellow glass beads sunk into the wood. 



An alligator carving made by the Cuna at Caledonia Bay is 

 shaped from a slab of hardwood 30.6 cm (12 in.) long (Cat. No. 

 327498, U.S.N.M.). A series of grooved incisions on the upper jaw 

 of the object indicates dermal plates. The mouth is represented 

 as open, characteristic of the alligator carvings of the Cuna and of 

 the San Bias coast peoples. The open mouth together with an erect 

 tail represent a more aggressive figure than the reptile carvings of 

 the Choco artists. The employment of paints and dyes such as the 

 anatto dye {Bixa orellana) is preferred by the Choco, while the 

 Tule employ incisions and fillets in low relief to obtain the detail 

 of features. The collection of wood carvings obtained by Maurice 

 A. Kollot in central Colombia shows a technique similar to that of 

 the Tule and the employment of similar materials. 



Two images of serpents mounted on wooden poles, used by the 

 Choco in connection with the " medicine lodge " to be described 

 later, are interesting examples of carving in relief (Cat. No. 

 327653-4, U.S.N.M., pi. 21, Nos. 3-4). The unpainted poles appear 

 to be distinct from the coiled serpent, but are really the core of 

 the same blocks of balsa wood, respectively 4, and 4y 2 feet long. 

 The painted decorative design simulating the mottled surface of 

 the skin of the snakes is sometimes a solid black with unpainted 

 circular surfaces in the natural white or straw-color of the wood 

 (pi. 21, No. 3), and again is a mottled and stippled green (pi. 21, 

 No. 4). In the latter figure the snake is represented as swallowing 

 a frog. 



