306 ETHNOLOGY. 



mencement of the polished surfaces, one inch and three- eighths, the 

 labor upon it must have been enormous. We have, elsewhere,* called 

 this specimen an ax, but on comparing it with a large series of un- 

 doubted skinning-knives, we are induced to place it with them ; and, 

 indeed, it may be that two other of the smaller ungrooved axes, which 

 we have figured, should really be included in this chapter rather than 

 under their present heading; but nowhere in the range of stone imple- 

 ments is it harder to draw the dividing-line satisfactorily than between 

 axes proper and true skinning-knives. 



Figure 120 represents the smaller-sized skinning-knivesfound through- 

 out the length and breadth of the land. Usually, those found in New 

 Jersey are ground into form from a hornstone or porphyry pebble, and 

 polished. The specimen in the figure has been pecked into shape from 

 a fragment of serpentine, and subsequently highly polished on the sides. 

 The cutting-edge is very good. It is very nearly equal in size to the 

 smaller of the two hematite implements figured by Messrs. Squier and 

 Davis, and referred to in our description of figures 117 and 118, but 

 somewhat more irregular in outline. Polished skiuning-stones as small 

 as figure 120 are as useful for the larger mammals as are those given 

 in figures 114 and 118, and we do not understand why there should be 

 such a variation in size, unless, iu their making, stones of suitable 

 shape were selected irrespective of size, and an edge, the length of which 

 was decided by the original breadth of the stone, was given to them. 



In the collection of M. Newbold, esq., of Burlington County, New Jer- 

 sey, to which we have frequently referred, there is a fine series of skin- 

 ning-knives, all gathered from the immediate neighborhood. The largest, 

 we should unquestionably class as a hand-ax, as its length, nine inches, 

 renders it too unwieldy for skinning-purposes, but it stands at the head 

 of a series which lessens in length very gradually down to two highly 

 polished specimens scarcel}^ two inches in total length. By placing these 

 specimens in a row, it is difficult to decide where the ax ceases and the 

 knife begins. 



The smallest specimens of Mr. Newbold's collection are flat, sharply- 

 pointed triangles, very highly polished, and, altogether, exhibit far 

 more work than any we have figured, excepting, possibly, figure 115. 

 The object of this sharply-pointed end is not easily determined. Cer- 

 tainly it does not render the implement any more " handy" in the oper- 

 ation of skinning, and is not likely to have been needed to i)uncture the 

 hide, especially as great care «vas taken to preserve the skin as entire 

 as possible. 



The skinning-knives iu the above-mentioned collection are made of 

 porphyry, serpentine, and hornstone, the majority being of the first- 

 named mineral, and those from the other two materials are about the 

 same in number. 



The skinning-knives which we have figured, as well as those referred to 



" American Naturalist, vol. vi. 



