732 PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



as to seem like the distorted memory of a story, or little snatches oi a 

 melody snug iu a distant land, those similarities which indicate the 

 jiassing of a certain milestone of human progress are so nearly identical 

 that the older anthropologists were wont to believe that like effects 

 sprung from the same rather than from like causes. 



Fortunately, there are two regions where the ground has not been so 

 denuded as to prevent our knowing a great deal about the primitive 

 inhabitants; where, also, the natural environment is so similar to that 

 of the West Indies as to lead us to anticiijate even the discoverers of 

 their relics. These two areas are Oceanica and the Northwest coast of 

 America from Sitka to Vancouver Island. In the first-named area we 

 must include the Papuan, the Malay, and the Polynesian ; in the sec- 

 ond, the Thlinkit, Haida, Chimsian, Kwakiul, Nutka, and Selish stocks. 

 We might also include the tribes of British Guiana and Venezuela, 

 which have been so exhaustively described by Schomburgh and im 

 Thurn.* 



In all these regions we have: (1) Proximity to the sea, abounding iu 

 edible marine animals ; (2) abundance of the finest timber in the world 

 for savages to work upon ; (3) lack of flint and plenty of volcanic ^nd 

 n^etamorphic rocks susceptible of the highest polish ; (4) almost entire 

 absence of clay or of some of the other natural resources for the man- 

 ufacture of fire-proof vessels. 



In the descriptions which follow, frequent allusions will be made to 

 similar shapes in order to guess at the functions of M. Guesde's speci- 

 mens. 



The editor of this monograph sincerely regrets that he has not the 

 specimens before him ; but it was impossible to transport with safety so 

 many valuable objects to Washington, and equally impossible for the 

 editor to make the journey to Guadeloupe. Fortunately, M. Guesde 

 has painted in water- colors, with scrupulous care, all of the examples 

 figured, preserving both the color and the size. The omission of the 

 thickness would somewhat mar the description in many cases, were we not 

 familiar with the two typical forms of blades so frequently figured here. 



A few objects not belonging to M. Guesde's cabinet will be introduced 

 to throw light upon his figures and to supply omissions in West Indian 

 archceology. 



The classification adopted here is for convenience of comparison, and 

 it may be that things with different function will be found side by side. 



The nomenclature of the parts of stone implements is taken from John 

 Evans' classic work, "Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain." An 

 ax when completed consists of haft and blade. The parts of the blade 

 are the head or butt; the neck, or groove; the body, having sides, 

 faces, and edge. When the hafting excavation is not encircling we 

 may have either lateral notches or facial grooves. 



* Among the Indians of Guiana, being sketches chiefly anthropologic, from the in- 

 terior of British Guiana. By Everard F. im Thurn, M. A. Oxon. With 53 illus- 

 trations. London: Kegan, Paul & Co., 1883. 445, pp., 8vo. 



