620 SUMMARY OF PROGRESS IN ANTHROPOT>OGY. 



about 8 iiiclies in diiiiueter made of cocoaiuit leaves neatly bound 

 together. This served as a stand for a shallow dish, in Avhich was 

 placed a circular ]>iece of plantain leaf to facilitate the handling of 

 the clay and preventing its adhesion to the unsized platter. With one 

 or more haiidfuls of clay, according to the size of the pot, the base of 

 the utensil Avas loughly shaped on the dish: then rolls of clay of the 

 required thickness and previously ]»repared were l)uilt up layer after 

 layer until the pro])er dimensions had been attained; the operator, 

 the while turning the pot round and round, shaping it with her eye 

 and hand. The vessels are set aside on a raised jilatform to dry for 

 one or two days, according to the size of the pot and the state of the 

 weather. When dry it is taken from the platform, superfluous clay 

 on the inside scraped off with a Cyrena shell, and the excess of material 

 on the outside removed by means of a fine strip of bamboo moistened. 

 The hands of the potter moistened are gently passed over the inner and 

 outer surfaces of the vessel to smooth them. The rim is finished ofl with 

 the bamboo strip. For firing a primitive kiln is prepared in some open 

 space near the hut, and bits of broken pottery are stuck in the ground a 

 few inches apnrt to serve as a stand. Under the pot a layer of fine wood 

 ashes and a quantity of cocoanut shells and scraps of firewood are 

 heai)e(l uj) and a wheel-like object larger than the pot is laid on its 

 ui)turned base; against this are laid l)ranches and firewood, which are 

 to be lighted outside the vessel but are not to come in contact with it. 

 The fuel is kindled and the flame fanned, if necessary, by two or three 

 women, who, armed with sticks in both hands, act as stokers until the 

 vessel is baked. It is removed with the sticks and left to cool upon a 

 bed of fine sand, where it receives the necessary black stripes. The 

 l)ainting is accom]»lished by means of strips of unripe cocoanut husk 

 1 to 2 inches broad, laid on the pot while hot. The stain produced by 

 the acid Juice turns black in a moment. To save her fingers from 

 being burnt the artist keeps the i)ot in jwsitiou by means of a cocoa- 

 nut-shell cup. The entire surface is then rubbed with moist strips of 

 iiusk to give a light copper color to the whoh» surface. Makers' marks 

 are added and the whole is completed. 



The study of maize is the study of a large number of American 

 Indian tribes. h]thnologists will therefore be grateful to Dr. J. W. 

 Harshberger for his monograph on the origin and distribution of maize 

 in America. The origin of the plant is sought in the highlands of 

 IMexico, south of the twenty-second degree of north latitude. From 

 this source it got into the United States by two routes, through northern 

 Mexico and through the West Indian Islands, It was carried to South 

 America by the Isthmus of Pananm, extending, according to Brinton, 

 along the great Andean system until it reached the Gran Chaco, where 

 we find the native tribes, no way related to the Kechuas of Peru, bor- 

 rowing its name from these people. South American words for maize 



