NORTH AMERICAN BOWS, ARROWS, AND QUIVERS. 633 



has given rise to an iiiHiiite Aariety of forms. The faihire of .certain 

 kinds of trees in many places lias pnt the bowyers to their wit's end in 

 devising substitutes for producing the bow's elasticity. The exigen- 

 cies of climate and the gloved hand modify the form of the arrow in 

 some regions. The progress of culture, the demands of social customs, 

 and skill of the manufticturer enter into the study of the bow and. the 

 arrow. In other words, in passing from the Mexican border northward 

 to the limit of human habitation, one finds the rudest arrow and the 

 rudest bow and the most elaborate arrow and bow ever seen among 

 savages. 



Again, in making this journey he will observe how qui(!kly his passage 

 between certain isotherms, forested regions, deserts, tallies with a 

 sensitiveness of the bow or the arrow, which take on new forms at 

 every degree of latitude or temperature. 



Finally, if the student be observant, the arrow will write for him long 

 chapters about the i)eople, the fishes, birds, and beasts of the separate 

 regions and their peculiar habits. 



The following scheme of weapons devised by M. Adrien de Mortillet 

 is modiried to fit the North American Area. 



A.— BHUISINO AN1> MA?;(iLIN(i WEAPONS 



1. Held ill the liaiid — Stones, clnbs. 



2. At end (if handle. — Pogainoi^g;ins and casse tetes. 



3. Tiirowii frim hand. — Sling stones, rabbit sticks, bolas. 



15.— SLASHINt; AND TEARIX(; WEAPONS. 



4. Held hi hand. — Stone daggers and swords. 



5. At end of handle. — Sioux war clubs, tomahawks. 



6. Thrown from hand. — Little used. 



C. — PIERCINC; WEAPONS. 



7. Held in hand. — Hone and stoue daggers, slave killers. 



8. At end of handle. — Lances of all kinds. 



9. /Vrt;Vc^/'e.5.— Arrows, harpoons, blow-tube darts. 



Besides those thrown from the hand — stones, rabbit sticks, and 

 bolas — there were four types of manual or operative api)aratus used for 

 propelling missile weapons by the Nortli American aborigines, — the 

 bow, the throwingstick, the sling, and the blow-tube. 



The throwingstick existed throughout the Eskimo area, in south- 

 eastern Ahiska, on the coast of Calitbrnia and in Mexico. It is not nec- 

 essary here to more than menticui its occurrence in" South Ajnerica and 

 Au.stralia. This weai)on has been described by the author at length in 

 the rejjort of the Smithsonian Institution (1884), and this pa})er was 

 the starting point of half a dozen by others which well-nigh exhausted 

 that subject. 



The sling is found on the California coast north of San Francisco. 



The blow-tube existed only in tho.se areas where the cane grew iu 



