CHARM STONE8, OK I'LUMiMETS. 303 



not. One like Fig", t) would have atiswoied the iJiirpose Iiad it been 

 perforated at the top. 



!ii rel'ereiice to Trot". F. W. Piitiiaui'^ note to j\lr. Henderson's article, 

 1 am sorry to differ with so learned an anti«piarian writer as my es- 

 teemed friend, but certainly none of his theories will lit our California 

 Indian habits and customs. 



He accepts some theories which we luive already dis(uissed, with the 

 additional one that they were used as s[)iir.iing^ weights. This we can 

 easily dispose of, as the Indians of this locality use<l no textile fabrics 

 thnt required si)inning or weax'ing, their toilet being less elaborate than 

 that of the Georgia militia colonel, which consisted of epaulets and a 

 paper collar. 



When not nude, the Indians used skins of wild animals for clothing, 

 or tules tied in rows on strings <^>f sinew or bark, worn as aprons or 

 skirts. 



As to these implements being used as pestles, there are very few of 

 the so-called plummets that could have been used for such a purpose. 

 It is generally an easy matter to distinguish between the two, and ref- 

 erence to Figs, 5, G, 7, etc., will show that they could not be mistaken 

 for pestles, as the lower end is generally pointed. 



Fig. 1 is perhaps the oldest known specimen of this class of imple- 

 ments. It was found with several other curious and unique implements 

 under Table Mountain, in this State, and under some liOO feet of basalt. 

 It was made of a translucent carbonate of lime linely linished. 



In a catalogue of xV Collection of Minerals of A. Dohrmann, pub- 

 lished by S. H. & n. Chapman, of riiiladelphia, 188G, we tind Xo. 

 113i, slung shot or sinker, described as an oval stone, with deep groove 

 around the edge ; limestone, found 30 feet below the surface in a gravel 

 bed, Camptonville, Yuba County, Cal. No. 1135, plumb-bob ; shape same 

 as those used b^" masons, pierced and grooved at end; serpentine; per- 

 fect and very rare; found in Alameda County, 40 feet below the surface. 



Having endeavored to show what these implements were ;?o^ used for, 

 we will try to show what their real use was. 



The majority of surviving Indians do not seem to know anything 

 about this. One reason for this is that they had supejstitious notions 

 tliat these stones were dangerous and the sight of them would cause 

 death. Another weighty reason was, that the missionaries used their 

 utmost endeavors to eradicate the use and knowledge of all their tra- 

 ditions and religious ceremonies. 



Several years ago the writer had an opportunity to interview a very 

 old Indian chief of the Napa tribe, and one of the two sole survivors, mak- 

 ing most of the opportunity by laying in a supply of eatables, tobacco, 

 and sweet cider. He stated to me that the plummet-shaped implements 

 were used as charm stones; that they were used by being suspended by 

 a cord from the end of a pole, one end of which was stuck into the bank 

 of a creek in such a manner as to leave the stone suspended over the 



