592 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



introduced as fig. 237. It is in tlie form of an open- work bowl, the out- 

 side being- ornamented with panel-like designs in low relief. A long 

 hollow handle projects from one side, which may have terminated with 

 a rattle, as shown in fig. 236. The similarity of these pieces or handles 

 to the ones already possessed by the Museum was immediately recog- 

 nized, and with the bowl-shaped additions lately received their identity 

 was established. Pictographs rejiresenting certain religious ceremo- 

 nies in which are priests holding like instruments are given by 

 Chavero.^ 



Of the use of incense burners by the Mexican priests, Clavigero^ 

 says: 



For iucense tlieygouerally make use of copal, or soiuo otlier aromatic gum, * * * 

 The ceusers were commouly uiade of clay, but they had also censers of gold. 



Instruments similar to the foregoing are in the museum of the Acad- 

 emy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. 



During the explorations of prehistoric ruins at Copaii, Honduras, 

 made under the direction of the Peabody Museum of American Archa3- 



Fig. 237. 

 INCENSE nUHNER OF POTTERY. 



Burial cave, Dos Camlnoa uear Acapulco, Mexico. 



Cat. No. 173071, U.S N.M. }^ uatur.il size. 



ology and Ethnology, Harvard University,' two vessels belonging to 

 this class were found. The report of the objects found in Tomb 6 con- 

 tains the following : 



A piece of pottery 13i inches long, in the form of a perforated ladle, the end of 

 the handle representing the head of a serpent, was found near the skeleton. This, 

 in all probability, is an incense burner. 



And, again in Tomb 10 : 



A ladle-shaped piece of pottery similar to that found in Tomb fi. 



On page 30 of the same volume, in describing the contents of Tomb 

 1, mention is make of a pottery whistle. 



A primitive form of dance rattle still used by the Yaqui Indians of 

 Sonora, Mexico, is outlined in tig. 238. It is made of butterfly cocoons, 

 which are divided into halves and sewed together at one end with a 

 double cord. Each half of the cocoons contains a grain or pebble. 



1 Chavero : Mexico a trav6s de Ids siglos, pp. 591-635. 



* History of Mexico, U, p. 44. 



'Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of American Archa-ology and Ethnology, Har- 

 vard University, I, No. 1, p. 32, Prehistoric Kuins of Copau, Honduras, Preliminary 

 Keport. 



