CHESS AND PLAYING-CARDS. 



719 



bottomed geese jiiul otber creatures used in a game, and all of Lis 

 speeimeiis are perforated and used as pendants on the bottom of per- 

 sonal ornaments and parts of clothing. 



Prof. Benjamin Sharp, of tlie Academy of Natural Science, tells me 

 that be saw the carved \Yater birds used as a game, being tossed and 

 allowed to fall by Eskimo of St. Lawrence Bay, Siberia. 



In reply to my inquiry in reference to the use of such objects in 

 games by tlie Arctic Highlanders of Oreenland, Mr. Henry Gr. Bryant 

 writes me that small images of birds are rare among them, although 



Fig. 45. 



WOODEN BLOCKS, SAID TO BE USED IN GAME. 



Length, IJ inches. 

 Northwest Arctic Coast. 



Cat. No. 1404, U.S.N.M. 



representations of men, women, walrus, seal, bears, and dogs are part 

 of the domestic outfit of every well-regulated family.^ 



1 uuderstand that the leg hones of the arctic fox are Bometimes tied together on a 

 string, and at times these are thrown tip and their position noted when striking the 

 ground. 



Mr. Bryant adds: 



Perhaps they attach a significance to the position of the fox hones, which may 

 be analogous to the practice of using wooden or bone dice by other tribes. 



A set of carved ivory tablets (figs. 195-200), strung upon a throng, 

 are described as among the properties of an Eskimo shaman in 



' Mr. Bryant states that these miniature figures, which are made of ivory, are 

 employed to teach children the arts of the chase. 



