170 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



than the preceding, and the backing constantly thickening towards 

 the middle of the bow. When sufficient strands are laid on they 

 are separated into two parcels, and with a pair of very ingenious 

 little bone or ivory levers are twisted from the middle into two 

 tight cables, so that the twist of the cords adds to the resistance to 

 be overcome in drawing the bow. These are prevented from un- 

 twisting by a lashing at the middle which runs through the cable 

 and round the bow in a sort of figure of 8. The end of the cord 

 then makes a tight spiral seizing round the bow which not only 

 keeps the backing from slipping, but serves to distribute the strain 

 evenly and keep the bow from breaking. This pattern is probably 

 the ultimate development of the sinew-backed bow. Not only is 

 it difficult to imagine making a more perfect weapon from the mate- 

 rial, but attention will no longer be paid to possible improvements 

 in a weapon which is rapidly falling into disuse. As would naturally 

 be supposed the region about Norton Sound, where the tribes of the 

 Arctic coast meet those of Bering Sea, is a debatable ground, where 

 bows of the two types described are found side by side, along with 

 others partaking of the characteristics of both. If now we cross to 

 St. Lawrence Island, we find Eskimos depending solely on drift- 

 wood, who employ another and most peculiar modification of the 

 original type. They have lengthened the ends of the bow so that 

 the original simple backing hardly reaches within a foot of either 

 end, while these ends are bent up as in the Tartar bow, and separate 

 backings are stretched across these bends. 



The Eskimos of the mainland of Siberia, who have long main- 

 tained direct intercourse with the St. Lawrence Islanders and with 

 the Eskimos of the Arctic coast by Avay of the Diomedes, show the 

 evidence of this intercourse in the pattern of their bows, using either 

 the peculiar St. Lawrence tpye, or purely American bows of the 

 Arctic pattern, or weapons which curiously combine characteristic 

 features of both. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Bates said that the little blocks which are tied into the 

 concave outer limb of several of Mr. Murdoch's bows are some- 

 thing more than a mere stiffener of the wooden portion. It is a 

 truly mechanical expedient, to give efficiency to the tension mem- 

 ber of the combination, which is the sinew. It not only acts as 

 a strut to increase the leverage of the tension member, which is the 



