16 BULLETIN 137, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



iubreathed by the bellows, as the plungers are raised, is drawn from back of 

 the fireplace, thus the fire is not disturbed. 



The bellows described by Doctor Jenks is typical of the Malaysian 

 fire bellows which is distributed throughout a wide area in Siam, 

 Assam, Salwin, Sumatra, Java, and even in far-off Madagascar. 



Ethnic contacts and culture traditions as influencing weapon 

 types. — It is questionable whether the Filipino peoples first re- 

 ceived their knowledge of the uses and processes of manufacture 

 of brass and bronze from China or from India. Undoubtedly 

 knowledge of trade articles of brass and bronze in the Philippines 

 antedates that of iron. The little archeological investigation that 

 has been done has determined this. Corroborative evidence lies in 

 the knowledge of metal craft in brass possessed by those tribes, 

 among whom the working in iron and steel is undeveloped. Cliinese 

 traders carried on an extensive trade in bronze objects, such as 

 gongs, with most of the Filipino tribes at an early date. Such gongs 

 are still treasured as musical instruments by many of the tribes. The 

 fact that a similar musical instrument has long been employed in* 

 Siam, in Java, and in other islands would seem to indicate that 

 the ' employment of brass and bronze is of greater antiquity in the 

 Hinduized regions of Malaysia than among those peoples merely 

 enjoying trade relations with China. The Filipino term for the 

 musical gong is " gansa " or " agong " and is closely related to the 

 Javanese terms " gamelan " or " anklang," also, however, to our 

 word " gong." It is probable that Hindu culture wdiich overspread 

 the southern islands of the Philippine archipelago familiarized the 

 natives with the uses of brass, but that lack of the raw material 

 from which to jDroduce articles such as musical instruments, weapons, 

 and ornaments of various kinds caused a brisk trade in bronze and 

 brass to spring up with the itinerant Chinese trader. 



Brass and bronze are both metallic alloys of copper; brass re- 

 quiring the addition of zinc to the copper while bronze is an alloy 

 of copper and tin. The process employed in the manufacture of 

 articles from these alloys is known as the cire perdue. A model 

 of the article to be produced is first made of beeswax and surrounded 

 ■with a clay mould. The whole is then subjected to heat, when the 

 beeswax melts and is allowed to run off. Molten brass is then 

 poured into the clay mould, allowed to harden, and the clay mould 

 is broken away. Often a patterned design in softer metal such as 

 copper or gold is inlaid in ornamental brass objects or in the finer 

 steel blades of the Moro. 



The softness of gold as well as its presence in placers, rock strata, 

 and in river gravels enabled the Filipino to work gold and to 

 develop a native industry without foreign influence. Gold thus 

 manufactured by the Filipino native into various ornamental ol> 



