﻿I84 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [VOL. 47 



Neumann's work, above referred to, which is a reprint of a figure in 

 the Spanish periodical La Ilustracion Espanola v Americana. 



I regard these elbow stones as a distinct type, having a morpho- 

 logical likeness to the pointed pole, or boss and neighboring parts, 

 of an oblique oval collar. Their use and meaning are enigmatical. 



acosta's serpent theory of stone collars 

 1 have reserved a consideration of this theory until the end because 

 it differs radically from all others, and because a consideration of it 

 demands a knowledge of the forms of the three groups of objects 

 herein considered — stone collars, tripointed idols, and elbow stones. 

 Sehor Acosta was familiar with the Latimer collection before it came 

 to this country, and also with another, now scattered, which formerly 

 existed in the Museo de Artdleria at San Juan, Porto Rico. He 

 writes thus of the stone rings and tripointed figures: 1 



" Todos estos idolos, aunque varian en el tamaho y en la clase de 

 piedra en que estan labrados, pues unas son cuarzosas y otras calizas, 

 ofrecen generalmente la misma disposicion y figura. Consta cada 

 uno de dos partes distintas y separadas, pero que se adaptan perfecta- 

 mente entre si — i a Un anillo elipsoidal, en cuya superficie externa 

 aparece tallada la cola de una serpiente. — 2 a Una pieza maciza cuya 

 base, por donde se adapta al anillo, es plana y de figura elipsoidal, y 

 cuya parte superior termina en forma de cono : hacia un extremo del 

 eje mayor de la base hay varias molduras caprichosas, y en el 

 extremo opuesto una cara humana. Unidas las dos partes del idolo, 

 semeja el todo una serpiente enroscada con fisonomia humana." 



The following translation has been made of Acosta's description : 



" All these idols, although they vary in size and in the kind of stone 

 of which they are made, for some are of quartz 2 and others of lime- 

 stone,''' have the same general proportions and form. Each one is 

 composed of two distinct and separate parts which fit perfectly 

 together: ist, An ellipsoidal ring, on the external surface of which is 

 cut a serpent's tail. 2nd, A massive piece, the base of which when 

 it tits the ring, is flat and of ellipsoid shape, while the upper part ter- 

 minates in a cone ; toward the end of the greater axis of the base there 

 are various capricious moldings, and at the opposite end a human 

 face. When the two component parts of the idol are united, the 

 whole resembles a coiled serpent with human physiognomy." 



One or two other authors speak of these collars as " snake stones," 

 but as no additional grounds for this identification are given, they 

 apparent]} accepted Acosta's conclusion. 



l Historia Geogrdfica, Civil y Natural de la Isla de San Juan Bautista de 

 Puerto Rico, por I r.i\ [fiigo Abbad y Lasierra; Puerto Rico, 1866, p. 51. 

 2 Diorite. 

 Marble. 



