TRAPS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 465 



CLASSIFICATION OF TKAl'S. 



Traps arc v urioiKsly classitied according to the concept in th(^ student's 

 mind. If it be the natunil clement in whicli they work, there will l)e 

 land traps for niannuals, l)irds, reptiles, and invertel)rates; water traps 

 for mammals, birds, reptiles, tishcs, and invertebrates; and air traps 

 for birds and insects. 



With reference to their parts, either mechanical or efficient, there 

 are a multitude of names which will appear in a separate vocabulary. 

 In the setting they are man set, self -sot, ever-set, and victim-set. 



For the purpose of this paper traps may be divided into three groups, 

 nameh^: (A) Inclosing, (B) arresting, (C) killing. In each of these we 

 may begin with the simpler forms — those with the least mechanism — 

 and end with those that are more intricate. 



^•1 . — Indosimj Inqia. 



(a) Pen — dain, ixnirid, fyke. 



(6) Cage — coop, pocket, cone, fiyli trap. 



(c) Pit— pitfalls. 



(d) Door — with trigger, fall cage, or fall door. 



B. — ^1 rrestimj irapx. 

 {(') Mesh — gill, toils, ratchet. 

 (/) Set hook — set line, gorge, trawl. 

 (r/) Noose — snare, springe, fall snare, trawl snare, 

 (/f) Clutch — bird lime, mechanical jaws. 



C. — Killing traps, 

 {i) Weight— fall, dead fall. 

 {k) Point — impaling, stomach, missile. 

 (Z) Edge — wolf knife, braining knife. 



A. — INCLOSINCi TRAPS. 



Enclosing traps are those which imprison the victim, most of them 

 without doing an}^ further bodily harm, though there may be added 

 to these some other devices which will injure or kill. There are four 

 kinds of inclosing traps: {a) Pen traps, {h) cage traps, {<) pit traps, {d) 

 door traps. 



{a) Pen traps. — These include pounds or corrals on land, and dams, 

 lish pens, and fykes in the water, the idea being simpl}" to inclose. Traps 

 of this sort have no tops and therefore are not useful for birds. In 

 connection with other forms, small inclosures are used to surround the 

 bait and to guide the victim in a certain direction. How the animal 

 gets in, how it is kept in, and what is done to it afterwards will decide 

 whether the pound is a trap or a corral or whether it is a reservoir, an 

 abattoir, or a domesticating device. The simplest form of pound is of 

 brush or reeds, and confines whatever enters, large or small; but the 

 perfect form has interstices carefully adapted to retain certain species 

 SM 1901 30 



