248 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



An aru'ient Inirlxnl luul tog-gle harpoon head (Cat. No. 45910, U.S. 

 N.M.), made from a bit of hollow bone, from northern Greenland, col- 

 lected by E. Bessels, is shown in fig. 33. The point has been cut off 

 so that it is impossible to say how the })lade was set on. The barbs on 

 the margin in front of the line hole have been 

 cut out squareh^ but their points have evidently 

 been reduced. It is possible, however, that their 

 present form represents nearly the shape of the 

 original material. At.this point it is proper to 

 make an observation which applies very largel}'^ 

 to the forms of aboriginal implements. The 

 savages understood how, in an emergency, to 

 secure the largest amount of result with the least 

 amount of effort. It is with inventions as with 

 language. A long word is not employed when 

 a shorter one will suffice, and a servile imita- 

 tion of any type specimen 

 is not attempted when the 

 result can be reached more 

 directh". Hence, while ob- 

 jects of a certain class re- 

 semble one another in gen- 

 eral, no two are alike in 

 detail. The line hole is cut 

 through the soft part of the 

 bone by two conical per- 

 forations meeting in the 

 middle, and the line grooves 

 appear to have been made 

 by the same instrument. 

 The back of the body of 

 this toggle head is very hard bonc\ and the spur 

 bends upward and outward, following the natural 

 curve of the material. The base is cut off by a 

 nearl}^ plane surface. The socket for the fore- 

 shaft is a cylinddcal hole bored straight into 

 the bone from the rear, apparenth' with an 

 instrument of iron. It is not conical as in the 

 great majority of Eskimo harpoon heads. 



A toggle harpoon head, made of antler (Cat. 

 No. 45947, U.S.N.M.), from north Greenland, 

 the gift of the Copenhagen Museum, is shown in fig. 34. It is in the 

 form of a flat cone with convex sides. The kerf or saw cut is wider 

 than in the more modern examples, because the blade was of stone 

 and held in place by a rivet of bone. The line hole is most primitive 



^ 



^'Ni:i(!:!' 



Fig. 32. 

 TOGGLE HEAD. 



West Greenland. 



Gift of Copenhagen Museum 



Cat. No. 45889, U.S.N.M. 



,l'"( 



'^1 



Fig. 33. 



OLD BARBED AXD TOGGLE 

 HEAD. 



West Greenland. 



UoUected by Eniil Be.ssels. Cat. 

 No. 45910, U.S.N.M. 



