808 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1895. 



concentric rings, which no doubt owe their origin to the vegetal 

 prototype. 



Thus far no spirals have been observed in the native art designs of 

 the Eskimo as illustrated in the National Museum, and one reason for 

 the absence of sj)irals may be attributed to the difficulty of engrav- 

 ing the ivory satisfactorily, or perhaps to tlie absence of particular life 

 forms which might under other circumstan(;es suggest such motifs. 

 The general shape of the spaces upon drill bows, being long and 

 narrow, would otberwise naturally suggest either a meander or a 

 continuous series of squids as a most appropriate and convenient 

 pattern. Instead of these, however, the ornamental "filling-in" 

 consists of straight lines of various lengths and at various angles, 

 together with animal or bird forms in various stages of abbreviation 

 through conventionalization. 



DECORATION CONSISTING CHIKFLY OF LINES, DOTS, AND ZIGZAGS. 



The older forms of ornamentation, as already indicated, seem to 

 consist of straight lines, dots, and <-shaped incisions, while the appar- 

 ently later ones are the circles, made by metal instruments possil)ly of 

 native workmanship, and the rude zigzag or meander. The applica 

 tion of these several types of designs to the ornau^entation of various 

 articles of use is represented in the next few pages. Some interestinji 

 examples of figure carving, bearing engravings of various types, arc 

 also reproduced. 



While the rude zigzag pattern is frequently alluded to as the "fish 

 trap" pattern — the name being deemed appropriate because the type 

 originated in that contrivance, according to Naomoft' — the designation 

 "seal tooth" pattern might be equally appropriate, as the arrangement 

 of the teeth and spaces between them may have suggested the pattern 

 among tribes in other parts of the Eskimo territory, 



Plate 35, fig. 8, shows a woman's skin scraper, from Cape Darby. 

 The specimen appears to be made of fossil ivory and is carved in imi- 

 tation of a whale's tail, and rounded so as to fit the palm of the hand. 

 The front end has a deep incision, in which was placed at one time a 

 flint scraper, in imitation of other examples in the collection of the 

 National Museum. The specimen bears beneath a depression, show- 

 ing it to have been used for holding the top of a drill. The ornamen- 

 tation on both sides and transversely at the rear portion consists of a 

 single line to which are attached irregular short radiating or transverse 

 lines in imitation of the rudest type of the "fish trap" pattern. This 

 ornamentation is in accordance with the typical ornamentation of the 

 Eskimo, such as comes from the shell heaps of the Aleutian Islands, 

 across to the east coast of Greenland, and antedating very likely the 

 historic period. 



In plate 31, fig. 5, is shown an ivory bodkin, here reproduced as of 

 interest in presenting upon the one side five parallel lines of unequal 



