GRAPHIC ART OF THE ESKIMOS. 945 



call continent, but with an almost total absence of evidence to the con- 

 trary, the direction of the movement of culture and art designs has 

 been in the opposite direction to that illustrated by the present 

 instance. In other words, the Haida and other influences have been 

 pushing- steadily northward and westward amongst and beyond the 

 territory of the Thlinkit, and not from the latter areas eastward and 

 southward. 



By reference to the illustrations in the plate, it will be observed that 

 the concentric circles, apparently made in the same manner on all the 

 pieces where present, were made by pieces of metal filed to a V-shaped 

 form, one apex or side being left a little longer, perhaps, than the other, 

 so as to more easily serve as the center pivot. The rings are of differ- 

 ent width from the outer, showing that they were not made by an 

 instrument with movable arms, in imitation of a pair of dividers. Fur- 

 thermore, the diameters are not exactly of the regulation size, as would 

 be found in a common manufactured bit, but the outer rings are less 

 than one-fourth of an inch in diameter, being almost seven-thirty- 

 seconds — an unusual size. The inner circles are scant three- sixteenths 

 of an inch in diameter, clearly indicating that the tools were of aborig- 

 inal workmanship, though made of imported metals as well as 

 imported instruments. 



The arrangement of circles as in fig. 3, plate 9, is also in imitation of 

 Aleutian and other Eskimo patterns, and foreign to the ornamentation of 

 the Thlinkit, as far, at least, as illustrated in the products of that tribe 

 now in the collection of the National Museum. Eeference has already 

 been made to a like arrangement of circles on some of the ancient 

 British coins, referred to at page 819, and a closely resembling example 

 of which is shown in plate 47, fig. 1. 



The strong resemblance between some of the carvings of the Eskimo 

 and those of the cave dwellers of the Dordogne has been referred to 

 by various authors. 



IMr. Edward T. Stevens remarks that "It is singular that, except at 

 La Madelaine, none of the bones appear to have been gnawed by 

 beasts of prey." The cave people are believed, therefore, to have 

 occupied the caves permanently or to have closed them when deserted, 

 and to have excluded carnivorous animals which might otherwise have 

 been attracted by the accumulation of bones. 



Doctor A. B. Meyer, director of the Royal Zoological and Anthropo- 

 logical Museum in Dresden, has recently published some magnificent 

 folio volumes on the ethnographic materials from various localities — 

 from the Philippines, ISTew Guinea, etc. — and in Volume ix of the series 

 presents some illustrations of combs bearing decorations, which would 

 at a cursory glance suggest the type from which the Eskimo orna- 

 mentation was obtained for the comb shown in plate 32, fig. 4. The 

 several specimens of workmanship of the Nigritos above mentioned 

 nuiy be found by reference to Doctor Meyer's plate 2, figs. 1, 2, and 3. 

 PJAT MUS 95 00 



