464 TKAPS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



there has to be found between the lure and the execution a host of 

 devices, and these form an ascending series of complexities. The 

 simplest of these intermediary inventions is an unstable prop or sup- 

 port of some kind; the slightest pull at a bait removes the ticklish 

 thing, and weight or noose, or other deadly part, is set free. The 

 trigger and the catch are more complicated and varied; the secret of 

 them all, however, is that an unstable catch is released by the animal 

 in passing, in prying curiosity, in gnawing, or in rubbing*; this is con- 

 nected by means of sticks and strings to the last release, since the 

 operation of releasing is in connection with the device in which the 

 force is confined and b} r which the work is to be done. In the highest 

 forms of weight traps and spring traps there are veritable machines, 

 since they change the direction and effect of motion. It is on these 

 that most ingenuity has been expended, and in them is exhibited that 

 wonderful threefold play of working force, work to be done, and proc- 

 esses of reaching the end. Variations in the materials utilized will 

 play no mean part, also, in a continent covering all zones save the ant- 

 arctic, all elevations at which man can live, and all varieties of vegetal 

 phenomena growing out of temperature and rainfall. To proceed with 

 some order it will be necessary to divide the Western Hemisphere into 

 convenient culture areas. The following will serve for a provisional 

 list: 



. Irnerican culture areas. 



Areas. Peoples. 



1 . Arctic Eskimo. 



2. Canadian Athapascan. 



3. Atlantic slope Algonquian-Iroquois. 



4. Mississippi Valley Siouan. 



5. Louisiana or ( iulf Muskhogean. 



6. Southeastern Alaska Haida-Koluschan. 



7. Columbian region Salish-( Jhinookan. 



s. Interior basin Shoshonean. 



9. California region Very mixed stocks. 



10. Pueblo region Tanoan-Tewan and Sonoran. 



11. Middle American Nahua-Mayan. 



12. Cordilleran region Chibcha-Kechuan. 



13. Antillean region Arawak-Caribbean. 



14. Upper Amazonian Jivaro, Peba, Puno, etc. 



15. Eastern Brazilian region Tupi-< ruarani, Tapuya. 



1<>. Mato ( i rosso and southward Mixed people of Brazilian and Andean types. 



17. Argentina-Patagonian region Chaco, Pampean, and Patagonian stocks. 



18. Fuegian region Aliculuf , Ona, and Yahgan. 



The inquiry will not be raised hero whether the traps not made of 

 metal and found in the hands of the American savages are entirely 

 aboriginal, or whether there has been acculturation. A good knowl- 

 edge of the traps as they exist or existed will go far toward settling 

 the question of origin. 



