334 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



wolf, and the skin of the lion and tiger. It probably existed in prehis- 

 toric times, and while no direct evidence has been found of such a cus- 

 tom in the eastern hemisphere, the object herewith figured is evidence 

 of its existence, and the use of the skin of the slain beast, either as a 

 garment or a fetich, or both, among the prehistoric peoples of Amer- 

 ica. The custom is found in the times of earliest given history. Her- 

 cules stands in the Grecian mythology as the earliest and most notable 

 representative of this custom. Hercules having slain his music teacher 

 Linos, was banished by his putative father Amphytriton. At the age 

 of eighteen he slew a lion that infested Mount Kythaeron and preyed 

 upon the flocks of his father. Eeturning to Thebes he wore the lion's 

 skin hanging from his shoulders as a sign of his success, and from this 

 one may suppose that it was already a custom and that he was not the 

 first to inaugurate it. But the skin with which Hercules is generally 

 represented was not that of this lion. Of the twelve great labors put 

 upon him by Eurystheus the first was the destruction of the Neinean 

 lion. Its skin was known to be impenetrable, proof even against the 

 arrows of Hercules. He entered the cave where was its lair, closed the 

 entrance behind him, grappled the monster in his arms and strangled 

 him. He tore off the skin and resolved to wear it in his own defense, 

 and thus he came to be represented with the lion's skin, either carry- 

 ing it across his arms or wearing it down his back, with the skin of its 

 head fitting to his crown like a cap, and the fore legs knotted or crossed 

 under his chin. 



The early coins give us some insight into this matter. Beginning 

 with 700 B. C, the coins bore the type of the various animals — lion, 

 bull, horse, boar, etc. — also the creatures of mythology, as the Chimera, 

 Gorgon, etc., while they early began with types of the gods — Aphro- 

 dite, Poseidon, Pegasus, Minotaur, Apollo, etc. Among these early ap- 

 peared Hercules. On a coin from Termera, dating probably about 480 

 B. C, Hercules is represented kneeling, with the lion skin about him and 

 its head drawn over his crown. On two coins of Cyprus, Hercules is 

 represented with his bow in his left hand, his club in his right, and 

 wearing the lion skin. A coin of Thasos, about 411 B. C, represents 

 Hercules in the act of drawing the bow and wearing the lion skin. In 

 the foregoing the hero is represented at full length, and, consequently, 

 the lion's skin is extremely small and somewhat indistinct. But on a 

 coin from Camariua, which was destroyed 405 B. C, is the type of the 

 head of young Hercules, which shows the lion's skin with great detail 

 aud beauty. The fore paws are drawn together and crossed on his neck 

 under the chin. The under jaw of this lion is conventionally treated, 

 and is shown as laid upon the under jaw of the god, the lion's open 

 mouth encircling his ear. 



A gold coin from Syracuse, about 412 B. C, shows the head of Her- 

 cules again with the lion's skin, and others from Cos Cyprus aud other 

 places, so that they cease to be rare. 



