ABORIGINAL SKIN-DRESSING. . r )81 



soft as the best kid leather. In some cases the hair is removed, but 

 generally it is left on. They first dry the skins in the sun, then stretch 

 them on a frame, and the inner surface is carefully scraped with a sharp 

 knife. They are then rubbed for a long time with flat heavy stones 

 until quite smooth. This produces a fine grain. Butter or oil is then 

 applied in considerable quantities aiyl the skin once more placed in the 

 sun. This latter process is repeated several times. Both men and 

 women are employed in tanning. Some skins are dyed after the hair 

 has been removed, others have patterns printed on them, and the thick 

 buffalo hide, from which sandals are made, is ornamented by either 

 a knife or a red-hot nail. Leather rope is sometimes used in house- 

 building, if so, it is without tanning. Straps, traps, and nets are first 

 tanned. (Proceedings Royal Soe., Edinburgh, 1881-'86, p. 730.) 



Friendly Islanders remove the hair and entrails of the hog with 

 knives of split bamboo, also used in carving cooked pig. Nutka Sound, 

 iron, knife, chisel, mallet, polisher. (Cook.) 



In making an opossum rug the Yarra tribe employ some skill and 

 knowledge. In the first place, it is necessary to select good, sound, 

 well-clothed skins. These, as they are obtained, are stretched on a 

 piece of bark and fastened down by wooden or bone pegs, and kept there 

 until they are dry. They are then well scraped with mussel-shell or a 

 chip of basalt, dressed into proper shape, and sewn together. (H. B. 

 Smyth, Aborigines of Victoria, I, 1878, p. 271.) 



THE SCRAPER. 



Wheuever the savage has come in contact with the whites he has 

 been quick to substitute iron for stone in his arrow-heads, knives, etc. 

 Not so with his scraper. Indeed the white man keeps up the use of 

 stone, glass, etc., in his modern tannery. In some respects these im- 

 plements are the most interesting example of the history of the civiliza- 

 tion of man. They may not actually be the earliest implement made or 

 used, but they have been the longest in use. We might despair of ex- 

 plaining their extreme antiquity. 



They commence to appear with the earliest age of man and have con^ 

 tinned in use to the present day, and are essentially the same instru- 

 ment now as at the beginning. Their use was all but universal among 

 the prehistoric peoples of North America, but they were equally uni- 

 versal in the paleolithic era. They were the principal implement of the 

 early cave dwellers in western Europe and so continued through all the 

 other prehistoric ages. They extend through all time among all peoples 

 and have figured in all civilizations. Neither in form nor substance did 

 it change perceptibly during the prehistoric ages. It is the one endur- 

 ing implement that was also used by prehistoric man. It is therefore 

 of the utmost importance for the archaeologist who wishes to rehabilitate 

 a certain ancient culture to consider carefully all the elements of that 

 culture which crystallize around this little implement. He may have in 



