CHINESE GAMES WITH DICE AND DOMINOES. 529 



SIAMESE DOMINOES. 



Dominoes are called in Siamese tan tern (^Chinese td tim) "arranging 

 or connecting spots.'^ Two sets of dominoes exhibited by tbe Govern- 

 ment of Siam in the Section of Games at the Columbian Exposition 

 consist of 24 thin rectangular tablets of ivory, one with face of |f by 

 h, and the other 1|| by H inches (pi. 11). ihe "ones" and "fours" 

 are marked with red and the others with black spots, in the following 

 series: The pieces Q-G, 1-1, 4-4, 1-3, 5-5, 3-3, 2-2, 5-6, 4-6, 1-6, and 1-5 

 duplicated, and one of each of the pieces 6-3 and 6-2. 



ESKIMO DOMINOES, 



A set of Innuit dominoes in the U. S. National Museum, Washington, 

 (pi. 12), is described by Mr. Lucien Turner, who conducted the expe- 

 dition for the Smithsonian Institution in 1884.* 



"The Inuuit," Mr. Turner says, " who come from the western end of Hudsou Strait, 

 the so-called Northerners, have a game which they play with sets of pieces of ivory 

 cut into irregular shapes, and marked on one face with spots arranged in diftereut 

 patterns. The number of pieces in a set varies from 60 to 148. The name of a set 

 is A ma zii a Idi, and somewhat resembles our game of dominoes. 



"The game is played in the following manner: Two or more persons, according to 

 the number of pieces in the set, sit down and pile the pieces before them. One of 

 the players mixes the pieces together in plain view of the others. When this is 

 done he calls them to take the pieces. Each person endeavors to obtain a half or 

 third of the number, if there be two.or three players. The one who mixed up the 

 pieces lays down a piece and calls his opponent to match it with a piece having a 

 similar design. If this can not be done by any of the players the first has to mat'ch 

 it, and the game continues until one of the players has exhausted all of the pieces 

 taken by him. The pieces are designated by pairs, having names such as ka miu tik 

 (sled), kaiak (canoe), kale sak (navel), d ma zut (many), a tail sik (1), md kok (2), ping 

 a sut (3), si td miit (4), and td H mat (5). Each of the names above must be matched 

 with a piece of similar kind, although the other end of the piece may be of a diHer- 

 ent design. A kamuiik may be matched with an amauit, if the latter has not a line 

 or bar cut across it; if it has a bar it must be matched with an amazut. 



"This game is known to the people of the Ungava district, but those only who 

 learn it from the Northerners are able to play it. The northern Eskimo stake the 

 last article they possess on the issue of the game. Their-wives are disposed of tem- 

 porarily, and often are totally relinquished to the victor. I have heard of wives so 

 disposed of often sit down and win themselves back to their former owners." 



Dr. Franz Boas informs me that the Eskimo name for dominoes 

 means "standing upright side by side." 



MISCELLANEOUS GAMES. 



Several fanciful games have come to my notice which have been 

 suggested by the European domino game. In the Section of Games in 

 the Department of Anthropology at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 

 1893, a modern French game was exhibited under the name of Xe 2Iafjister 

 Dominoes Geographique, consisting of oblong pieces of cardboard, each 

 bearing on its face a portion of the map of the Valley of the Seine. 

 It was intended to be used for teaching geography. Another game, 



* Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1889-'90, pp. 257-258. 

 H. Mis. 184, pt. 2 34 



