48 
nearly circular, and in others again it may be compared to that 
of a duck’s bill or of an oyster shell. ‘To these may be added 
side scrapers, or such as are broader than they are long. 
Flint flakes and cores from which they have been struck were 
next described, the flakes being used as knives, scrapers, spear 
and arrow heads, saws, and barbs for javelins, whilst the 
Mexicans used obsidian flakes for shaving. The minute flakes 
were probably used for drills or boring tools. They have been 
found among the refuse left by the cave dwellers of the Reindeer 
period of the south of France. The flint barbs of the harpoon 
heads found in Scania are made from extremely small flakes. 
The Australians secure minute splinters of flint to wooden 
handles to form the teeth of rude saws and barbs of javelins. 
THE INFLUENCE OF POETRY ON 
NATIONAL LIFE. 
By J. WILLIAMSON. November 15th, 1892. 
A nation’s receptive power of poetical truths is of primary 
importance in the growth of its social and material well-being. 
In the childhood of the world men’s language was almost 
entirely symbolical or poetical. Things, to them, represented 
ideas, not words. In those days every man was a poet. As 
population increased and wants were multiplied, lust, greed, 
hatred and malice began to destroy the clear vision and innocent 
life of the world, and the whole world of the time was drowned 
in the flow of perverted tastes and unholy desires. The men 
who in that low state of society towered above their fellows were 
the poets. They invented the lyre and flute and harmony. It 
is difficult to express the influence of poetry on primitive people 
as regards birds, beasts and flowers. The real potency of poetry, 
in a national sense, is most strongly felt in its influence as an 
inspirer of religious feeling and patriotic fervour. The exploits 
of sturdy chieftains, or of men with great physical strength, 
were handed down for admiration from father to son in ballad 
and in song. The wild Norse sea kings went into battle, their 
nerves steeled by the knowledge that death in conflict would 
secure for them immediately a secure and tranquil place in the 
palaces of the gods, and were stimulated to deeds of prowess by 
the thought that their names would be embalmed and their 
courage immortalised in the death songs and sages of the bards. 
These Norsemen, inhaling poetry with every breath they drew, 
became, as was natural, a fierce and liberty-loving race. In 
