PRIMITIVE SWORDS. 57 



One of these is given in the illustration, and is taken from a 

 specimen in my collection. It is made of wood, rather more 

 than two feet in length, and would in itself be an insignificant 

 weapon but for its armature. 



This consists of a number of sharks' teeth, which are fixed 

 along either side, and are a most formidable apparatus, each 

 tooth cutting like a lancet-blade, and not only being very sharp, 

 but having their edges finely notched like the teeth of a saw. 

 I have a series of these weapons in my collection, some being 

 curved, some straight, and one very remarkable weapon having 

 four blades, one straight and long blade in the centre, and three 

 curved and short blades springing from the handle towards the 

 point. 



Opposite the shark-tooth sword is an object which might 

 almost be taken for a similar weapon, but is, in fact, nothing 

 but a common grass-blade, such as may be found in any of our 

 lanes. I suppose that most of my readers must at some time 

 have cut their fingers with grass, and the reason why is shown 

 in the illustration, which represents a much-magnified blade of 

 grass. The edges of the leaf are armed with sharp teeth of 

 flint, set exactly like those of the sword, with their points 

 directed towards the tip of the blade. The whole of the under 

 surface of the blade is thickly set with similar but smaller 

 teeth, arranged in the same manner. I have just brought a 

 blade of grass from a lane near my house, and when it was 

 placed under the half-inch power of the microscope, the resem- 

 blance to the sword was absolutely startling to some spectators 

 who came to look at it. 



As if to make the resemblance closer, many savage weapons 

 are edged with flat stones, flint chips, or pieces of obsidian, so 

 that the flint teeth of the grass are exactly copied by the flint 

 edgings of the sword. The old Mexican swords were nearly all 

 edged with obsidian, as is seen in the lower right-hand figure 

 of the next illustration. I possess a number of obsidian flakes 

 which were intended for that purpose, but do not appear to have 

 been used. 



The second figure from the top represents the head of a spear 

 similarly armed, and I possess a small Australian implement in 

 which the flakes of obsidian are set only on one side, so that 

 the instrument can be used as a rude saw. 



