80 NATURE'S TEACHINGS. 



the Esquimaux, these instruments are mostly made of bone. 

 I possess one, however, which is made of wood, beautifully 

 polished, and adorned with a large blue stone, something like 

 a turquoise, set almost in its middle. One of the most curious 

 points in the formation of the Esquimaux weapon is, that the 



JAW OF SNAKE. THROWING-STICK. 



but is grooved and channelled so as to admit the fingers and 

 thumb of the right hand. The average length of this instru- 

 ment is twenty inches. 



IN New Caledonia the natives use a contrivance for increas- 

 ing the power of the spear, which is based on exactly identical 

 principles, though the mode of carrying them out is different. 

 A thong or cord of some eighteen inches in length is kept in 

 the right hand, one end being looped over the forefinger, and 

 the other, which is terminated by a button, being twisted round 

 the shaft of the spear. When the weapon is thrown, the 

 additional leverage gives it great power ; and it is a note- 

 worthy fact that the sling-spear of New Caledonia has enabled 

 us to understand the otherwise unintelligible " amentum " of 

 the ancient classic writers. 



PASSING from Art to Nature, we have in the jaw of the 

 serpent an exact type of the peculiar leverage by which the 

 spear is thrown. If the reader will refer to the illustration, 

 he will see that the lower jaw of the snake, instead of being 

 set directly on the upper jaw, is attached to an elongated bone, 

 which gives the additional leverage which is needful in the 

 act of swallowing prey, after the manner of serpents. 



IN War and in Peace we have been long accustomed to 

 shield the edges and points of our sharp weapons with sheaths, 

 and even the very savages have been driven to this device. 



