BOLUKE.] THE SCRATCH STICK. 491 



comb they [the men] have a small stick hanging by a string from one 

 of the locks [of hair], which they employ to alleviate any itching or irri 

 tation in the head.&quot; 1 



The Tlinkit of British North America use these scratchers made 

 of basalt or other stone. 



&quot;The pipe-stem carrier (i. e., the carrier of the sacred or medicine 

 pipe) of the Crees, of British North America, dares not scratch his own 

 head, without compromising his own dignity, without the intervention 

 of a stick, which he always carries for that purpose.&quot; 2 



Bancroft 3 quotes Walker as saying that &quot; a Pima never touches his 

 skin with his nails, but always with a small stick for that purpose, 

 which he renews every fourth day and wears in his hair.&quot; 



As part of the ceremony of &quot;initiating youth into manhood&quot; among 

 the Creeks, the yonng neophyte &quot;during the twelve moons is 

 also forbidden to pick his ears or scratch his head with his fingers, but 

 must use a small splinter to perform these operations.&quot; 4 The Apache- 

 Yuma men carry in their hair &quot;a slender stick or bone about 8 inches 

 long, which serves them as a comb.&quot; 5 



The idea that these scratch sticks replace combs is an erroneous one; 

 Indians make combs in a peculiar way of separate pieces of wood, and 

 they are also very fond of brushing their long locks with the coarse 

 brushes, which they make of sacatou or other grass. 



&quot;One other regulation, mentioned by Schombnrgk, is certainly quaint; 

 the interesting father may not scratch himself with his finger nails, but 

 may use for this purpose a splinter, especially provided, from the mid 

 rib of a cokerite palm.&quot; 6 



When a Greenlander is about to enter into conversation with the 

 spirits &quot;no one must stir, not so much as to scratch his head.&quot; 7 



In the New Hebrides most of the natives &quot;wear a thin stick or reed, 

 about 9 inches long, in their hair, with which they occasionally disturb 

 the vermin that abound in their heads.&quot; 8 



Alarcon, describing the tribes met on the Rio Colorado, in 1541, says: 

 &quot;They weare certaine pieces of Deeres bones fastened to their armes, 

 wherewith they strike oft the sweate.&quot; 9 



In German folk-lore there are many references to the practice in 

 which the giants indulged frequently in scratching themselves, some 

 times as a signal to each other. Just what significance to attach to 

 these stories I can not presume to say, as Grimm merely relates the fact 

 without comment. 10 



1 Voyages, p. 323. 



2 Kane, Wanderings of an Artist in Xorth America, p. 399. 



Native Kaoes, vol. 1. p. 553. 



4 Ha\vkins, quoted by Gatsebet, Migration Legend of the Creeks. Philadelphia. 18S4, vol. 1, p. 185. 



6 Corbusier, in Americai; Antiquarian, September. 1886, p. 279. 



Everard F. im Thuni, Indians of Guiana, p. 218. 



Crantz, History of Greenland, London, 1767, vol. 1, pp. 210-211. 



&quot;Forster, Voyage Round the World, vol. 2, pp. 275. 288. 



Hakluyt, Voyages, vol. 3, p. 508. 



10 Grimm. Teutonic Mythology, vol. 2, p. 544. 



