278 EELIQUI^: AQTTITANKLE. 



the metacarpal bones are roasted for a short time on the embers, and are then 

 split longitudinally by a blow of an axe to extract the marrow. The marrow of 

 the metatarsal bones is of a dry tallowy nature, and is therefore not much 

 esteemed as an article of food. The portion of the Beers' meat not required for 

 immediate consumption is placed on a scaffold, out of the reach of Bears and 

 Wolves, where it remains until required, during the winter months, for " tailing " 

 (baiting) the deadfalls of the trapper. 



A set of phalangeal bones, seven in number, are occasionally cut and scraped 

 into a conical shape, and strung on a strip of Deer's sinew, to one end of which 

 is attached a portion of a Deer's tail ; at the other end is fastened a bone skewer, 

 fashioned out of a marrow-bone. This arrangement is used for playing the game 

 called " Sabudedagan," which is somewhat like our cup-and-ball. This game is 

 played also by the Montagnards of Labrador. It is called Nah-bah-wah-tah by 

 the Ojibwas. 



NOTE. A careful study of the outline-drawing of a Reindeer on a piece of 

 dressed antler, found in a cave at Thaingen, Canton of Schaffhausen * (fig. 98) 

 has led me to the following interpretation of the artist's design. 



The size and general outline of the body, together with the development of the 

 antlers, as especially marked by the brow-snags, denote the characteristics of a 

 full-grown Stag; the peculiar pinched-up form of the belly, apparently exagge- 

 rated by the draughtsman, coupled with the general emaciated appearance of the 

 animal, is of common occurrence soon after the rutting-season. The eye is placed 

 pretty nearly in its natural position, and appears to betoken the pleased and 

 contented look of an animal in the act of browsing or drinking; but it may be 

 remarked that the Reindeer, being possessed of greater acuteness of smell than 

 power of eyesight, is accustomed to sniff the ground, to detect the near presence 

 of an enemy or of one of its own kind. The suggestion, originally entertained 

 by Dr. Keller, that grass and a pond (or river) are depicted, by the vertical marks 

 and the long groove, on the opposite side of the piece of antler is, I think, pro- 

 bably correct; if it be so, however, it is hard to account for the "epuiseV 

 appearance of the Stag, such as might be caused by a scarcity of food during 

 snow-time, unless the animal had just come from bad quarters to good. In 



* Mittheilungen antiquar. Gesellschaft in Zurich, vol. xviii. Heft 5, 1874, p. 125 &c. ; and vol. xix. 

 Heft 1, 1875, p. 35 ; Ann. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. xv. February 1875, p. 149. 



