HARPOON-HEADS. 



143 



scarcity could not be accounted for by their undoubtedly frequent loss in the 

 water of the sea, of lakes, and rivers. 



Among the twenty-eight heads of bone and horn, presently to be figm*ed 

 and described, twenty are provided with unilateral, and only eight with bilateral 

 barbs. I believe that most of them were armatures for fishing-darts, though I 

 would not attempt to decide in each case whether the specimen formed the point 

 of a spear-like implement or of an arrow used in shooting fish. The objects 

 under notice, being mostly cut from hollow bones, are generally flattish, and often 

 exhibit, like the bone fish-hooks, on one side a portion of the marrow-cavity. 



Fig. 221. This figure is reduced from one given by Professor Jeffries 

 "Wyman.* The original occurred in a shell-deposit on Goose Island, Casco Bay, 

 Maine, and is described as a flattened piece cut from a long bone, and showing 

 the cancellated structure on one side. The point and barb appear to be rounded 

 by friction. This specimen is in the Peabody Museum. 



Fig. 222. A harpoon-head with a rather sharp point and a single barb. Its 

 lower end is tapering and fitted for insertion into a shaft. This specimen appears 

 to be very old, its surface being much corroded and bleached by exposure. Its 

 longitudinal curve (not perceivable in the illustration) renders it probable that 

 it was cut from a rib, perhaps that of a cetacean. Obtained by Mr. Schumacher 

 on San Nicolas Island. 



Fig. 223. A smaller specimen of the same character, found by Mr. Schu- 

 macher with the original of Fig. 222. 



FIQ. 224. Unalashka Island. (16083). Fio. 225. Unalashka Island. (1G083). Fio. 226. Maine (Damariseotta). 



FIGS. 224-226. Bone harpoon-heads. 



* Wyman : An Account of some Kjcekkenmceddings, or Shell-Heaps, in Maine and Massachusetts ; American 

 Naturalist; Vol. I, 1868; Plate 15, Fig. 13; described on p. 583. 



