FISH-CUTTERS. 183 



small plane thus formed it is encircled by a groove. It appears probable that 

 this prepared shell served as a sinker. 



Fig. 327. An object made of the columella of Pyrula pcrversa. Its great 

 resemblance to a class of stone sinkers justifies the opinion that it also was a 

 sinker. From Sarasota Bay, Florida. Presented by Mr. J. Gr. Webb. 



Fig. 328. Cast of another specimen of shell, worked into the form of a 

 sinker. Original likewise found in Florida, and loaned to the National Museum 

 by Mr. Velie. 



Fig. 329. Columella of Pyrula perversa, carefully brought into shape, and 

 perforated at one end. This specimen was found in a shell-heap on Blenner- 

 hassett's Island in the Ohio River, two miles below Parkersburg, West Virginia, 

 and belongs to a collection of relics from that island sent to the National Museum 

 by Mr. J. P. MacLcan.* It would have done excellent service as a sinker for a 

 fishing-line ; but as the shell out of which it is made occurs only on the southern 

 coasts of the United States, it doubtless was deemed valuable by the inhabitants 

 of the interior country, and hence it may have been designed for an ornamental 

 rather than a practical purpose. 



Fish-cutters. Any one acquainted with the types of North American stone 

 implements is aware of the existence of smoothed or polished cutting-tools of 

 slate, which generally exhibit a semi-lunar shape, having a curved cutting-edge 

 and a straight or nearly straight back, thick and projecting for greater con- 

 venience in handling. One of these cutters is figured by Squier and Davis, and 

 they are thus alluded to : "Another variety is occasionally found in the Eastern 

 States. They are sometimes composed of slate, and are of various sizes, often 

 measuring five or six inches in length. They are very well adapted for flaying 

 animals, and other analogous purposes. "f They were afterward noticed by 

 myself,! and more minutely described by Professor Putnam and Dr. Abbott.|[ 

 The above-quoted statements are correct, excepting the remark that these cutters 

 occur occasionally in the Eastern States. They are, in fact, rather frequent in 

 the Northern Atlantic States, but apparently confined to that region. The speci- 

 mens in the National Museum were obtained in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 

 Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania. According to Dr. Abbott, they are 

 common in New Jersey. 



Fig. 330, on the following page, shows the form of one of the smaller speci- 

 mens of this class, composed of a greenish-gray slate. The back is in the middle 



* His description of the shell-deposits on that island will be found in another section of this work. 

 f Squier and Davis : Ancient Monuments ; p. 215, etc. 



J The Archaeological Collection of the United States National Museum; No. 287 of Smithsonian Contributions 

 to Knowledge ; Washington, 1876 ; p. 24. 



Putnam : Bulletins of the Essex Institute, Vol. V, April and May, and July, 1873 ; p. 80, etc. ; p. 125. 

 || Abbott: Primitive Industry ; p. 63, etc. 



