157 



It is of general uniform thickness, about one-fifth of an 

 inch, except where the angles are slightly rounded off on 

 the front of the head and on the abdominal outline, and 

 the portion representing the forked tail, or caudal fin, 

 which is rapidly and symmetrically thinned to its edges, 

 as is the notched portion representing the dorsal fin. 



The carving was evidently intended to represent a fish, 

 with some peculiar ideas of the artist added and several 

 important characters left out. The three longitudinal 

 grooves in front represent the mouth and jaws, while the 

 transverse groove at their termination gives a limit to 

 the length of the jaw, and a very decided groove on the 

 under side di- 

 vides the under 

 jaw into its right 

 and left portions. 

 The eyes are rep- 

 resented as slight 

 depressions at the 

 top of the head. Natural size - 



The head is separated from the abdominal portion by a 

 decided groove, and the caudal fin is well represented by 

 the forked portion, from the centre of which the rounded 

 termination of the whole projects. In this part there is 

 an irregularly made hole of a size large enough to allow 

 a strong cord to pass through for the purpose of suspen- 

 sion. The portion of the sculpture rising in the place of 

 a dorsal fin is in several ways a singular conception of the 

 ancient carver. While holding the position of a dorsal 

 fin, it points the wrong way, if we regard the portion 

 looking so much like a shark's tooth as intended to rep- 

 resent the fin as a whole. It is very likely that the de- 

 signer wished to show that the fin was not connected with 

 the head and, as he was confined by the length of the 



