XXXVI BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 
drawn toward the body in use; and the resemblance of the 
implement to that found among the primitive peoples of Japan 
and the similarity in use were at once noted. At the same 
time Mr Cushing, who was fresh from the tidal marshes of 
Florida in which curved knives of shell are entombed, was 
enabled to interpret more clearly the Floridian shell knives 
and tooth knives, and infer the manner of their use, which 
must have been prevailingly centripetal or inward, rather than 
centrifugal or outward from the body like the tools of civili- 
zation. This simple discovery throws strong light on the 
development of primitive industries, and removes difficulties 
hitherto encountered in the interpretation of primitive imple- 
ments and workmanship. Then, on examining the shell mounds 
and house mounds on the Maine coast, Mr Cushing was enabled 
to explain the occurrence of certain split teeth of the beaver 
found in such associations as to suggest habitual use; for he 
found, on attaching them to handles similar to those of the 
curved knives, that they constituted surprisingly effective 
implements for shaving and carving wood, for opening the 
skins and severing the tissues of animals, and indeed for per- 
forming all of the multifarious functions of the knife. At once 
it became evident that the beaver-tooth knife was much more 
efficient, and among hunters more economical in making and 
carrying, than the knife of chipped stone; and, on investigat- 
ing the history of the curved steel knives made by smiths for 
the Indians in accordance with their own designs, it became 
evident that the beaver-tooth knife was the prototype of that 
in use by the tribesmen today. At the same time, the con- 
nection between the shell knife of the Florida coast and the 
beaver-tooth knife of the Maine coast seemed so close as to 
indicate similarity in origin, the animal substance used in each 
case being that possessing at once the advantages of accessi- 
bility and of economy in manufacture and use. 
Connected in bearing with the foregoing researches are those 
conducted during the year by Mr W J McGee. During pre- 
vious years he visited the Seri Indians of the Gulf of Califor- 
nia and collected various specimens of their handicraft. The 
collection comprises a series of stone implements, of which a 
