NELSON] KNIVES AND THIMBLES 109 
Figure 6, plate xLvi1, from Kushunuk, is a small knife made of slate 
set in a slot in the end of an oval wooden handle. 
Figure 7, plate xLvi1, from the lower Yukon, is made of a fine-grain 
stone very similar in appearance to slate, set into a wooden handle. 
This specimen is more neatly made than is usually the case with these 
implements. 
Figure 5, plate xLv1, from the lower Yukon, is a rough piece of slate 
set in a rudely made wooden handle. 
Figure 9, plate xLvi1, from the lower Yukon, is a slate knife attached 
to a wooden handle by means of a rawhide cord passed through a hole 
in the back. It has a sheath made from two pieces of wood fastened 
together with a rawhide cord. 
Figure 10, plate xLy11, from St Michael, is a long slate blade fitted 
into a slot in the end of a wooden handle and bound in place with a 
lashing of untanned sealskin. 
Figure 4, plate xLvu, from Konigunugumut, is a specimen of the 
iron-blade knives which, since the introduction of iron into Alaska, are 
gradually displacing the old stone and slate implements. It is set ina 
neatly made wooden handle. 
Figure 1, plate XLVI, from Sfugunugumut, is another iron-blade 
knife with a solid ivory handle. 
Specimens of wooden-handle knives, similar in character to those 
from the American coast, were obtained on St Lawrence island, but 
they show the customary rude workmanship of that district. 
THIMBLES AND THIMBLE HOLDERS 
Thimbles for women are made usually from small, oval pieces of tough 
sealskin, having a slit extending across one edge, forming a loop-like 
strap, through which the forefinger is thrust, so that the strap rests 
across the nail and the pad of skin in the inner side of the finger (see 
figure 20, plate xLiv, from Nubviukhchugaluk). Some of the women 
use metal thimbles obtained from the traders, which are also imitated 
in ivory by themselves, but most of the women prefer the old-fashioned 
sealskin thimbles. 
Figure 21, plate xLrv, from Chalitmut, is one of these ivory thimbles 
made to rest like a cap over the end of the finger; the back is cut away 
except for a strap or band across the inner border. In form this is a 
combination of the metal thimble of the white people and the old 
style made from a piece of sealskin. 
Sealskin thimbles are carried usually on a holder or guard attached 
to the end of a cord, which is either fastened to the workbag or forms 
a pendant to the strap of the needle-case. These holders vary greatly 
in form, but are most frequently of hook shape. 
Figure 1, plate xitv, from St Michael, is a thimble holder made from 
a plain piece of bone from the leg of a bird; it is the rudest and 
simplest form of this article. 
