138 THE ABORUilXES OF PORTO RICO [eth. anx. I'D 



beak, wings, and tail all being' well made. Seen from one .side the 

 head is globular, with a depression in place of the eye and an elongated 

 straight beak like that of a duck. The legs are brought forward to 

 the top of the beak, leaving a triangular opening between the lower 

 side of the beak, the head, the breast, and the legs. Seen from the 

 front ((''), there appear on the top of. the head a median groove and 

 incised lines which extend to the upper portion of the plane surface. 

 The wings aVe raised areas with pits near the border, the tail being 

 indicated l)y two projections or knobs on the posterior extremitj^ of 

 the body. The use of this object is enigmatical, but it ma_v have been 

 attached to a stick and carried in procession or set up on graves during 

 mortuary ceremonies. 



Specimen h is a bird-like anuilet from Trinidad, British West Indies, 

 where it v/as purchased by the author in 1904. It is made of soft 

 soapstone or serpentine, highl}' polished, and is incised on "lioth sides. 

 The signiticance of this uniciue object is unknown. Ijut it may be 

 regarded as an amulet of unusual form. 



Viewed in the position in which it appears on the plate tiie upper 

 part has the form of a bird's head, the beak resembling that of a par- 

 r,ot, the round part with a depression being the eye cavity. The per- 

 foration would, according to this interpretation, indicate the upper part 

 of the body, the incised figure the wings. The meaning of the globu- 

 lar body on the lower end of the object is incomprehensil)le under this 

 interpretation, unless we regard it as the head of another animal, pos- 

 sibly that of a smaller bird. It has been suggested also that the figure 

 represents a scorpion, the part that has been regarded as the head of a 

 bird being the sting at the end of the tail. There are objections to 

 this interpretation, for the object was evidently suspended at the per- 

 foration, and one side is flat, as if worn next the body or forehead. 

 This object should be classed as an amulet rather than as an idol, 

 being connected with the "Stone amulets"' group immediately to )»e 

 considered. 



Stove A^iulets 



Among the objects used by the Antilleans in their worship there 

 wei'e none that surpassed in technic the small stone images to whicli 

 Professor Mason gave the name amulet. Four figures of these amu- 

 lets with accompanying descriptions occur in his catalogue of the 

 Latimer collection. The author here considers amulets of stone, used 

 either as personal fetishes or charms, and will descril)e later under 

 carvings of these materials those made of shell or bone. 



The following account taken from the author's article" on Porto 

 Rican and other West Indian amulets may give an idea of their general 

 forms. 



a American Anthropologist, n. s., v, no. 4, 1903. The references to plates in this 

 to confonu with those in the present report. 



