HOLMES.] VAUIETIES OF BEADS. 227 



which averages about one-sixteenth of an inch. The curvature of the 

 bead is so great that there has been much difi&culty in making the per- 

 forations from opposite ends meet, and none of the larger specimens 

 will permit the passage of a wire, although the perforations lap con- 

 siderably and water passes through quite freely. It will be observed 

 that the surface of these objects is coated with a dark, rough film, which, 

 when broken away, exposes the natural shell. Such beads may have 

 been used as nose ornaments, but more probably formed parts of some 

 composite ornament for the neck or ear. 



Fig. 7 represents a bone nose ornament obtained from the Pai-Ute 

 Indians by Professor Powell. Its shape is not unlike that of the curved 

 bead just described. 



The large rude bead given in Fig. 8 is made from the thick lip or rim 

 of the Haliotis Calif ornianus. This, with a number of similar specimens, 

 was obtained from an ancient grave at Dos Pueblos, Cal. The per- 

 forations are all large and symmetrical. In one case the hole has been 

 reduced at the ends by inserting small bits of shell, through which 

 minute passages have been made. 



In Figs. 9 and 10 I give two illustrations of a bead of rather remark- 

 able form. A large number of similar specimens have been brought 

 from Dos Pueblos, La Patera, and the islands of San Miguel and Santa 

 Cruz. They are made from the hinge of the Hennites giganteus, a large 

 bivalve, having a delicate purplish tinge. The shape results from the 

 form of the hinge; the curve is the natural curve of the shell; and the 

 notch near the middle of the convex side is the natural pit, often some- 

 what altered by art to add to the appearance or to assist in completing 

 the perforation. The holes are generally very small, and have been 

 made with much difficulty, owing to the curvature of the bead. Where 

 by accident the perforation has become enlarged at the end, it has 

 been bushed by setting in a small piece of shell. The specimen figured 

 is perforated near the end for suspension, no longitudinal perforation 

 having been attempted. 



Fig. 11 shows one of these beads in an unfinished state, the portion 

 of the hinge used being roughly broken out and slightly rounded. We 

 have in the national collection specimens of this class in all sta'ges of 

 manufacture. Professor Haldeman has described and illustrated a 

 number of similar beads. He describes the rounded notch near the 

 middle as artificial, and considers it a device to help out the perforation 

 or facilitate the stringing. Professor Putnam, in the same work,' states 

 that the "notches were subsequently filled with asphaltum even with 

 the surface of the shell." 



The curved bead illustrated in Fig. 12 is made from a Dentalium in- 

 dianoricm (?) by removing the conical point. These shells, either entire 

 or in sections, are much used by the Indians of the northwest, both as 

 ornaments and as a medium of exchange. 



' Pntnam, in Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, Vol. VII, p. 266. 



