MCGEE] THE RUDIMENTS OF TOOLS 233* 



activities; i. e., in developed industries the tool is a primary factor, 

 wliile ill uasceut iiulastries it is but a collateral. 



Tlie tools of any primitive tribe may be deOued as appliances used 

 primarily iu the production of implements ami uteusils, and incideutally 

 in preparing: food, making habitations, manufacturing ai>parel, build- 

 ing vehicles or vessels, etc — in short, the appliances used in jtroducing 

 devices for the maiutenance of active life. The definition emphasizes 

 both the dearth and the undifferentiated character of Seri tools; for the 

 appliances used in the production of devices are exceedingly few, and 

 are commonly employed also in food-getting or iu other vital industries. 



Perhaps the most conspicuous general fact in connection with Seri 

 tools and their uses is the prevalence of natural objects employed 

 either (1) in ways suggested by natural functions or (2) iu ways deter- 

 mined by the convenience of users; the former grading into artificial 

 devices shaped in similitude of natural objects and employed iu ways 

 suggested by natural functions. 



Prominent among the natural objects employed in natural ways are 

 mandibles of birds, used in piercing pelts and fabrics; fish spines and 

 bones, also used as piercers; thorns of cacti and mimosas, used iu 

 similar ways; teeth and horns of game animals, used in rending their 

 own tissues, and afterward in miscellaneous industrial processes; 

 together with cane splints, used for incising. Frequently the employ- 

 ment of such objects is mere improvisation; yet, so far as could be 

 ascertained through direct observation at Costa Rica, through Mashem's 

 incomplete accounts, and through inquiries from residents on the fron- 

 tier, even the improvisations are made iu accordance with regular cus- 

 tom firmly fixed by associations — quite iu the way, indeed, of primitive 

 life generally, and of the physiologic and psychic jirocesses from which 

 primitive custom is so largely borrowed. With these objects may be 

 grouped the turtle-shells and jielicau pelts used as shields against alien 

 and animal enemies or as protectors against the elements; and the Seri 

 sages would class with them the deer-head masks aud deer-hoof rattles 

 worn in the dance to at once symbolize and invoke strength and swift- 

 ness. One of the most striking among the artificial devices of sym- 

 bolic motive is the piercer, or awl, of wood or bone, shaped in imitation 

 of the avian mandible; yet still more significant in a vestigial way 

 (provided the most probable inference as to genesis be valid) is the 

 hard-wood foreshaft of arrow and harpoon, shaped aud used in trench- 

 ant symbolism of the deadly tooth. 



There are two conspicuous classes of natural objects employed in 

 ways determined largely by the convenience of the users, viz, (a) marine 

 shells and (h) beach pebbles. 



The marine shells applied industrially comprise the prevailing local 

 genera, Cardixm, 2Iactra, Area, Chuma, and others. They are used ordi- 

 narily as drinking-cups, dishes, dippers, receptacles for fats and face- 



