MURDOCH. | SKIN SCRAPERS. 297 
frequently seen in use at the present day, has the butt produced horizon- 
tally into a broad, flat lobe. The excavation of the right side may be 
continued through to the left in the form of a notch, as shown in Fig. 
294 (No. 89315 [1365] from Sidaru) which has a blade of black flint and 
a handle of fossil ivory, with 
hollows for the thumb and 
fingers; or the left side may 
be unexcavated except for 
the thumb groove as in Fig. 
295 (No. 89309 [1135] from 
Utkiavwin). This specimen 
has a rather large wooden Hig. 294.—Skin scraper. 
handle, with the grooves as before. It appears, however, to have been 
remodeled to fit a smaller hand than that of the original owner, as the 
thumb groove has been deepened for about two-thirds of its original 
length, and there is a deep, round hole in the middle of the groove for 
Fic. 295.—Skin seraper. 
the second finger. The peculiarity of this specimen, however, is that it 
has a blade of sandstone, flat and rather thin, with a smooth, rounded 
edge. The natives told us that scraper blades of sandstone were the 
prevailing form in old times. 
Fig. 296 (No, 89312 [1336] from Utkiavwin) is another wooden handle, 
in which the excavation for the third and 
fourth fingers is merely a large round hole 
on the right side, while in front the han- 
dle is cut into two short lobes, between 
which in a deep groove the forefinger 
fits. There is a hollow for the thumb 
under the left lobe and one on the right 
for the middle finger. No. 89311 [1079] 
from the same village is almost exactly 
similar. These are the only two specimens of the kind which I recol- 
lect seeing. A rather large flint-bladed scraper with a wooden handle 
very much the shape of that of No. 89309 [1135] is the tool most gener- 
ally used at the present day. The blades are all of the same general 
shape and vary in size from the little one above mentioned (No. 89522 
Fia. 296.—Skin seraper. 
