April i6, 1908] 



I\IA TURE 



569 



derived from clubs, bows or arrows, and may be referred 

 to the weapons of the twin War Gods. 



'I'he opposing players are frequently the representatives 

 of the two War Gods, and gaming implements are among 

 the objects sacrificed upon the altar of the Twins Zuni. 

 In general, games appear to be played ceremonially, as 

 pleasing to the gods, with the object of securing fertility, 

 causing rain, giving and prolonging life, expelling demons, 

 or curing sickness. There is no direct evidence of the 

 employment of games in divination, apart from an observa- 

 tion by Gushing. 



The game of hoop and pole, like the dice game, was 

 played throughout the entire continent north of Mexico. 

 It consists essentially in throwing a spear or shooting an 

 arrow at a hoop or ring, the counts being determined by 

 the way in which the darts fall with reference to the 

 target. The game is remarkable for the wide diversity 

 in the form of the implements employed, as well as in the 

 method of play. A common and most widely distributed 

 form of the hoop is Uvincd with a network resembling 



-Allar uf War Guil, Zuni, New .Mexico, wilh ^.„ 

 ring (or hoop) game. From a photograph of the 

 ited States National Museum. 



a spider's web, the counts being determined by the par- 

 ticular holes which are penetrated by the darts. The 

 author regards the plain hoop as a modification of the 

 netted hoop, which represents the net shield of the twin 

 War Gods. This object, which the Twins derived from 

 the Spider Woman, is a feminine symbol, and may be 

 used as an amulet. The dart or arrows are masculine. 

 Dr. G. \. Dorsey, who has studied the symbolism of 

 the ring employed in the Sun dance of the .Arapaho, says 

 it is symbolic of the creation of the world, for it represents 

 the sun, earth, sky. water, and wind. .Although Mr. 

 Culin states '* there is no record of women participating " 

 in this game, it is played, as he himself notes, by Hopi 

 maidens as a part of the prolonged Oraibi Oaqbl cere- 

 monies (H. R. Voth, Field Columbian Museum, Anth. 

 Series, vi. [1903], p. 42). Though this cult is largely con- 

 cerned with producing rain, it seems to be essentially a 

 germination ceremony, and probably has reference to the 

 maturation of the maidens. Mr. Culin adduces other 



evidence in support of a fertility significance for this gaine, 

 but he does not make any special allusion to it. Amongst 

 some tribes the game is mythologically connected with the 

 increase of buffalo ; indeed, the Cheyenne and other Plains 

 Indians call it the " buffalo game." The game had a 

 religious character among the Apache, and probably this 

 held good everywhere. 



Probably connected with the foregoing is the widely 

 spread game played by one person which consists of 

 catching a ring, perforated object, or a ball on a peg. 

 Dr. G. A. Dorsey says the Klamath always play it in 

 winter; it is called " splitting or punching out the moon," 

 and in this way the winter months are shortened and the 

 advent of spring is hastened. 



Ball games are well developed in North America, and 

 Mr. Culin deals with them as fully as possible. The 

 game of cat's cradle receives some attention, and various 

 figures are illustrated, but as no instructions are given 

 as to how they are made, much of the information is 

 of little value. Mrs. Jayne's remarkable book on the 

 subject is not referred to', neither is the magical aspect 

 of the game among certain Eskimo as recorded by Boas 

 on the authority of Captain C-omer. The holy spiders 

 taught the game to the Navaho, but calamity would befal 

 if it were played at any other time than winter. The 

 Zufii explain cat's cradle as the netted shield of the War 

 Gods, the game having been taught to them when little 

 boys by the Spider Woman for their amusement. Owing 

 to the ubiquitous nature of this pastime, it is evident that 

 the Zufii explanation of its origin is purely secondary, and 

 was invented to bring it into their mythological system. 

 We may suspect that the same may have happened for 

 the hoop and pole game, in spite of Mr. Culin's belief that 

 the oldest forms of existing gaines occur in the south- 

 western United States. Lack of space precludes due 

 mention of the numerous minor amusements described by 

 the author, though they are of considerable interest. 



In introducing the memoir. Prof. W. H. Holmes. Chief 

 of the Bureau, states that " the paper practically creates 

 the science of games, and for the first time gives this 

 branch its proper place in the science of man." This 

 eulogy is somewhat exaggerated, as others on this side 

 of the Atlantic have directed attention to the ethnological 

 value of the studv of games, and while Mr. Culin has 

 produced a memorable monograph of lasting value, he can 

 hardly be said to have introduced therein any general 

 principles that had not previously been enunciated. 



.A. C. Haddon. 



w 



NERVE AS A MASTER OF MUSCLE.^ 



E have on the table before us two muscles. The 

 animal was dead when they were taken from it a 

 short while ago. But the animal was, as we are ourselves, 

 ,in assemblage of organs, and many of these organs go 

 iin living for a certain time after the animal, as an animal, 

 is dead. Hence these muscles, carefully removed, are still 

 alive. We notice a marked difference between their 

 behaviour now. To understand the behaviour of organisms 

 we have to think of them as processes rather thati as 

 structures. An animal is something happening. The 

 function of muscles is to contract. Of the two muscles 

 now before us, one still goes on contracting, although quite 

 isolated from the body of which it formed a part ; but the 

 other does not contract, although that is its function in 

 the body. The muscle which still goes on contracting is 

 the heart ; the other is a muscle like the biceps of our 

 own arm. We might think that, as it rests there motion- 

 less, it is not alive. It is, however, fully alive. We can 

 satisfy ourselves of that. If I apply to it a faint electric 

 current, it answers by exhibiting its functional activity- 

 it contracts. Yet it does not contract of itself, nor will 

 it, however long we may preserve it ; it will die without of 

 itself even contracting once. What is the significance of 

 this difference between the two? 



The secret of this difference is largely an affair of the 

 nervous system. The tie between muscular activity and 

 nervous activity is always close ; but it is very different in 



1 A discourse delivered at the Royal Institution by Prof. C. S. Sherrington, 

 F.R.S. 



XO. 2007, ^'OL. 77] 



