HINTS AND EXPLANATIONS. 27 
that is, the measure is the length of the outline of the hand. Let this be 
called “around the hand unit.” 
There is a unit of measurement used which may be represented by 
the distance from the long finger to the elbow, measured on the inside or 
outside of the arm; or it may be from the tips of the joined thumb and 
fore-finger to the elbow, measured on the inside, 7. ¢., a half arm’s length. 
Another unit used is the distance from the meeting of the tips of the 
thumb and fore-finger to the armpit—. e., an arm’s length; still another 
from the meeting of the tips of the thumb and fore-finger of one hand 
to the meeting of the tips of the thumb and fore-finger of the other hand, 
along the outstretched arms and across the breast—i. e, a double arm’s 
length. . 
Distances along the ground are often measured in paces. All the 
tribes probably have measures for circumferences, and also for quantities. 
Distances between places were measured in days’ journeys and fractions of 
days’ journeys; the latter were often indicated by pointing out some part 
of the sun’s daily path along the firmament. 
§ 10.—DIVISION OF TIME. 
Indians have many ways of dividing the year into parts; they may 
have two, three, four, or even five seasons; they may divide the year into 
thirteen moons, and, in addition to one or both of the above methods, they 
may have many ways of designating particular times—as the strawberry 
time, the hazel-nut time, the kamas root time, &c. Their methods should 
be discovered and carefully described, recording the terms. 
§ 11.—STANDARDS OF VALUE. 
One or more of the most important skins used by the Indians were 
often employed as standards of value, especially the beaver skin and the 
buckskin. Shells and other articles worked into beads and made into 
strings were also used. In some tribes eagle feathers were the standard of 
value. 
The collector should discover, if possible, what standards of value were 
used, whether one or more, and give a clear account of them, at the same 
time recording the terms used. 
