TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 163 



the ends prove it to be unmistakably the same weapon as the Tartar bow. It is 

 found also in British Columbia, and down the west coast of America as far as 

 California. 



Here, then, we have the continuous distribution across two entire continents of 

 a particular class of bow, of a more complex form than the southern bow, and one, 

 therefore, which is not likely to have been adopted except by a people to whom the 

 simpler but equally effective form was known, but who did not possess the mate- 

 rials necessary for its construction. It would not, perhaps, require a very wide 

 stretch of imagination to suppose that this class of bow may have originated at a 

 time when an arctic flora similar to that existing amongst the Esquimaux may 

 have been more widely distributed in the northern hemisphere than at present, and 

 its advantages for emjiloyment on horseback would be a cause for retaining it. Be 

 that as it may, we have proof that this composite bow is of great antiquity, and that 

 it has been carried by intruding races into distant countries. May not the use of 

 the simpler and earlier bow have been spread in the same manner ? It may have 

 been, but we cannot say that it was. The resemblance between the South-Ame- 

 rican bows and arrows and those from New Guinea is so close that it is sometimes 

 difficult to distinguish them. Even the ornamentation upon them is much alike ; 

 and it is well known to all Prehistorians that the arrow-heads found on the Ame- 

 rican continent present all the four tj-pes of leaf-shaped, lozenge-shaped, triangular, 

 and barbed, that are found in Europe. 



As by degrees the use of the bow spread over the world, that of the throwing- 

 stick would tend to disappear. We have some gTOunds for supposing that the latter 

 instrument was fonnerly in use in the Pelew Islands ; and Mr. Franks has found it 

 amongst some Mexican relics probably preserved in a tomb. May it not also have 

 existed formerly in other localities where it has not been preserved in tombs, and 

 where no trace of it now exists ? If this were the case, where should we now 

 expect to iind it retained ? In such localities as the Arctic seas, where lack of 

 suitable materials still renders the construction of the bow a work of great diffi- 

 culty, as is shown by the manner in which several pieces of hard bone are some- 

 times fastened together to form one, or in Australia, where the knowledge of the 

 use of tlie bow has never penetrated. 



Closely connected with the bow, the harpoon may be instanced as an example of 

 early origin and wide distribution. The harpoon is found in some of the French 

 caves, amongst the earliest bone relics of human workmanship that have been 

 brought to light. Its present distribution is almost universal, being found in 

 Australia, North and South Africa, North and South America, and in all regions 

 where its use has not been superseded by more suitable contrivances. 



In proportion as our investigations are carried into the higher phases of civili- 

 zation, we find our areas of distribution more limited, and of more and more value 

 to us is tracing the continuity of culture ; and when we come to the distribution of 

 the metallurgic arts, we find tliem defined by marked geographical boundaries 

 which are not the boundaries of the great primiBval races of mankind. 



If we draw a line across the globe from Behring Strait in a south-westerly direction 

 through Wallace's line, leaving Australia on the east, and take for our period the 

 date of the first discovery of America, we shall find that (putting aside the metal- 

 ku'gic culture of Mexico and Peru, which, it may be observed, is grouped round a 

 single centre) this line separates the area of stone culture on the east from the 

 area of metallurgic culture on the west ; but it passes straight through the prim^-eval 

 racial boundai-ies. Turning to the ethnological map of the world, we find in the 

 southern hemisphere the black races of man occupvdng a continuous area, extending 

 from Australia on the east to Africa on the west ; of these, the eastern portion are 

 in the area of stone culture, whilst the western ha^•e long become acquainted with 

 the use of metals. Or if we divide these black races, as Prof Huxley has divided 

 them, into Australoid and Negroid stocks, including amongst the 1 itter the Negritos, 

 we find equally that with each of these primteval stocks the eastern half are in the 

 stone area, while the western are acquainted with the use of metals. In the 

 northern hemisphere we also find the great Mongoloid stock, which includes the 

 inhabitants of northern and eastern Asia and the two continents of America, divided 

 by our line in two portions, of which the eastern are in the stone area, while the 



