652 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



form a coutinuous hole. The purpose of these have been for a long- 

 period unknown. A Chippewa Indian told me, in the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, last summer, that they served for gaming. Tliey were placed 

 in a pan or basket, which, being covered, was shaken and then set down 

 quietly, the cover removed, and an inspection would show how many 

 of the birds were seated upright. The player having the greatest num- 

 ber thus won the game. 



Plummets and sinkers (Fig. 26).— These are analogous in name, and 

 possibly sometimes in appearance, to the pendants just described; but 

 an examination of the real object in the number as possessed by the 

 Museum shows such differences as that they can not be classed together. 

 Taking the last numbers on Fig. 26 for first description, Nos. Ill and 113 

 are of quartzite, from Pennsylvania; 112 is of graywacke. from New 

 York. They are simply flat pebbles with notches chipped out on oppo- 

 site sides to receive a cord or thong. Another variety, but of the same 

 class, are pebbles more nearly round, which are still in their natural 

 state, but have been grooved around the circumference. No. 104 is 

 greenstone, from California ; 107, granite, from Rhode Island; 108, soap- 

 stone, from Georgia; one with two grooves at right angles is 109, talcose 

 slate, from Ehode Island; while No. 110 is sandstone, from Oregon, and is 

 decorated with engraved lines. The latter may have served as an orna- 

 ment. These specimens show a substantially different purpose from 

 the gorgets or pendants (No. 205 et seq.)^ and it is alleged were used 

 as plummets or sinkers, but on that opinions differ. No. 107 may pos- 

 sibly have been used with a handle and served as a weapon. The 

 others, Nos. 100 to 105, are totally different from the pendants, and 

 have been manufactured into their present state. They are of hard 

 material, red or brown hematite, jasper quartz, greenstone, etc., and 

 are made with grooves, knobs, or holes, apparently all for suspension. 

 Their form would indicate them to be plummets. They much resemble 

 the modern plummet, but their actual use is unknown. No. 100 is horn- 

 blende, from Ohio; 101, hematite, from Tennessee; 102 is from Arkan- 

 sas; 103, greenstone, from Ohio; 105 is quartzite from Massachusetts; 

 106, greenstone, from Massachusetts. This class are supposed to have 

 servpd as sinkers for the nets of prehistoric fishermen, but nothing 

 more is known with certainty than is indicated by their appearance. 



Discoidal stones (Fig. 27). — These are supposed to have been used for 

 games among the Indians, probably in playing the game called "chung- 

 kee." It resembles the modern game of quoits, except that the stones 

 are rolled on the ground instead of being pitched through the air. Some 

 of these discoidal stones measure 6 inches and more in diameter with a 

 regular dish-shaped cavity on each side. Their material is always hard 

 and is often ferruginous quartz. They are carefully made, evidently 

 with great labor; their outline is regular and true, and they have been 

 rubbed and polished smooth. 



