144 BULLETIN OF THE ESSEX INSTITUTE. 



down ward. The spines are arranged in a triangle, the 

 perpendicular of which is at right angles to the longitudi- 

 nal axis of the body. It will be seen by the plan that the 

 base of one spine is on one side of the longitudinal axis, 

 while the other two spines are on the opposite side of this 

 axis and parallel to it. It will be observed that when any 

 ornamentation is present (see Plate III), it is always on 

 that side from which the single spine Springs ; furthermore 

 when an animal's head is part of the ornamentation the 

 head invariably points downward when the object is rest- 

 ing with the spines pointing upward. From these facts it 

 is safe to assume that the object has a front and back, and 

 an above and below. The longitudinal axis should really 

 be the fore and aft axis, but for convenience of description 

 I have indicated the greatest length of the object as the 

 longitudinal one. All embossments, ribs, cross-hatchings, 

 circles, depressions, etc., are on the front side of the ob- 

 ject, or on that side from which the single spine Springs. 

 On the front sides of the rings, also, inequalities are often 

 found, usually duplicated on both sides. These may be 

 small swellings, strongly marked knobs and in some cases 

 phalli conspicuously modelled. The knobs suggest rudi- 

 mentary phalli. 



There are two leading types of these objects, one in 

 which the rings are slender (see Plate II), the outline 

 when looking down upon it showing only a narrowing be- 

 tween the rings ; a section of the outer part of the ring is 

 round, or an oblique oval as in Fig. 1, Plate IV. In this 

 type there is no ornamentation whatever, though the front 

 side of the rings may show slight inequalities as if rudi- 

 ments had survived of previous embossments. The upward 

 turning of the rings is more marked and the spines are 

 usually shorter than in the other type in which the rings 

 are thick and ponderous (see Plate III), and a section 

 of the outer part of the ring resembles the section of a 



