162 BULLETIN OF THE ESSEX INSTITUTE. 



the points being sometimes broken, the signs of wear on 

 the sides of the spines, and the manner of breaking of the 

 rings just where a strain would come when great force 

 was used, all support the idea. So impressed was Lieut. 



W of the United States Navy of the correctness of 



this supposition that he bound a bow-puller to his hand 

 by means of a handkerchief, and then held a leathern strap 

 so firmly that three men dragged him about the room but 

 could not loosen his hold upon the strap. If this Suggestion 

 has any valne then one can easily understand why the ob- 

 ject has not been revealed in ancient sculptureor painting. 

 The object being grasped in the closed hand would be con- 

 cealed from view. 



It has been suggested that possibly the spines were made 

 to be driven into some object. This could hardly be so, 

 as the openings in the rings were evidently to be left free 

 for the passage of a cord or strap. In this connection, 

 however, it raay be remarked that the bronze figurines 

 illustrated in Gozzadini's memoir have spines springing 

 from the feet below, for the purpose of attaching the object 

 to some base of support, and these spines strongly resemble 

 the spines of niany of the bow-pullers, in being broad at 

 the base, pointed at the end and strong and clumsy in ap- 

 pearance. 



The possibility of the spines being inserted in any 

 object is further negatived by the ornamentation extend- 

 ing along the front spine as in Fig. 3, Plate I, which would 

 not have been added if the spine were intended to pene- 

 trate any thing. The head shown in high relief on the spines 

 of Fig. 2, Plate III, and Fig. 14, Plate V, would prevent 

 their insertion for the purpose of fixing the object. 



In Japan a curious device is used to hold a pot at vary- 

 ing heights above the kitchen fire. These devices are 

 shown in my work on Japanese Homes and their Surround- 

 ings (Figs. 173, 175). The device shown in Fig. 173 is 



