THE METHODS OF FIRE-MAKING. 399 



Holm, made fire in less than half a minute on this apparatus, it must 

 have been with the aid of grooves. In the Alaskan drill spoken of, the 

 holes in the hearth had been worn too deeply for drilling easily, and 

 the margins had all been cut down level before the collector procured 

 the specimen. In the original piece the holes in all probability con- 

 nected. 



Often holes are bored on small rods of wood, allowing the spindle to 

 cut over one edge, forming in a few rotations a notch by which the dust 

 is collected. In all the specimens and drawings of fire-making appa- 

 ratus examined for the preparation of the paper cited * the Aino drill 

 is the only one with unslotted or ungrooved center holes. 



This statement in regard to the essential value of the slot is not 

 advanced to disprove that fire can be made without the use of that 

 feature. 



Fire can so be made, but it is a difficult process and must be accom- 

 plished by mechanical means, such as are found in the Eskimo drill. 

 The wood must be suitable, and the grinding end of the spindle must 

 have the outline of a flattened arch. Great care is required to avoid 

 dispersing the ring of dust that rolls out under the edge of the spindle. 

 The author believes that the slot is essential to simple hand-drills. 



2. Fire-making by sawing. 



The second method in wood friction is that of sawing, practiced by 

 the Burmese, Malays, some Australian tribes, and pretty generally 



Fig. 55. 



.FlKE-MAKING UY SAWING, AFTER THE BUKMKSE AND MALAY METHOD. 



( From photograph in the National Museum. ) 



throughout the East Indies. It consists of a rubber and horizontal 

 piece, both parts of bamboo usually, but sometimes hewn out of a 

 branch of a tree. A notch is cut across the convex side of the lower 

 piece, almost penetrating it. A rubber is prepared having a sharp or 

 knife edge. This rubber is drawn across the lower piece in the groove 

 until the latter is pierced and the heated particles fall through. (Fig. 55.) 



* Snaitbsouiau Report, 1888, u, Fire-making Apparatus in, the National Museum, 

 pp. 531-587. 



