HAIR-BRUSHES. 



249 



them will not be out of place here. As will be 

 seen bv reference to Fio\ 123, these articles of 

 the Indian's toilet closely resemble in shape our 

 modern shaving-brushes. Those from the graves, 

 not only at Dos Pueblos and La Patera, but also 

 from the islands of Santa Cruz (P. M. 9305 and 

 13347) and San Clemente (P. M. 13188) are all 

 made of the same material, after the one pattern, 

 and vary little in size. On comparing the mate- 

 rial with the root-fibres of the plant commonly 

 called soap-root in Southern California, it will 

 be seen that the brushes from the graves were 

 made of the little fibrous rootlets, and that the 

 Indians of old times used the plant as those in 

 California do to-day. Dr. Palmer (in Amer. Nat. 

 Oct. 1868, p. 649) writes of this plant as fol- 

 lows: " Chlorogalum pomeridianum, common soap- 

 root of California, and called by Indians and 

 Mexicans Amole. It produces a large bulb, 

 which yields a great quantity of saponine, very 

 good for washing, for which purpose it is much 

 used by poor people and the Indians of Califor- 

 nia. The rough covering of the root is formed 

 into bunches, tied up, and used for hair-brushes 

 by the Indians." As the fibres, when pulled 

 from the old roots, are somewhat like so many 

 long separate bristles, some method had to be 

 devised by which they could be held together 

 at one end and allow the other to be used as a 

 brush, and for this purpose the ever-ready asphal- 

 tum was adopted by the former Indians of South- 

 ern California. All the brushes which I have 

 seen from the graves have a handle of this sub- 

 stance like the one represented in Fig. 123. 



Fig. 123. 



W^tfM- 





^^ 



