1887] Conventionalism in Ancient American Art. 715 
fins, and a forked tail. The place where the dorsal fin would 
naturally come was cut away before baking, so as to prevent 
cracking. It is noticeable that in all the specimens there is no 
attempt to represent the anal fin, which normally should be on 
the opposite or inner side of the leg. 
In Figs. 1 to 4 four legs from similar pots are represented in 
order to show the development of the conventional idea of a fish, 
and especially of the dorsal fin, from a realistic representation. 
It should be said that a fuller series of illustrations would make 
the transitions less marked. In Fig. 1 we have a highly realistic 
representation of a fish, in which mouth, eyes, pectoral fins, and 
tail are well showin, while the dorsal fin is crowded to a position 
in front of the eyes,—a conventional position adopted from the 
_ necessities of those legs where the slit was in the position where 
