PRIMITIVE ART 31 
the cock, while the oval (c) is an object which it is supposed 
to hold. This object is found in a great many representations of 
the cock, and may be said to be one of its prime characteristics. 
The tail of the cock has the form of a fish, and is shown at the 
point 6. The center of the second set of spirals (g) has the form 
of a fish, which is always symbolized by a small circle attached to 
an elongated body. 
It is very peculiar ae 
that practically all the oratyt tl ‘ | WAR 
spirals and curved de- “Wy TT Ty Tht 
signs of these tribes 
have been developed 
into the cock motive, 
because the cock was 
not known to _ the 
tribes of the Amur 
River until quite re- 
cently. The use of 
this motive, and par- 
ticularly also the fre- 
quent occurrence of 
the round object which 
is in its beak, indicates 
a as —_— & = 
that this motive is of foreign origin. It is evidently the same 
as the cock in China which holds the sun in its beak. 
It is interesting to note that, among this tribe also, the form 
and ornamentation of objects used in religious ceremonials are 
much more realistic than purely decorative motives. Thus we 
find the coat of a shaman (Case 14 ¢), on which is painted a 
mythological representation of the world-tree, representing the 
conception of the world that is current among the tribe. 
Going back through Hall 102, the visitor passes the Eskimo 
collections, and attention is called to the fact that very few im- 
plements and objects made by the Eskimo are decorated, except 
their clothing, which bears designs of dark and white caribou- 
skin. 
