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or less exactly chipped into form, and discs ; and oblong 
pieces with flat or pointed ends, and some with several sharp 
projecting pointed edges, others with only one pointed end, 
nearly resembling the dart and the spear head. 
The other primitive weapon was the stick, of any size. 
A mere straight stick would inflict punishment, but not be a 
very deadly weapon ; but when the root was fashioned into a 
knob at the end of the stick, it became a more dangerous 
weapon, from its concentrated weight increasing the velocity 
and effect of a blow. The ingenuity of these people added 
to the power of this weapon, by substituting a knob of flint, 
which they fastened on by a thong of raw hide, that became 
tight and firm when it dried and contracted. This was, 
undoubtedly, a most formidable weapon, and the proof we 
have of how much they valued it for fighting is, that nearly 
every set of weapons left on the fields have one or more 
of these stone knobs among them. They were formed of 
various shapes, which gives them additional interest. The 
first which would suggest itself, is simply round, chipped 
over the surface, to admit the tightening of the thong which 
fastened it on to the stick.* A short neck was added, the 
size of the stick, to which it was fastened. At this point, a 
singular development of the form of the knob is presented to 
us. Some ingenious observer of natural objects must have 
remarked how easy it would be to convert the knob into an 
imitation of the head of a bird, by merely leaving a project- 
ing point on one side ; and having advanced so far, the bird’s 
head, and the snake’s head, became a prolific subject of 
imitation, but as the bird’s beak is only slightly developed in 
a projecting point from a round knob, I do not think I 
should have detected the intention, if it had not been more 
fully expressed in other weapons, which in the most perfect 
* It is presumed that a cup was formed in the natural knob, to receive the 
stone knob, or it could not have been tightly fixed. 
