122 ] 
lines and geometrical patterns ; 2ndly, coils and scrolls and 
3rdly, conventionalized representations of animal and vege¬ 
table forms applied to ornamentation. Thus the ornamenta¬ 
tion of Australia is confined chiefly to incised lines, punch- 
marks, and geometrical patterns, which also prevail over the 
greater part of the Polynesian Islands. The continuous 
looped coil is much used in Assam and Cochin China, but is 
unknown in China, where it is replaced by lines of broken 
coils and frets ; and broken coil patterns constitute a pre¬ 
vailing feature in the ornamentation of New Guinea and 
New Zealand. The continuous looped coil was the principal 
ornament of the bronze age in Scandinavia, and is used at the 
present time on the west coast of Africa, where it is an ex¬ 
ception to the prevailing geometrical ornamentation of the 
African continent. The continuous coil ornament developed 
into the wave pattern and into the fret, which is used in 
Europe, China, and Peru, and in a modified form is still seen 
in the designs from South America and Marquesas. On the 
other hand, certain designs of the New Irelanders may be 
taken as an instance of the third class of ornamentation, con¬ 
sisting of an infinite variety of patterns, all derived from the 
representation of a human face ; or that of the north-west 
coast of America, where patterns derived from the head and 
beak of the albatross monopolize the entire system of orna¬ 
mentation amongst the Ahts and neighbouring tribes. In 
order to trace the history of the patterns, it is desirable that 
travellers should delineate as accurately as possible all the 
varieties of ornamental design amongst the races visited, 
especially those by which a sequence can be determined. 
Instances in which forms originally serving a useful purpose 
have survived in ornamentation are extremely common ; such 
as, the binding of a spear or arrow-head represented by 
painted spirals, representations of strings used to carry 
vessels, or the parts of an extinct form of weapon or tool 
retained in the ornamentation of those which succeeded it. 
These should be figured wherever they are found, and their 
origin shown, as they afford useful links in tracing the 
development of the arts, 
