June 4 , r 9 io.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
883 
WILD MEN’S WEAPONS. 
Among the weapons which the wit of primi¬ 
tive man devised to aid him in the struggle for 
existence with animals far more formidably en¬ 
dowed by nature than himself, the way in which 
some were suggested to him by the objects 
which he saw around him is obvious enough, 
but of others we are amazed by his ingenuity 
in their design and his skill in their use. The 
most striking instance of both this skill in use 
and cleverness in design is perhaps the boom¬ 
erang. The perfection of balance, curve, and 
weight in all its parts is so exact that modern 
dynamics have been quite unable to find a 
formula according to which a workable boom¬ 
erang can be turned out by a carpenter, and 
the skill needed for the use of even the most 
perfect weapon is such that the untutored 
efforts of the most stalwart thrower of a cricket- 
ball are . ridiculously futile when he begins to 
make trial of it. It is scarcely too much to 
say that, in spite of years of practice, no white 
man has ever succeeded in becoming effective 
with it. We are told that there is in Australia 
a tree whose seed pod is so formed that when 
detached by the process of natural growth from 
the branch it whirls through the air with a 
curve analogous to that of the boomerang—we 
see a faint suggestion of a similar movement iri 
the gyrations of the seed-pods of our own ash 
—and it has been conjectured that the ob¬ 
servant “black fellow” may have received from 
this the first hint of the weapon which he 
eventually fashioned into the wonderful boom- 
crang. It is a conjecture which will ever re¬ 
main conjectural. Others of man’s early 
weapons—the club, the spear, the hatchet 
(originally, we may suppose, a stone cleft by 
accident to a cutting edge)—are easy to under¬ 
stand. Nature gave them almost ready-made 
into his hand. The almost universal use of the 
bow, a weapon of much more elaboration, does 
not suggest a puzzle nearly so baffling as the 
boomerang. The force of elasticity in the 
sapling would be apt almost literally to “jump 
to the eyes” of the savage as he made his way 
through the bush, and his friend in front re¬ 
leased a bough from its tension to fly back and 
whip him across the face. To cut such a 
sapling, to fasten to either end of it a sinew or 
a stretch of a tough creeping plant, to fit an 
arrow on the string, and discharge it by the re¬ 
laxed tension of the released string, are, no 
doubt, a series of operations demanding much 
ingenuity, and probably much time, for their 
development; but we can imagine the steps. 
We are not left wondering. Even the throw¬ 
ing-stick—that very effective application of the 
principle of the lever by which the wild man 
added so very greatly to the force and distance 
_of his throw of his missile spear—may be sup¬ 
posed to have been discovered by accidental 
means which we can reconstruct. The boom¬ 
erang still remains the biggest puzzle. 
There is another adaptation of a very simple 
instrument which we do not know to have such 
antiquity as some of these, yet must always 
seem very marvelous when we first witness the 
variety of uses and the perfection to which it 
has been brought—that use of a bit of rope 
which we call lassoing. The value of the noose 
we can easily imagine to have been brought 
very early to the notice of man in his more or 
less natural state. Its efficacy in arresting his 
progress through a forest thickly hung with 
lianas must soon have struck him as one of the 
inconveniences of his existence, but we do not 
seem to find record at a very early stage of 
any practical use to which he might have put 
the hint so given him. The greatest wonder in 
the history of the noose (second only to the 
marvelous skill exhibited by the experts in its 
use) is that certain nations should have ac¬ 
quired the skill that they did acquire in it with 
so few generations of practice. We may prob¬ 
ably take it for granted that the American 
Red Indian did not begin to use it until after 
the Spaniards had made their way to America. 
The origin of the word is Latin, “laqueus”; 
there^ is Portuguese “laco”; we “lasso” or 
lace our boots every morning—presuming 
that we do not spend the day in slippers. But, 
A bent pin, a 
bit of string and 
a stick don’t ap¬ 
peal as they did 
in our boyhood 
days. Write to 
Philadelphia’s 
Sporting Goods 
Headquarters 
for catalog “ F ” if you’re going fish¬ 
ing. We’ve gear and tackle for 
catching anything from minnow bait 
to sword fish. 
S H A-N NON 
816 Chestnut St., Philadelphia 
TRADE MARK 
makes this possible. It makes as per¬ 
fect a lather as Colgate’s famous 
Shaving Stick and makes it by a 
quicker, neater method. 
For cleanliness, convenience and 
comfort, Rapid-Shave Powder sets a 
new standard for sanitary shaving. 
Chemists’ analyses prove its antiseptic 
effect. 150 to 200 shaves in each can. 
Trial box sent for 4 cents. 
COLGATE & CO., Est. 1806. 
Dept. 46, 55 John Street, New York. 
Canadian Dept., Coristine Building, Montreal, Can. 
Matters of Cashmere Bouquet Soap. 
BALDWIN, 
F men knew 
how to la¬ 
ther, they 
would 
shave with 
more com¬ 
fort. 
The action of 
the lather on the 
beard is to re¬ 
move the oily 
exudation cover¬ 
ing each hair, 
and allow t h e 
water to moisten 
and soften it. 
As mixing the lather in a cup and then 
spreading it over the face does not properly 
soften the beard, most shavers resort to that 
“mussy” habit of rubbing in the lather with 
their fingers. This not only irritates the skin 
but is a waste of time and entirely unnecessary. 
The logical pi ace to mix the lather iscn 
the face where every motion of the brush 
not only works it up, but works it in. 
LAMP 
A new 14 -candle-power lamp for 
sportsmen. Generates and burns 
acetylene gas. Projects a bright light 
150 feet. Carbide and water are all 
you need. Tablespoonful of Carbide 
lasts three hours. Lamp prepared for 
* use in ten seconds. No grease, no 
smoke, no glass to break. Will not 
blow out. 
Absolutely Safe 
Weighs five ounces filled. In camp, 
in the woods, on the water—the 
one best light for every purpose. 
, Every lamp guaranteed. For 
'%. sale at sporting-goods and 
m. hardware stores at $ I. oo. 
& By mail if your dealer 
on cap or hasn’t them. Send 
belt, both hands \ • his name, 
are free with gunT% Booklet will be 
knife or fishing\\ mailed free 
rod. Hang it up s \x on request, 
in your tent. Fasten 
it on the bow of 
your canoe or launch. 
John Simmons Co 
Franklin St. NewYork 
Life and Sport in Labrador 
NAPOLEON A. COMEAV. 
Life and Sport on the North Shore of the Lower 
Lawrence and Gulf,” Mr. Comeau has made a valu¬ 
able addition to the literature of rod and rifle—and more, 
it is a book of engrossing personal interest to the sports- 
man .?*■ general reader, and of rare value to the student 
of wild life. 
at >thor describes the events and experiences of 
fifty years spent in the cause of humanity and science 
m one of the most interesting and least known sections 
of Canada. He writes as one sportsman to his fellows, 
detailing his experiences with the wild things of wood, 
shore and sea, with plenty of stirring experiences with 
big game and gamy fish. 
Illustrated. 450 pages. Postpaid, $2.50. 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO. 
New York City 
Building Motor Boats and 
Managing Gasolene Engines 
are discussed in the book 
HOW TO BUILD A LAUNCH FROM PLANS” 
A complete, illustrated work on the building of motor 
boats and the installing, care and running of gasolene 
motors. By Charles G. Davis. With 40 diagrams, 9 
folding drawings and 3 full-page plans. Price, post¬ 
paid, $1.60. 
The author is a builder and designer of national repu¬ 
tation. All the instruction given is defined and com¬ 
prehensive; 40 diagrams, 9 folding drawings and 3 full- 
page plans. That portion of the book devoted to the 
use and care of gas engines should be most carefully 
perused by every individual who operates one. The book 
is well worth the price asked for it. 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO. 
Sam Lovel's Boy. 
By Rowland E. Robinson. Price, $1.26. 
Sam Lovel’s Boy is the fifth of the series of Danvis 
books. No one has pictured the New Englander with 
so much insight as has Mr. Robinson. Sam Lovel and 
Huldah are two of the characters of the earlier books 
in the series, and the boy is young Sam, their son, who 
grows up under the tuition of the coterie of friends that 
we know so well, becomes a man just at the time of the 
Civil War, and carries a musket in defense of what he 
believes to be the right. 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO. 
