12 CLUB TYPES OF NUCLEAR POLYNESIA. 
there is a marked difference when we pass westward into Melanesia 
and find that the clubs scarcely exceed 5 pounds at the maximum, and 
even in that case the weight is not structural, but is obtained by the 
addition of stone heads. ‘This difference in club weight closely paral- 
lels a corresponding somatic difference in the peoples. 
One is conscious, in the study of the Nuclear Polynesian clubs, of a 
certain correlation roughly subsisting between weight, length, and the 
character of the wound sought to be inflicted. The wounds are some- 
what sharply distinguished between contusions and incisions; the club- 
head varies correspondingly. On Plate I, clubs d, e, f, and h have 
cutting-edges sufficiently sharp to deliver a wound of incision. (Samoa: 
tasele; ta to strike a blow with a weapon, sele to cut, to slash; the 
vocabulary definition to strike in the belly arises out of the fact that 
such a blow would be most effective when applied to the soft parts of 
the body.) Club g on the same plate partakes of the form of the cut- 
ting club, but is effective by reason of the points of its cusps. On 
Plate II club e falls into the same class; club z has an edge, but is 
properly to be classed with the impact clubs. On Plate III, clubs 
j, k, l, and m are cutting clubs, with which in the case of clubs k and / 
is associated another school of fence. With the exception of the two 
monsters, clubs d and f on Plate I, this type of club is thin and light in 
relation to its length; in clubs 7, k, and / of Plate III it is unmistakable 
that the excessive length is expressly designed to secure greater force 
in the delivery of the blow with a light weapon and thus to obtain the 
stunning effect which in impact clubs is accomplished by greater weight 
with a shorter shaft. 
Of the clubs which are effective through contusion rather than inci- 
sion, we have on Plate II excellent examples in clubs a, b, c, g, h, and 7; 
club d, requiring a distinct art which will be considered in the detailed 
consideration of that type, is not to be classed with the impact clubs 
with which superficially it might be grouped. On Plate III several 
mixed types occur. Clubs and 7 with cutting-edges, as in J, k, 
and /, have weight by reason of the greater thickness of the head; 
therefore they acquire the same effectiveness with considerably shorter 
shaft; in other words, they add impact to incision. Clubs a and g, 
beset with sharp points, combine in the elements of length and weight 
the impact value with the tearing of the flesh which is the purpose of 
the teeth, and in a slightly less degree the same is true of club f. In 
clubs 6, c, d, and e the chief value lies in the provision for flesh lacera- 
tion, and therefore the type is characterized by marked diminution in 
length, to which is added in club b impact value by reason of its weight. 
Yet the tiny but most effective club c with very acute teeth and the 
scarcely larger club d depend for their value solely upon the punctura- 
tion of the flesh which their teeth can effect and in use are subsidiary 
clubs employed to give the coup de grace. 
