328 PROCEERINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. VOL. XXXIV. 
ornamentation consists of narrow bands across the shaft, and the feathers at 
their extremities cut out in zigzag line very much in the style of Polynesian 
ornamentation. At the smaller end there is also a similarly ornamented band 
from which rise four symbols of shrubs. An exactly similar piece is figured 
in Nordenskidld ® and labeled “‘ knife handle from Port Clarence.” There are 
four of these objects in the U. S. National Museum, and, compared with hun- 
dreds of others, they place themselves unmistakably in the class of needlecases. 
There is no doubt that these six specimens—five in the U. S. National Museum 
and one shown by Nordenskidld—are not aboriginal in form or ornament; that 
tzey belong to a style of art introduced into Alaska after the advent of the 
Russians. 
In Seebohm ? will be seen the figure of a Samoyed needlecase with a tube of 
metal, inclosed at its top in a belt, and riveted along the side. The suggestion 
is here thrown out that the Eskimo artist has endeavored to reproduce, in ivory, 
a facsimile of this metal tube and a portion of the leather belt, even to the pro- 
jecting rivets. The Nordenskidld specimen has, in addition, walrus heads and 
seals carved on the side of the tube. ; 
This Polynesian style of ornamentation is common on hundreds of Eskimo 
objects in’and about St. Michael; for, after the advent of the Russians and 
intercourse with sailors of the Pacific Ocean, the arts of the two areas became 
very much entangled. 
Considering the antiquity of the eastern specimens, it does not 
seem plausible that the Alaskan specimens are a newly developed type. 
Their great frequency and the fixity of the type are also not in favor 
of this view. 
It might perhaps also be argued that the knobs serve for firmly 
attaching the needlecase to a skin strap, but there is no evidence what- 
ever that the needlecases were thus suspended. On the contrary, 
they seem to have been carried like all other Eskimo needlecases, by 
an attachment to the strip of skin into which the needles are inserted. 
Tt seems certain, therefore, that the diminutive knob of the Alaskan 
needlecase serves no practical end whatever, and that it is a purely 
conventional feature in the form of the utensil. It is true that the 
large wings and flanges of the Eastern needlecases also serve no prac- 
tical end; but it seems well to bear in mind the close resemblance of 
the two types. : 
It is important and interesting to compare the simple types hereto- 
fore described to a number of more complex needlecases which clearly 
belong to the same type. 
It would seem that, first of all, the strong inclination of the Alas- 
kan Eskimo to decorate carved objects by means of incised designs 
has led to further developments of the patterns heretofore described. 
Examples of this kind may be observed on Plates XXIV and XXY. 
In Plate XXTYV, fig. 2, the same typical arrangement of flanges, 
knobs, and faces may be observed; but the concave face and vertical 
line are further decorated by oblique spurs placed in pairs, and the 
4 Voyage of the Vega, London, II, 1881, p. 241. 
b Siberia in Asia, London, 1882, p. 56. 
