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Show igoo] INDIAN INDUSTRIES Of an importance second to none were the methods of obtaining fire. 1 \ The great use of fire is of course for cooking, but light and heat become conditions of necessity in certain climates, and we find the Eskimo with their lamps, the northwestern Indians with their torches of candle- fish, and the eastern tribes with their blazing pine- knots making an attempt at illumination; and wherever fuel permitted, the burning fire became the centre of family, plan, and tribal life. The simplest device for fire- making is the well-known " fire- drill, * f which is a vertical wooden rod twirled in a horizontal piece of dry wood. The friction produces a fine dry- wood dust which presently ignites from the heat, and by gentle treatment the spark is transferred to some inflammable material held ready for the purpose. The common method of operation is to twirl the upright or " spindle" between the palms of the hands, while the horizontal piece or " hearth" is held firmly on the ground by the knee or foot. This invention is found everywhere in North America, and was used with great facility by all Indians. Improvement in the apparatus was made by certain tribes by winding a cord once or twice around the upright and pulling it back and forth, thus creating a rapid and even rotary motion which hastened the result. 1 Hough, " Fire- Making Apparatus," U. S. National Museum, Report, 1888, pp. 531- 588; ibid., 1890, pp. 395- 409; Mason, Origins of Invention, 84. |