OCR Text |
Show BASIS OP AMERICAN HISTORY [ 1500 Both hands being needed to operate the cord, \ several devices were made to keep the upright in place and still permit the work to be done by one individual. The Eskimo method was to hold in the mouth a bone or ivory socket into which the upper end of the spindle fitted and which held it in place while allowing it to rotate freely. Another way out of the difficulty was to attach the cord to a curved stick like a bowstring and work this back and forth or up and down, both of which actions can be carried out with one hand, leaving the other free to hold the spindle in position. The former of these methods is known as the bow- drill, the latter as the pump- drill. Both devices were used for boring holes in different materials by simply placing a hard, sharp point on the spindle. The pump is specifically a southwestern contrivance, though it has been reported among Indians of the east. Fire- making by " ploughing" was also practised by some tribes, and consists in running the upright rapidly back and forth in a groove of its own making, and producing a dust which is then treated in exactly the same way as in the case of the drill. The Eskimo and northern Indians had also discovered that sparks and fire could be obtained by percussion, and made use of two pieces of pyrites, or of pyrites and flint, in exactly the same way that civilized man formerly operated with flint and steel. The organization and distribution of the Indians |