3. Thumb-groove or thumb-lock, provision for the firm and comfortable
insertion of the phalanx and ball of the thumb.
4. Finger-grooves, provision for each finger according to its use in the
manipulation of the implement.
5. Finger-pegs, little plugs of wood or ivory to give more certain grip
for the fingers and to prevent their slipping. The devices for the
fingers are the more necessary where the hands are cold and everything
is covered with grease.
6. Finger-tip cavities, excavations on the front face of the implement,
into which the tips of the three last fingers descend to assist in
grasping and to afford a rest on the back of these fingers for the
weapon shaft.
7. Index-finger cavity or hole, provision for the insertion of the index
finger, which plays a very important part in the use of the
throwing-stick.
8. Spear shaft groove, in which the shaft of the weapon lies, as an
arrow or bolt in the groove of a bow-gun.
9. Hook or spur, provision for seizing the butt end of the weapon while
it is being launched. These may be ridges left in the wood by
excavation, or pieces of wood, bone, ivory, &c., inserted. The size and
shape of this part, and the manner of insertion, are also worthy of
notice.
10. Edges: this feature is allied to the form and not to the function of
the implement.
11. Faces: upper, on which the weapon rests; lower, into which the index
finger is inserted.
The figures illustrating this article are drawn to a scale indicated by
inch marks in the margin, every dot on the line standing for an inch.
By the presence or absence, by the number or the shape of some of these
marks or structural characteristics, the type and locality can be easily
detected. The Eskimo have everywhere bows and arrows for land hunting,
the former made of several pieces of bone lashed together, or of a piece
of driftwood lashed and re-enforced with sinew. The arrows are of
endless variety.
It should also be noticed that the kind of game and the season of the
year, the shape and size of the spear accompanying the stick, and the
bare or gloved hand, are all indicated by language expressed in various
parts of this wonderful throwing-stick.