Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 December 1891 — Arm-bands and Ear-rings. [ARTICLE]

Arm-bands and Ear-rings.

Arm-bands and bracelets occur in great', variety, but little need be said of them. Two African forms only will detain us. Among the Kaffirs, and in the west of Africa as well, a plain ivory urm-ring, in> a single piece, is in common use. Such, are easily made. The tusk of the elophant is hollow save near the small end. Toward the larger end the ivory sheath isthin and irregular, but it thickens and becomes solid toward the tip. All that is necessary to make arm-bands is to remove the soft, vascular inner part and then to cut tho ivory into cross-sections, two or throe inches wide. The rings thus mado vary, of course, in size. After being cut they are carefully polished. With, such rings the whole arm from wrist to elbow is often covered. Schweinfurth describes a pretty ornament- of metal rings—tho dagobur—as in use among White Nile tribes. The individual rings are of iron and aro neatly made. They are worn so closely together upon the arm as to make u continuous metal sheathing. Very curious aro the-arm-coils from Bouka Bay, New Guinea, which consist of one spiral strip of bark. Ear-rings are found in all times and amongst almost every people. They range in size, material, and elegance from the brilliant solitaire in gold setting, worn by our ladies, to the bird-skins worn in the ears in Noiv Zealand or the immense ornaments of shell with carved ivory iulaying, from New Guinea. KingMunza’ssister begged lead bullets from Schweinfurth and hammered from them bright ear-rings. From New Zealand come very pretty ear-rings of green jinle in the shape of sharks’ teeth. It is not certain that we horo have another example of the law of copj’ing an old form in a new material? Did the New Zealanders not wear real sharks’ teeth, as somo Alaskan and British Columbiu tribes do now, beforethey made these more beautiful ones ? [Popular Science Monthly.