The Blow Gun

The blow gun is one of the most remarkable savage dsvices in which compressed air is usod as a motive forcé. The blow gun is a simple tube of cane, smoothly cleared of the joint partitions, through which light darts, feathered with a tuft of do. n or pieces of pith, are propelled by the breath. The blow gun is used for killing birds and small animáis. Frequently the arrows are poisoned, rendering the light dart effective on larger game The chief merit of the blow gun i its accuracy and the silence with which it may be employed. The penetration of the blow gun dart is greater than would be im'aglned. At the distance of flfty feet I have driven a blunt dart one-quarter of an inch into a pine plank. It is stated that the range pf the blow gun amone some trihes is from eichtv to 100 yards. The blow gun is a tropical device and may be looked tor in reglons where bamboo or cane grows. Neverthelesa, these tubes are often made of hard wood, single or of two pleces hollowed out and joined together. Freqiiently one tube is thrust inside - another to secure rigidity. The e ination of many of these blow guns .... , res a great respect for the ingenuity and mechanical skill of th" workers. The North American specimens are from the Chetimachas of Louisiana, who frequenüy combine the tubes in series, forming a compound blow gun, and the Cherokees of the Carolinas. From Central America, the Indians of Honduras and Costa Rica from South America, several Amazon tribes from Ecuador east and from British Guiana employ the blow gun.