Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 53.djvu/62

50 in a bird. In the Malay kite the cross-stick is almost as long as the backbone; in the Eddy kite it is slightly longer. The Malay crosspiece is permanently formed to the shape of a Cupid's bow, the central arch to the wind, thus pressing out the covering in a wide keel; in the Eddy kite the cross-piece is slightly bent by a cord, like the simplest form of archer's bow. All kites of the Malay and Eddy type are intended—unlike the common kite—to fly without a tail.

It was doubtless in the island of Java and in the Malay Peninsula that kite-flying had its earliest and greatest development. The practice appears to have spread from these countries to China and Japan, where the forms are greatly varied and the uses extended.

In China the notable forms are the dragon kite and the bird kite. The first is composed of a large painted disk representing a horrible head, drawing two lines of smaller disks diminishing to the tail, where they unite in a tuft of some sort; each disk being also connected with one opposite in the parallel row. This basal form is diversified by various treatment.

The frame of the Chinese bird kite is generally made up of bamboo splits in loops, joined in rude, conventional imitation of the body, spread wings, tail, and head of a bird. This kite is often provided with a musical attachment in the shape of a hollow section of bamboo pierced with holes, or furnished with reeds that are vibrated by the wind. When mounted high in air, the tones proceeding from it resemble those of an æolian harp, and can be heard at a great distance.

Chinamen have a superstition that both these forms of kite are a protection to the family against evil spirits—the first, by frightening them away; the latter, perhaps, by abashing them by its harmonies, as those which infested Saul were influenced to depart from him at the sound of David's harp. Sometimes these kites—the cord being securely fastened—remain aloft for several days and nights; the family meanwhile enjoying an unusual sense of security.

Kite-fighting is also practiced in the vicinity of the cities and larger villages. This sport consists in tearing the kite of a rival or cutting the line; the first, by means of long wooden knives attached to the assailant's kite; the latter, by small fragments of glass mixed with glue, as a coating for the upper portion of the line. All Chinese kite-flying, though skillful, is in some feature barbaric.

In Japan the kite-forms indicate a more practical character in the makers. The kites are shaped to represent many kinds of animals—quadrupeds, birds, and fishes. When in the sky, these kites might convey information quite a distance to acquaintances who could recognize them and thus know what family was represented at the other end of the string; for in Japan the sport is