Page:String Figures and How to Make Them.djvu/53

24 one of the middle finger loops to the index. The sun is made to set by releasing the loops held by the index and middle fingers, and drawing the hands apart.

In this figure we have as a new movement the exchange of loops between opposite fingers. We also see the method of transferring a loop from one finger to another finger of the same hand, without turning the loop over in the transfer. The loop of course could be simply lifted from finger to finger by the fingers of the other hand, but that apparently is rarely, if ever, d9ne; it would require two separate movements, whereas by the method given in the Sixth movement of this figure, the two hands move synchronously. All the way through these string figures we constantly meet with the fundamental principle that the two hands shall execute the same movements at the same time; in some cases to accomplish this result the movements appear involved and indirect. You will also notice that the Eighth movement is a repetition of the Sixth movement; this occurs not infrequently in other figures and the repetition may cover not only one but several movements.

OSAGE DIAMONDS This figure was shown me by an Osage Indian, Charles Michelle from Pawhuska, Oklahmna, at the St. Louis Exposition, in September, 1904. He had no

name for it. In the Philadelphia Free Museum of Science and Art there are two finished patterns collected by Mr. Stewart Culin; both are from the Hawaiian Islands. No. 21447 is called Ma-ka-lii-lii, and No. 21514, Pu-kau-la (see Culin, 1, p. 222). It is known among Indians, sometimes as "Jacob's Ladder," and also to the Irish, under the names of the "Ladder" or the "Fence."

First: Opening A.

Second: Release the loops from the thumbs, and separate the hands (Fig. 41).

Third: Pass each thumb away from you under all the strings, and take up from below with the back of the thumb the far little finger string, and return the thumb to its former position without touching the other strings (Fig. 42).

Fourth: Pass each thumb away from you over the near index string, and take up, from below, with the back of the thumb the far index string and return the thumb to its former position (Fig. 43).

Fifth: Release the loops from the little fingers and separate the hands.

Sixth: Pass each little finger toward you over the near index string and take