Anklet

“ They are not ashamed to wear anklets which are so heavy that they can hardly lift their feet, or to pierce their nose and ears hideously for putting on rings, or to stud their wrists and fingers with rings and bracelets of several kinds. ”

“ Specimens of this armlet varied in width from 3⁄4 to 11⁄4 inches. (6) The beautiful large cut single-shell wrist ornament, commonly worn on the coast and plains, whence the Mafulu people procure it. Armlets will be seen worn by many of the people figured in the plates.
There is no practice of putting armlets on young folk, and retaining them in after life, so as to tighten round and contract the arm.
Leg-bands (Plate 25, Fig. 1) and anklets are worn by both men and women, and also by children, just below the knee and above the ankle. ”

“ The ankles have to, and soon do, acquire an increased suppleness and strength, in claw practice.
Perhaps the most difficult task for the beginner is [Pg 290] to learn the art of walking and balancing upon flexed ankles, while traversing across steep faces. To strike all the points in neatly and strongly sideways, and with a flexed ankle, so that the flat of the sole may meet the surface cleanly and without a scrape, takes some practice; but slab climbers, who have suppled their ankles by foot-clinging upon steep rock angles, will find themselves a day or two’s frog-marching to the good on ice. ”

“ In the ruminating animals (ox, deer, camel, etc.) and in the horse, among other living species, the ankle-joint is a very strong one, and yet admits of an extensive bending of the foot on the leg. It is a treble tongue-and-groove-joint; that is, two keels of the first bone of the foot, the astragalus, fit into two grooves of the lower bone of the leg, the tibia, while between these grooves a keel of the tibia descends to fill a corresponding groove of the astragalus. ”

“ The elk has under its throat a kind of goiter or fleshy pendant; its fur is short, stiff, and ash-colored; its horns, called antlers, are wide-spreading and flattened, and they extend in a vast triangular expanse with a deeply indented outline; the weight of each antler may amount to as much as thirty kilograms. That must, as you see, be a fine specimen of game: an animal that bears on its forehead, without effort, an ornament weighing a hundred weight and more.”
“A stag as large as a horse must really be a noble prize for a hunter,” said Louis. ”

“ The new antlers push off the old ones, and when they appear they resemble scars on the animal’s forehead, but soon take the form of two black-velvet buttons about the size of silver dollars. As they continue to grow they gain in length only, and by the first of July they have attained their full size. If you could examine them now, you would find them soft, rather flexible, nourished by blood, and incased in a thick, tough skin covered with velvety fur. The antlers are now
American Elk, or Wapiti, antlers full-grown. ”

“ It can be likened to nothing in nature more readily than to the antler of an elk. This vessel is of a dark brownish color, and is but slightly polished. A duplicate specimen of inferior size and finish has recently been added to the National Museum from a grave at Pecan Point.
Similar to the preceding in general appearance are a number of bowls or deep pans, embellished with the heads of animals. A very good example is given in Fig. 388. The head has a decided resemblance to that of a female deer or fawn. The tail appears upon the opposite side of the basin, and is pendant, as in nature. ”

“ In a few weeks they have all fallen off, leaving the elk's head bare, with just a ridge or rough stump on it. Then, early in the spring the new antlers start growing from the top of the stump. They grow very fast, and in five months are as huge as ever.
But while the new antlers are growing, they are not hard. As yet they are soft and tender, and all that time they have an outside covering like hairy leather, to guard them from harm. But as soon as the elk feels that his antlers are quite grown, and are strong and hard, he strips off the outside covering by rubbing the antlers against trees. ”

“ The ability to rest on the hind legs and jump like a Kangaroo (see page 5) , which is peculiar to some kinds, depends also upon peculiar structures. The ankle-bones are very long in these, so long, indeed, as to make the foot resemble that of a Frog when jumping more than that of any other animal. The long ankle-bone acts as part of a lever, and enables the muscles of the back of the leg to act on the foot so as to project the creature high in the air, or for many feet from one bough to another, or along the ground. There is nothing like this in the Monkeys. ”

“ In animals with a long foot, such as the Ungulates and the Kangaroo, the lateral ligaments of the ankle are in the form of an X, to give greater protection against lateral movement. In certain marsupials a fibro-cartilage is developed between the external malleolus and the astragalus, and its origin from the deeper fibres of the external lateral ligament of the ankle can be traced. These animals have a rotatory movement of the fibula on its long axis, in addition to the hinge movement of the ankle. ”

“ If the foot is put “home,” the ankle joint will have little or no play. When using the leaping head, we should bear in mind that the action of the muscles which straighten the ankle joint, should be independent of the body. If this condition is not observed, the tendency will be to put undue weight on the stirrup, and to bring the body forward.
It is evident that placing weight on the stirrup, without at the same time exerting counterbalancing pressure against the leaping head, will not only put undue weight on the near side, but will also bring the body forward. ”

“ He shows, in the first place, the substantial identity of structure between the antlers and the ordinary bones; in fact, the antlers are external bones, of very rapid growth, which mature speedily, die, and are soon thrown off; while all other bones are very slow of growth, and persist through life.
The process of growth is as follows: The old antler having fallen off, the blood-vessels of the periosteum at its butt are ruptured, producing a copious flow of blood. Next, the periosteum grows over the cavity in the top of the pedicel, or process of the skull on which the antler stood. ”

“ The conformation that makes a very bad ankle hitter is one where the horse stands wedge shaped from his hips down to where his feet rest on the ground. This kind of a horse will stand with his hind feet close together or against one another when at rest, horses of this conformation and without much hock action are the very worst in this respect. The same treatment will not apply to all cases of ankle hitting. Unbalanced feet are the main cause for all ankle hitting, when not caused by some deformity. ”

“ When the antlers are freed from the velvet—a process usually assisted by the animal rubbing them against tree stems or boughs—they have a more or less rugose surface, owing to the grooves formed in them by the nutrient blood-vessels. Although a few living species have the antlers in the form of simple spikes in the adult male, in the great majority of species they are more or less branched; while in some, like the elk and fallow-deer, they expand into broad palmated plates, with tines, or snags, on one or both margins. ”

“ Only a single perfect palm was found, while, on the other hand, the fragments were found by hundreds. As the chief offsets or 'tynes' of a strong antler could apparently be utilised probably as handles for flint implements, they were in general separated from the main antler somewhat more carefully, by making with a flint saw incisions on the opposite sides of the horn down to the porous part, and then breaking them off. A large number of specimens of this kind were found. ”

“ The peculiar formation of the antlers—three strong, spear-like points thrust straight upward from the beam—makes them dangerous weapons; and when an ill-tempered buck lowers his chin and drives straight forward with eight sharp spears of solid bone, and nearly three hundred pounds of weight to back them, he may well be considered a dangerous animal. He is to be feared less than the elk only because he is smaller. ”

“ I have killed quite a number of elk since that time in the mountains of Oregon, but I have never seen one larger than one of those, although I have seen much larger and finer antlers than adorned the heads of any of them. The purpose of the antlers, in my judgment, is not to furnish the animal a weapon in fight, but as a protection to his shoulders as he dashes through the brush in flight from an enemy or in pursuit of his mate. When he moves swiftly he elevates his nose until his face is nearly in a line with his back ”

“ The Eskimos make odd use of an antler as a brake for a sleigh, to prevent the harnessed dogs from running after any Caribou they may sight; on other occasions it retards the sleigh in descending a hill. Such an antler, that I found at the Windy River post, is notched near the base; a rope or thong, 2 or 3 feet in length, is fastened at one end to this notch, and at the other to the side of the sleigh. To apply the brake, the driver simply presses down the points of the antler into the snow or ice. ”

“ The pedicles are always covered with skin well supplied with blood-vessels; and in young deer, or those in which the antlers have been comparatively recently shed, the covering of skin extends over their summits, when they appear as longer or shorter projections on the forehead, according to the species. When the first or a new antler is about to be formed, the summits of these pedicles become tender, and bear small velvet-like knobs, which have a high temperature, and are supplied by an extra quantity of blood, which commences to deposit bony matter. ”

“ I have not been sick since I had the mumps, and it was adorable to have the girls holding my hands, and looking into my eyes. I really think it is a lot nicer to have a 'busted' ankle than two trustworthy pedals. ”

“ Balance boldly on slabs. If you lean inwards, or seek support with the hand, you will never improve your ankle work. Such practice on ice with claws and practice on slabs with shoes or nails are mutually helpful. It is excellent exercise for the ankle and foot to practise doing ridge or slab climbs of progressive steepness without using the hands at all. The flex of the ankle, the bow of the leg and balancing power of the trunk muscles working together, can learn to do a great deal for which we are ordinarily too ready to use the hands. ”

“ Tools of Antler and Bone
A problematical artifact is the base of an elk (Cervus canadensis) antler shown in Fig. 55. The working end of this is a tapering blade which ends in a flat chisel-like tool about 3⁄4 inch broad.
Flakers (Fig. 55)
There are four fragments of horn that appear to have been flakers. Two are pointed implements 11⁄4 inches long, two are fragments that lack tips. These are about 31⁄2 inches long. All are of deer antler (Odocoileus hemionus) , and show various gouges and worn places.
One bone 71⁄4 inches long also appears to have been used as a flaker. ”

“ If the hands are allowed to pull the nose into the rock we are easily pounded. The protection is footwork and the flexible ankle. It is the business of the ankle to bend and stay bent at whatever angle may keep our body in safe balance and away from the rock, and to transmit our weight to the foot at just the right angle to hold it firm on its sloping stance. The farther out from the rock we can keep the weight, the steeper the apparent angle of foothold which it is safe to use. ”

“ The great advantage in elasticity and firmness which would come at once in the manner of walking, would, even as to stylishness, more than compensate for the absence of the fashionable Shanghai heels.
SHOULD THE SHOE SUPPORT THE ANKLE? Shoes of a peculiar structure have been employed to support the ankle. Medical men have even advised the introduction of brass, or other metallic straps, to be laced in the shoe about the ankle, to give support in walking. The ordinary shoe is made so as to fit the ankle very closely, under the impression that thereby the ankle is supported. ”

“ In the mastery of balance climbing the ankle plays a very important part. So that the body may progress smoothly when the feet are clinging only to small or very inclined holds, the ankle must be strong enough and supple enough to support the weight at rest or in motion, no matter at what angle it may be bent, forward or backward or sideways. The extent to which the ankle can be flexed varies with the individual. ”

“ It seems possible, and many climbers must have considered it so, that the angle made by the foot with the leg may be more acute in the guide who has climbed from childhood, and that in the case of the guide’s feet there may be some structural difference, both hereditary and acquired, actually permitting more freedom of movement at the ankle-joint, which neither muscular action nor power of balance could ever give to the amateur. ”

“ This creature far exceeded in magnitude any living species of elk or deer. The skeleton is upwards often feet in height to the top of the skull, and the antlers are from ten to fourteen feet from one extremity to the other. The fine perfect skeletons in the British Museum, College of Surgeons, and in the Museum at Edinburgh, render a particular description unnecessary. ”

“ As a rule, the “beam” or main stem of the antler and its [412] branches or “tines” are cylindrical and tapering; but in some cases, as in the Moose (Alce) and the Fallow Deer (Dama) , the antler is very broad and flat and is then said to be “palmated.” Except in the Reindeer and Caribou (Rangifer) the female is without antlers.
In the skeleton there is little difference between the deer and the Cavicornia, but there are some differences in the teeth. ”