It is generally claimed that slovenly execution brings about deterioration of pattern and through this, causes misunderstandings. I do not consider this explanation as tenable under the conditions of life prevailing among primitive people, because there is no slovenly execution among natives who make utensils for their own use. The pottery and paintings of the South American Indians, observed by Von den Steinen, the crocodile arrows of New Guinea, the frigate bird carvings, are all carefully made. We find often that people will use inferior wares for exchange with neighboring tribes, while they keep the good material for themselves. The natives of Vancouver Island for instance, adulterate with elderberries berry cakes that are made for trade, while those made for home consumption are made of the more valuable berries, such as blueberries or salmonberries without the addition of other material of inferior value. This tendency, particularly when combined with the desire to manufacture quickly large masses of material, leads to poor work. The question then arises, what happens in cases of this kind. Does slovenly work lead to misunderstandings and to conventionalism? Balfour has tried to make the process clear. He let an individual copy a design and used the first reproduction as original for a second copy. By continuing in this way he received the most astonishing transformations. Such results may occur when work executed in a highly developed technique is imitated by people of lesser accomplishments. The standard example is that of the degeneration of Greek coins when copied by Keltic imitators[75] which led to a complete disruption of the original design. However, this example is not to the point, because we are ordinarily not dealing with copies of designs borrowed from people of higher technical development, but with those belonging to a single tribe. [75] See Max Ebert, Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte, Vol. 6, pp. 301 et seq.