The investigators who have tried to prove that conventionalized forms originate through a process of degeneration from representations, have generally overlooked the strong influence of motor habits and of formal arrangements upon the resultant style. In those cases in which there is a tendency to organize decorative motives in rectangular panels, in circular areas, or in fields defined in other ways, the result must be quite different from others in which the artist habitually arranges his material in large fields or in continuous bands. The habit of decorating pottery by moulding and by adding on relief forms, must lead to results different from those which are obtained by painting or engraving. The use of lines and the habit of using dots or circles will also effect the resultant style. I think there can be very little doubt that if an artist is in the habit of using dot designs combined with lines and if, later on, he tries to represent an animal, this particular method will be applied in the representation. The origin of the motor habits must probably be looked for in technical processes, that of arrangement in the same processes and in the forms of familiar utensils. Our examination of the factory-made material shows that the process of slurring, or slovenly execution leads first of all to the development of individual characteristics that can best be compared with handwriting. Pronounced mannerisms permit us to recognize the hand of the artisan. It is only when an unusually careful and ingenious person operates with this traditional material that new forms develop, analogous to those described by Balfour. It will readily be seen that these conditions are not often realized in primitive society. [Illustration: Fig. 130. Chinese embroidery representing bats.] I believe another cause is more potent in bringing about a modification of design. Ornamental patterns must be adjusted to the decorative field to which they are applied. It is not often that the artist is satisfied with representing part of his subject and cutting it off where the decorative field ends. He will much rather distort and adjust the parts in such a way that they all fit in the field that he has at his disposal. When a bird is represented with outspread wings, which would occupy approximately a square field, and the space to be decorated is long and narrow, the artist may twist body and tail about, and draw out the wings and thus squeeze the design into the available space. Henry Balfour[84] gives as an instance the adjustment of Chinese figures of bats to an ornamental band (fig. 130). [84] The Evolution of Art, 1893, p. 50. The northwest coast Indians, who always take the greatest liberties with the outer forms of animals, do not hesitate to distort them in a way that allows the artist to adjust the animal to the decorative field. Their method will be discussed in greater detail at another place (see pp. 183 et seq.).