Among the important appurtenances of Seri life are the cords used for belts and necklaces, as well as for the attachment of ceremonial headdresses, for converting the kilts into bags, and for numberless minor purposes. The finest of these are made from human hair; and for this purpose the combings are carefully kept, twisted into strands, and wound on thorns or sticks in slender bobbins, such as that illustrated in figure 31. When the accumulation suffices the strands are doubled or quadrupled, as shown in figures 32 and 33, and the cords are either applied to immediate use or added to the matron’s meager store against emergency demands. The cordage used for other purposes than appareling is commonly made from fiber extracted either from the roots of the mesquite or the stipes of the agave; usually it is well twisted and notably uniform in size and texture; an inferior example appears in figure 34. The manes and tails of horses and other stock are also converted into cordage, of which the chief known application is in toy riatas. It is of no small significance that the most highly prized cordage material is human hair, and that its chief uses are connected with the person; that the next in order of diminishing preciousness is that derived from the fibrous plants, which is used in balsa-making, bowstrings, harpoon cords, etc., as well as in the native fabrics; and that the least prized material is that derived from imported animals, which is largely limited in its utilization to youthful imitation of Caucasian industries; for the association of material with function reflects a distinctive feature of primitive thought, akin to that displayed in somewhat higher culture as synecdochic magic, the doctrine of signatures, etc. [Illustration: FIG. 32—Human-hair cord.] [Illustration: FIG. 33—Horsehair cord.] [Illustration: FIG. 34—Mesquite-fiber rope.]