whorl, among most other savage or prehistoric peoples, as we have already seen, was of stone or clay. These wooden whorls are thinner and larger, but otherwise they are the same. An inspection of the plate will show that with it the spinning apparatus forms the same machine, accomplishes the same purpose, and does it in the same way. The sole difference is in the size and material of the whorl. The difference in material accounts for the difference in size. It is not improbable that the Indian discovered that the wooden whorl would serve as well as a stone or pottery one, and that it was easier made. The machine in the hands of the woman, as shown in the figure, is larger than usual, which may be accounted for by the thread of wool fiber used by the Navajo being thicker and occupying more space than the flaxen thread of prehistoric times; so it may have been discovered that a large whorl of wood served their purpose better than a small one of stone. Stone whorls of large size might be too heavy. Thus may be explained the change from small stone or pottery whorls to large wooden ones. [Illustration: Fig. 357. TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL WITH DESIGN SIMILAR TO SWASTIKA. Valley of Mexico. Cat. No. 27875, U. S. N. M.] [Illustration: PLATE 22. NAVAJO WOMAN USING SPINDLE AND WHORL. Dr. Washington Matthews, Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1881-82, Pl. XXXIV.] _Mexico._--Fig. 357 represents the two sides and edge of a pottery terra-cotta spindle-whorl. It is the largest of a series of six (Cat. Nos. 27875-27880) from the valley of Mexico, sent to the U. S. National Museum by the Mexican National Museum in 1877. Fig. 358 also represents one of a series from Mexico, obtained by W. W. Blake, July, 1886 (Cat. Nos. 99051-99059). The National Museum possesses hundreds of these from Mexico, as well as the small ones from Peru. [Illustration: Fig. 358. MEXICAN TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL WITH DESIGN SIMILAR TO SWASTIKA.] These specimens are chosen because they are the largest and most elaborately decorated. It will be perceived at a glance how the style of decoration lends itself to the Swastika. It consists mostly of geometric figures, chief of which is the Greek fret, the labyrinth, the circle, and the volute, but as in the color stamps (pp. 946-947) there is no Swastika. [Illustration: Figs. 359 and 360. TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORLS. Omotepe Island, Nicaragua. Cat. Nos. 28898, 28899, U. S. N. M.] CENTRAL AMERICA.