nting, and by stamping.

Intimately associated with methods of execution are peculiarities of
construction, the two agencies working together in the processes of
modification and development of ornament.

I have previously shown how our favorite ornament, the scroll, in its
disconnected form may have originated in the copying of natural forms or
through the manipulation of coils of clay. I present here an example of
its possible origin through the modification of forms derived from
constructional features of basketry. An ornament known as the guilloche
is found in many countries. The combination of lines resembles that of
twisted or platted fillets of wood, cane, or rushes, as may be seen at a
glance, Fig. 481 _a_. An incised ornament of this character, possibly
derived from basketry by copying the twisted fillets or their
impressions in the clay, is very common on the pottery of the mounds of
the Mississippi Valley, and its variants form a most interesting study.
In applying this to a vessel the careless artist does not properly
connect the ends of the lines which pass beneath the intersecting
fillets, and the parts become disconnected, _b_. In many cases the ends
are turned in abruptly as seen in _c_, and only a slight further change
is necessary to lead to the result, _d_, the running scroll with
well-developed links. All of these steps may be observed in a single
group of vessels.

It may be thought by some that the processes of development indicated
above are insufficient and unsatisfactory. There are those who, seeing
these forms already endowed with symbolism, begin at what I conceive to
be the wrong end of the process. They derive the form of symbol directly
from the thing symbolized. Thus the current scroll is, with many races,
found to be a symbol of water, and its origin is attributed to a literal
rendition of the sweep and curl of the waves. It is more probable that
the scroll became the symbol of the sea long after its development
through agencies similar to those described above, and that the
association resulted from the observation of incidental resemblances.
This same figure, in use by the Indians of the interior of the
continent, is regarded as symbolic of the whirlwind, and it is probable
that any symbol-using people will find in the features and phenomena of
their environment, whatever it may be, sufficient resemblance to any of
their decorative devices to lead to a symbolic association.

[Illust