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Handicrafts 183 bottom than at the top, and wider from a side view at the bottom than at the top. The narrower the notch is, while al- lowing the powder to drop, the better. The notch should be so cut that when the hole has been drilled, there will be just a little slit running from the side to the center of the hole through which the powder drops down. The wood must be cut smooth, or the spark may stick and not drop below. I have found it best to have the notch face me rather than have it on the other side of the board away from me. I have noticed that the average person leans his drill, which causes it to push against the outside rim of the hole and to break the side away. Usually it is better to start your hole above the notch and then open up the notch until it connects with the hole. Tinder. For tinder use a wad of fine, soft, very dry, dead grass mixed with shredded cedar bark, birch bark, or even cedar wood scraped into a soft mass. A meadow mouse’s nest does very well for tinder. It is easy to get a number of them after the snow has gone from the wet meadows in springtime. Bow. Make a bow of any curved stick two feet long, with a strong buckskin or belt-lacing thong on it (cut c). Socket. Finally, you need a socket. This simple little thing is made in many different ways. Sometimes I use a pine or hemlock knot with a pit one quarter inch deep, made by boring with the knife point. But it 1s a great help to have a good one made of a piece of smooth, hard stone or marble, set in wood ; the stone or marble having in it a smooth, round pit three-eighths inch wide and three-eighths inch deep. The one I use most was made by the Eskimo. A view of the under side is shown in cut d. The hole in the stone should .be large enough and deep enough to hold the upper point of the drill solidly without slipping out. The socket itself should not be held in the fin- gers but in the palm of the hand. Never let a light muscle do what a heavy muscle can do. There is a very general tendency to let the wrist get away from the shin bone, which leaves the hand wobbling, unsupported in the air. The Foot. The foot is placed close to the drill, with all the weight on the ball of the foot, the heel off the floor so that you can regulate the pressure by the raising and lower- ing of the heel. Now we are ready to make the fire: