Research Items

Abstract

FIRE-MAKING IN THE MALAY PENINSULA.—The fire-piston for the production of fire is used in a limited area among the Shans and people of Pegu in Burma, among the Khas and Mois, in the Malay Peninsula, Western Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, parts of Borneo, and in Mindanao and Luzon. Seven speci mens of the implement deposited in the Perak Museum are described by Mr. Ivor H. N. Evans in the Journal of the Federated Malay States Museum (vol. ix. Part 4). They are made of buffalo-horn, wood, and tin. Mr. Evans finds that in two out of three attempts he can make fire by means of it. The important part is the binding of a rag near the distal end of the piston, which acts as a washer, and prevents the escape of air. This must be so adjusted that it allows the piston to pass smoothly down the cylinder when the piston-head is struck sharply with the palm of the hand, and it must not be so tight that there is difficulty in withdrawing the piston fairly quickly, nor so loose that air can escape from within.