Figure 167 shows various representations of sunrise.
It is of interest in this connection that in the pictorial notation of the Laplanders the sun bears its usual figure of a man’s head, rayed, as reported in Schoolcraft, op. cit. I, 426. See drawings in Scheffer’s Hist. of Lapland, London ed., 1704.
It may be desirable also to note, to avoid misconception, that where, through this paper, mention is made of particulars under the headings of Customs, Religious, etc., which might be made the subject of graphic illustration in pictographs, and for that reason should be known as preliminary to the attempted interpretation of the latter, the suggestion is not given as a mere hypothesis. Such objective marks and conceptions of the character indicated which can readily be made objective, are in fact frequently found in pictographs and have been understood by means of the preliminary information to which reference is made. When interpretations obtained through this line of study are properly verified they can take places in the card-catalogue little inferior to those of interpretations derived directly from aboriginal pictographers.
HOMOMORPHS AND SYMMORPHS.
It has been already mentioned that characters substantially the same, or homomorphs, made by one set of people, have a different signification among others. Differing forms for the same general conception or idea are also noticed. These may be termed symmorphs. Some examples under these titles are noted as follows, not for the purpose of giving an even approximately complete list, but merely to show the manner in which they may be compared and sometimes confused with similar characters, some of which appear in other parts of this paper.
Fig. 168.
Figure 168 represents Dakota lodges as drawn by the Hidatsa. These characters when carelessly or rudely drawn can only be distinguished from personal marks by their position and their relation to other characters.
Fig. 169.