and with expressions which appear to indicate a variety of exaggerated emotions (Figs. 54, 55, 56).
Fig. 62. Figure of monkey—terra cotta group
The exuberance of fancy often found vent in the production of monstrosities, such as are seen in Figs. 57 and 58, in which the arms
and legs of the figures are writhing serpents, the faces expressing great agony; in other cases the figures are double; and again two bodies united at the waist have but one pair of legs. An unusually grotesque creature is seen in Figs. 59 and 60, and another is given in Fig. 61. Similar figures are worked in gold, one of which is now worn as a charm by Mr. J. B. Stearns. Figures of monkeys are shown in Figs. 62, 63, and 64. One creature, represented as having a long, trunk-like snout, recurs frequently. Such a form discovered in the earlier days of archæologic investigation would probably have given
rise to many surmises as to the contemporaneous existence of man and the elephant in Chiriqui. In reality the original was probably some unassuming little inhabitant of the isthmian jungles. This creature is shown in profile in Fig. 65, a, and front views are given in b and c. Innumerable examples, embracing most of the more important animals of Chiriqui, could be given, but in a majority of cases identification is difficult or impossible, as there has been little or no effort to reproduce nature with fidelity. But the chief interest surrounding these figures is not found in the variety of creatures shown or in the character of the delineation, but in the manner of their employment in the embellishment of ceramic forms. The ancient potter must have possessed a keen sense of grace of form and of the proper adjustment of parts. The most cultured taste could hardly improve upon the lines of the vases presented in Figs. 66 and 67, which employ the frog, and in Figs. 68 and 69, in which other creatures are used. Many equally pleasing examples are illustrated further on. The