Jg() DESCRIPTIONS* THE INDIAN HAND MILL. 



VIII. 



Defcriptkm of the Indian Hand Mill. From a Correfpondent. 



General account 





of the hand mill. A HE Indian hand mill, like moft other Indian inventions, 

 is .character ifed by coniiderable fimplicity and effect. Its 

 cheapnefsand its general utility are fuch, that the meaneft hut 

 in India is never without one. The whole of the grain ufed 

 by the natives of India is ground in thefe mills, and chiefly by 

 the women, who appear to execute the talk with aftonifhing 

 eafe. A woman will continue grinding with this mill for fe- 

 veral hours, and in this time (lie will reduce a very confide- 

 rable quantity of grain into flour. 



Defcription. The mill is compofed of two circular (tones, an upper and 



an under one, each about two feet in diameter, and 2\ inches 

 in thicknefs. The quality of the ftone nearly refembles that 

 of our common mill (tones. 



Figure and fit- The upper face of the under ftone is dreffed perfectly flat. 



ting of the under ^ ^ ma |] | 10 j e ^ G f nearly an inch in diameter, is funk in the 

 center of this ftone : this hole is fitted with a plug of hard 

 wood, firmly driven into it, which contains a final! fteel 

 gudgeon or pivot. The furface of this wooden plug is (lightly 

 elevated above the face of the ftone, and the gudgeon projects 

 about half an inch beyond it. This gudgeon fits into a hole 

 in the middle of a crofs bar, or flatpiece of iron, eight or nine 

 inches in length, about | of an inch in breadth,, and | of an 

 inch in thicknefs : the ends of this crofs bar are let imp notches 

 in the upper ftone, and it thus forms a center on which the 

 upper ftone may revolve. 



The upper ftone. The lower face of the upper ftone is dreffed perfectly flat, 

 to correfpond with the upper face of the under ftone. This 

 ftone is 2f inches in thicknefs at the edges, but it has a pro- 

 jection of nine inches diameter in the middle, at which place 

 it is five inches in thicknefs. The ftone is pierced in the 

 middle by a hole of fix inches in diameter, which ferves as a 

 hopper to contain the grain. In the upper face of this ftone a 

 hole is funk near the circumference, in which hole a wooden- 

 handle, about fix inches in length, is firmly driven. By 

 means of this handle the ftone may be made to revolve on its 

 gudgeon with coniiderable facility. 



The 



