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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Among the contrivances which have come down to us from the 

 ages before history was written, or the use of metals known, are found 

 stones shaped, as we may suppose, by the action of water, and so 

 rounded as to lit the hand. These stones are called by antiquarians 

 " mauls," and they were probably held in the hand and struck against 

 objects 'which otherwise could not have been broken. The maul is the 

 original form of the hammer. This maul might occasionally have 

 proved too heavy, but more frequently too light. For that tapping- 

 action which in our minor wants is often more requisite than blows, 

 our prehistoric ancestors seem to have devised an ingenious appliance 

 consisting of a stone specially prepared for this somewhat delicate 

 operation. (Fig. 1.) 



Fio. 1. Tapping-Hammer of Stone. 



This is supposed to be one of these tapping-hammers, held between 

 a finger and the thumb ; the original bears traces of wear, as if it had 

 been employed in striking against a cylindrical or sharp surface. 



When, now, we pass from this light to very heavy work, it will be 

 obvious that to hold a stone in the hollow of the hand, and to strike an 

 object with it so that the reaction of the blow shall be mainly met by the 

 muscular action of the back of the hand, and the thinnest section of the 

 wrist, would be not only fatiguing, but might be injurious to the deli- 

 cate network of muscles there found, and so damage this part of the 

 hand. It may have been from such effects that even in the Stone age 

 there are traces of mauls which have double ends and are held by the 

 middle. A blow given by such is counteracted not only by the in- 

 creased mass of material, but also by the changed position of the hand 

 and wrist in relation to the direction of the blow. When held in the 

 hollow of the hand, the reaction was met by (say) a. depth of tissue of 

 about three-quarters of an inch, but, when held as the maul now alluded 

 to must have been held, this reaction is met by a depth of tissue of 

 about three inches. Hence, while mechanically (owing to the mass of 

 stone) and muscularly (owing to the position of the hand in reference 

 to the direction of the blow) the maul in this second stage is a decided 

 improvement upon its primitive form, we cannot but admit that ex- 

 perience would soon suggest that even thus there was wanting suffi- 

 cient energy to overcome reactions, and that the double-headed maul 

 might be improved. 



