H 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



skill in the use of the hammer as a finishing-tool can be acquired, is 

 manifest from the many beautiful specimens of r'epouss'e work to be 

 seen in silversmiths' shops. The details of the ornamentation are not 

 only minute, but they so harmonize as to give elegance and expres- 

 sion to the whole, exclusive of the form of the articles themselves. 

 The variety of shape is mainly produced by changes in the form of 

 the "pane" of the hammer and in the weight of it. These changes 

 of " pane " are sometimes effected by separating the pane from the 

 hammer, and then the separated piece is called a " punch." 



The famous shield of Achilles, in the " Iliad " of Homer, is described 

 as the result of hammer-work ; and, though this shield may not have 

 been actually fashioned, nevertheless the description gives an idea of 

 what a hammer was in early times poetically supposed to be capable 

 of accomplishing. The scenes wrought upon the shield of Achilles 

 are 1. The earth, sea, and heavenly bodies. 2. In a city at peace 

 there are (a.) Marriage festivities ; (b.) Judicial suit or trial. 3. In a 

 city at war there are (a.) A scene before the ramparts ; (b.) An ambush 

 and surprise ; (c.) A bloody fight. 4. The ploughing of a field. 5. 

 The harvest and the meal in preparation. 6. The vintage, with music 

 and a march. 1. A herd of cattle attacked by lions. S. Sheep at 

 pasture, and their folds. 9. A dance. 10. The great ocean-river encom- 

 passing the whole, as, in the mind of Homer, it encompassed the earth. 

 For examples of the use of hammers in the production of works of 

 great variety and extent on a large scale, see the ancient hammered 

 wrought-iron gates, hinges, and panels, in the architectural room in 

 the South Kensington Museum ; also the suits of mail and chain-armor 

 in the Tower of London ; also the formation of gold-leaf, the springs 

 of carriages, and the stiffening of saw-plates. 



Fig. 3. 



Fig. 4. Fig. 5. 



Engineer's Hammers. 



Fig. 6. 



The nature of the work to be done by hammers calls for very great 

 differences, not only in the form, material, and weight of the hammer- 

 head, but also in the appendages to these. There are the material 



