IMPLEMENTS OF STONE. 



215 



performed in the bloody observances of the Aztec ritual. Several knives of this 

 description are represented in the following engraving, which also exhibits the 

 absolute identity which sometimes exists between the remains of widely-separated 

 people, and how, almost as it were by instinct, men hit upon common methods of 

 meeting their wants. 



Fig. 105 Halfsizp. 



No. 1 is of flint from a Scandinavian barrow ; No. 2 is of hornstone from a 

 mound in Ohio ; and No, 3 is obsidian from the pyramids of Teotihuacan in 

 Mexico. Some of these are not less than six inches in length and three-fourths of 

 an inch in breadth ; others are not more than two inches long, and of exceeding 

 delicacy. Besides these, and constituting a much larger class, are found cutting 

 implements chipped with great neatness, so as to produce as clear and smooth a 

 cutting edge as practicable. In shape they somewhat resemble an old-fashioned 

 table-knife. Some are composed of the beautiful hyaline before mentioned, others 

 of obsidian. Some irregular chips of flint have been found, with one or more sharp 

 edges, which, it is presumed, were used for like purposes. 



There is another variety of cutting instrument which it may not be out of 

 place to notice here. These consist of hard compact minerals, worked into a 

 chisel shape. Some have a very sharp, smooth edge, and form quite a good 

 substitute for metal. Engravings of two, of full size, are herewith presented . 



They are formed of very compact nodules of brown hematite, which have been 

 ground into form and polished with great labor. They have a submetallic lustre, 

 and very nearly the specific gravity of iron. A file produces a scarcely perceptible 

 impression upon their rounded surfaces. Another variety is occasionally found in 



