988 REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1897. 



Torquemada* says: 



They had, aud still liave, workmeu who make knives of a certain hlack stone or 

 flint, which it is a most wonderful aud admirable thing to see them make out of the 

 stone; and the ingenuity which invented this art is much to he praised. They are 

 made and got out of the stone (if one can exi)lain it) in this manner: One of these 

 Indian workmen sits down upon the ground and takes a piece of this black stone, 

 which is like Jet, and hard as flint, and is a stone which might be called ])re(ious, 

 more beautilul aud brilliant than alabaster or jasper, so much so that of it are made 

 tablets aud mirrors. The ])iece they take is about 8 inches long, or rather more, 

 and as thick as one's leg or rather less, and cylindrical. They have a stick as large 

 as the shaft of a lauce, and 3 cubits, or rather more, iu length, aud at the end of it 

 they fasten firmly anothtu" piece of wood 8 inches long, to give more weight to this 

 part, then pressing their naked feet together, they hold the stones as with a pair of 

 pincers or the vise of a carpenter's bench. They take the stick (which is cut oft' 

 smooth at the end) with both hands, and set it well home against the edge of the 

 front of the stone, which also is cut smooth in that part; and then they press it 

 against their breast, aud with the force of the pressure there flies oft' a knife, with 

 its point and edge on each side, as neatly as if one were to make them of a turnip 

 with a sharp knife, or of iron in the fire. Then they sharpen it on a stone, using a 

 hone to give it a very fine edge; aud in a very short time these workmen will make 

 more than 20 knives in the aforesaid manner. They come out of the same shape as 

 our barbers' lancets, except that they have a rib up the middle, aud have a slight 

 graceful curve toward the point. They will cut aud shave the hair the first time 

 they are used, at the first cut nearly as well as a steel razor, but they lose their edge 

 at the second cut; aud so to finish shaving one's beard or hair, one after another has 

 to be used; though indeed they are cheap, aud spoiling them is of no consequence. 

 Many Spaniards, both regular and seculai clergy, have been shaved with them, 

 especially at the beginning of the colonization of these realms, when there was no 

 such abuudauce as now of the necessary instruments and i)eople who gain their 

 livelihood by practicing this occupation. But I conclude by saying that it is an 

 admirable thing to see them made, and no small argument for the capacity of the 

 men Avho found out such an invention. 



Tylor^ says: 



Hernandez gives a similar account of the process. He compares the wooden instru- 

 ment used to a crossbow. It was evidently a T-shaped implement, and the work- 

 man held the crosspiece with his two hands agaiust his breast, while the end of the 

 straight stick rested on the stone. He furthermore gives a description of the mak- 

 ing of the well known maquahuitl, or Aztec war club, Avhich was armed on both 

 sides with a row of obsidian knives, or teeth, stuck into holes with a kind of gum. 

 With this instrument, he says, a man could be cut iu half at a blow — an absurd 

 statement which has l)een repeated by more modern writers. 



' Mouarquia Indiana, Seville, 1615. - Auahuac, ji. 331. 



