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PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 



VOL. 73 



is a suspicion that the present tinder flint has come down directly 

 from neolithic times. The old English steel, or "flourish" (fig. 44) 

 is the characteristic shape, and has been carried by English commerce 

 into many places. A picture of a strike-a-light used by the Lenguas 

 of Brazil seen lately, shows the unmistakable old "flourish." 



J 



Fig. 44. — English tindek box (with flint, "flourish," axd bundle of spunks). 

 Cat. No. 75516, U.S.N.M. England. Cou-ected by Louis and Maurice 

 Fakmer 



The tinder boxes had also a damper to extinguish the tinder of 

 burnt linen and to keep it dry. The lids were furnished often with a 

 candle socket. This feature, says Mr. Lovett, has led to their 

 preservation as candlesticks long after they were superseded by 

 matches. 



Fig. 45.— Wheel tinder box. 



Cat. No. 130431, U.S.N.M. 

 Hawley 



Broadalbin, N. Y. Presented by F. S. 



Many devices were invented in order to improve on the crude way 

 of holding the flint and steel in the hands to strike the spark into the 

 tinder box. One of these was the wheel tinder box. (Fig. 45.) The 

 compartment near the wheel held the tinder. The flint was placed 

 in a socket on the sliding lid and the wheel was turned by unwinding 



