FLINT IMPLEMENTS 



3204 



FLITE 



forming the Apalachicola. Large 

 vessels ascend to Bainbridge, 50 m. 

 up, and for smaller craft it is 

 navigable for a further 100 m. 



Flint Implements. Primitive 

 tools and weapons made of flint. 

 The term popularly includes quartz- 

 ite, chalcedony, felsite, chert, horn- 

 stone, and other siliceous stones. 

 Perhaps originating in N. Africa, 

 and traceable in a rudimentary 

 form in the dawn of prehistoric 

 Europe, they reached a high level 

 of development during the Stone 

 Age. When flint is broken up by 

 percussion or pressure a conchoidal 

 or shell-like fracture results, with a 

 bulb of percussion where the blow 

 falls. The products are classed as 

 nodules, cores, flakes, chips, and 

 splinters. Prolonged exposure causes 

 a characteristic tinting or patina. 



Palaeolithic workshops with 

 anvil-stones, discarded cores, and 

 spoiled implements are plentiful, 

 as at Crayf ord, Kent, and Cadding- 

 ton, Beds. The early neolithic in- 

 dustry is revealed at Campigny and 

 Grand Pressigny, France ; later 

 British factories are Grovehurst, 

 Kent ; Skelmuir, Aberdeenshire. 

 Early flint mines have been localised 

 at Spiennes, Belgium, Cissbury Hill, 

 and Grime's Graves. The last flint- 

 knapping for gun-flints and strike- 

 a-lights survived at Brandon, Suf- 

 folk, until 1917. English flints 

 are sometimes 9 ins. long ; the 

 finest, sometimes 14 ins. long, 

 come from predynastic Egypt and 

 from Denmark, with exquisite 

 ripple -markings. 



Implements of remote date are 

 found in S. and W. Africa, Somali- 

 land, Palestine, India, Burma, and 

 America ; their production survives 

 in various parts of the world, e.g. 

 in Australia. Pygmy flints, T S F in. 

 to f in. long, traceable in the upper 

 palaeolithic age, became commoner 

 in the mesolithic Tardenoisian ; 

 they range from Britain (E. Lan- 

 cashire ; Scunthorpe, Lines.) across 

 Europe to Egypt (Helwan), and 

 thence to India in the Vindhya 

 hills. See Celt; Eolith; Neolith; 

 Palaeolith ; Tomahawk; also An- 

 thropology and Aztec, illus. 



Bibliography. Ancient Stone Im- 

 plements, J. Evans, 2nd ed. 1897 ; 

 Stone Implements of S. Africa, J. P. 

 Johnson, 1910; Stone Age Guide, 

 British Museum, 1911; Handbook of 

 American Aboriginal Antiquities : 

 The Lithic Industries.W. H. Holmes, 

 1919. 



Flint Lock. Musket in which 

 ignition of the powder is obtained 

 by a mechanical device causing a 

 piece of flint to be struck on a 

 steel hammer when the trigger is 

 pulled. Chiefly owing to the fact 

 that this type of lock is 'also known 

 as a Snaphaunce, from the Dutch 

 woi*d for poultry thief, the inven- 



tion has been as- 

 cribed to a Dutch 

 source. A Spanish 

 origin has also 

 been suggested, 

 but it is not im- 

 probable that the 

 idea was first ob- 

 tained by Portu- 

 guese traders 

 from Japanese 

 tinder boxes. 



A piece of flint 

 is held in the 

 jaws of the cock, 

 whilst the ham- 

 mer is so arranged 

 that it also 

 serves as a cover 

 for the flash-pan, 

 preventing the 

 priming falling 

 out or getting wet , 

 being held in 

 position by an 



Flintshire. Map of the county showing the detached 

 portion between Cheshire and Shropshire 



external spring. 



In the illustration the lock is at half- 

 cock, and is unaffected by pressure 

 on the trigger. When the cock 

 is pulled farther back the piece is 

 ready to fire, and on pressing the 

 trigger the cock flies forward, the 

 flint knocking the hammer back 

 and allowing the shower of 



Flint Lock. Mechanism of firing 



device of a 17th century musket 

 to fall in the flash -pan and ignite 

 the priming. 



The early flint locks were not very 

 reliable, and a match-lock was fre- 

 quently fitted in addition. Flint lock 

 weapons became common about 

 1630, and were introduced to Eng- 

 land in the reign of William III, 

 and gradually became the favourite 

 weapon, until the use of percussion 

 caps displaced them. Flint lock 

 weapons were the standard equip- 

 ment of the British army until 1840. 

 See Gun ; also Brown Bess, illus. 



Flintshire. Northern maritime 

 and the smallest co. of Wales. It 

 lies to the W. of the Dee estuary, 

 .. with a detached 



rtion situated 

 of Denbigh- 

 shire ; area, 255 

 sq. m. A hill 

 range partly 

 crosses the co. 

 parallel to the 

 Dee estuary, 

 which at low 

 tide is a sandy 



Flintshire arms 



waste. The co. contains the lower 

 courses of the Dee and Clwyd; there 

 are several valleys of considerable 



beauty, and in these the soil is fer- 

 tile and under cultivation. Butter 

 and cheese are produced in fair 

 quantities. Coal, lead, iron, and 

 other minerals are worked. There 

 are ironworks along the Dee 

 estuary ; artificial silk, flannel, and 

 cemeat are manufactured. The 

 L. & N.W. is the chief rly. Mold, 

 the county town, Rhyl, Flint, 

 Buckley, Connah's Quay, and Holy- 

 well are the largest towns. One 

 member is returned to Parliament 

 for the county. Pop. (1921)106,466. 



Bibliography. Historical Notices, 

 etc., of the Borough of Flint, 

 H. Taylor, 1883 ; History of the 

 Diocese of St. Asaph, D. R. 

 Thomas, 1908-13 ; Ancient Monu- 

 ments in Wales and Monmouth, 

 vol. 2, The County of Flint, publ. 

 Royal Commission, 1912; and pub- 

 lications of the Flintshire Historical 

 Society. 



Flintshire Lead Process. Air 

 reduction process which has been 

 used from very remote times in N. 

 Wales. Pure ores obtained from 

 limestone formations are used. 

 The furnace is of the reverberatory 

 type, having the hearth sloping to 

 a central well, from the bottom of 

 which a tap hole leads to a pot 

 outside. A preliminary roasting 

 of the charge on the hearth is 

 followed by a raising of the tem- 

 perature till the lead begins to run 

 freely, then by a further rise to 

 melt the charge down, the intro- 

 duction of lime, stirring and mix- 

 ing, a further roasting, draining, 

 the introduction of a little coal 

 slack to finish, and the tapping out 

 of the metal. See Lead. 



Flite, Miss. Character in Dick- 

 ens's Bleak House. One of the 

 victims of the law's delays, she 

 is a little mad old woman who is 

 always in court, and who, though 

 she has lost her reason, still retains 

 her tenderness of heart. 



