THE GRINDSTONE. 325 



daily, make it their boast that they have never been beyond 

 the outskirts of their village. 



This clumsy machine is now replaced by the very simple 

 invention which has been in vogue for some years, and which 

 can not only release, but regulate, the pressure at any moment, 

 by means of springs, levers, and weights. This machine is, in 

 fact, exactly the same as that which is represented in the illus- 

 tration, except that the rollers are quite smooth. They can be 

 adjusted to almost any amount of pressure by levers and weights 

 which are attached to the upper roller, and, when the linen has 

 passed through them, it has undergone the double operation of 

 wringing and mangling. It does not occupy one-quarter of the 

 space of the old machine, and is light enough to be moved 

 easily from place to place. 



THE GRINDSTONE. 



BEING on the subject of jaws and teeth as a mode of breaking 

 to pieces objects which are placed between them, we will take 

 those implements which grind to powder, or "triturate," instead 

 of breaking or flattening. 



From the very earliest ages, and as soon as man had begun 

 to discover the " staff of life," the art of grinding naturally 

 assumed an ever-increasing importance. 



The first and most primitive mode of grinding corn and 

 converting it into meal was that which was followed by Sarah, 

 when she welcomed her husband's guests, which we know, from 

 internal evidence, was followed by the uncivilised races who 

 formerly inhabited this island, and by many semi-savages of 

 the present day. 



Nothing could be simpler than the machinery used, and 

 nothing could cause a greater waste of muscular power. Two 

 stones were employed, a large one upon which the grain was 

 placed, and a smaller which was held in the hands, and used 

 for grinding the corn to powder, just as the painters of the 

 last century used to grind their colours. The Kafirs of 

 Southern Africa use this simple mill, and so exactly do they 

 keep unconsciously to the customs of long-perished natives, 

 that if one of their mills were buried for a few years and dug 

 up again, it might be mistaken for one of the ancient "querns." 



