COCKS AND HAMMERS. 45 



patent. He there, however, gained his cause by 

 producing some hammers with perforated lips; as 

 well as on the other point (concerning the elevation), 

 by bringing forward an old double gun, which it has 

 been generally understood was in the possession of 

 the late Lord Berkeley. It appears, however, that 

 in this statement there was some mistake, as the gun 

 in question was made for, and expressly to the order 

 of, Evelyn Medows, Esq. by Mr. John Manton, 

 when foreman at Twig's; and it was from this 

 gentleman that he borrowed the gun, which he pro- 

 duced in court, in order to show that that for which 

 his brother had obtained a patent was not an original 

 invention. (I am favoured with this statement by 

 Mr. Medows himself.) But, query, if Mr. Joseph 

 Manton had not made the discovery, that this eleva- 

 tion, and this hammer might, with a trifling altera- 

 tion, be adopted as the greatest improvements, 

 would the one at this moment have been universally 

 known ? Or, might not the other have been for ever 

 buried in the filings of Birmingham'? Or, would 

 not both (to use a lawyer's expression) have become 

 obsolete from non usage ? 



If a hammer is too hard, the flint will make scarcely 

 any impression on it, and, if too soft, it soon becomes 

 dented, like lead; but when in good temper, the 

 impression is moderate, and the sparks, before they 

 are extinguished, pause in the pan and occasion a 

 ic frizzing noise. 



You will seldom get a London maker to temper, 



