CHAPTEE VI 



THE ORIGIN AND F OEM AT ION OF 

 FLINTS 



seems to have been one of the first stones 

 JL that mankind turned to useful account ; indeed, the 

 weapons fashioned from it afford the earliest testimony 

 we possess of the existence of man, who is thus presented 

 to us at his first appearance upon the scene, already 

 distinguished as a tool-making animal. From remote 

 times it furnished the readiest means of obtaining fire. 

 Struck against marcasite, a form of iron sulphide which 

 occurs in association with flint, it produces a shower of 

 sparks, which were at first possibly a source of mere 

 general wonderment, till some Prometheus showed how 

 to capture the transient fire and domesticate it. 



In virtue of its spark-producing power, flint again 

 entered into service as a weapon, contributing to the 

 discharging mechanism of a gun : whence a brief revival 

 of flint-chipping, which became an important industry, 

 and continued to flourish at Brandon, in Suffolk, long 

 after the introduction of percussion caps ; for, until quite 

 recently, we found a use for our discarded flint-locks, 

 shipping them, along with other blessings of civilisation, 

 to supply the eager natives of Africa. 



Flint makes a good building-stone, much used in 



133 



