GUN 
Gun-Fiints, three-twelfths of an inch; if it were broader it would 
—\—" be tvo liable to break; and if more obtuse the scintil- 
PLATE 
lation would be less brisk. 2dly, The sices or lateral 
ridges, which are always rather irregular. 3dly, The 
back, or the part opposite the tapering edge: this is 
the thickest part of the flint. 4¢h/y, The under sur- 
face, which is uninterrupted and rather convex. And, 
5thly, The upper facet, or smal} square facet between 
the tapering edge and the back, which receives the 
upper claw of the cock; it is slightly concave. In 
order to fashion the flint, those scales are selected that 
have at least one of the above-mentioned longitudinal 
ridges: The workman fixes on one of the two tapering 
borders to form the striking edge; after which, the 
two sides of the stone that are to form the lateral edges, 
as well as the part which is to form the back, are suc- 
cessively placed on the edge of the chisel, in such a 
manner that the convex surface of the flint which rests 
on the fore-finger of his left hand is turned towards 
that tool. He then with the roulette applies some 
slight strokes to the flint, just opposite the edge of the 
chisel underneath ; by which means the flint breaks 
exactly along the edge of the chisel. 
4. To trim the flint. The last operation is to rim, or 
give the flint a smooth and equal edge ; this is done by 
turning the stone, and placing the edge of its tapering 
ccrxxxiv. end on the chisel, in which situation it is completed 
Fig. 9, 
by five or six slight’ strokes with the roulette. See Fig. 9. 
The whole operation of making.a gun flint is per- 
formed in less than one minute. A good workman is 
able to manufacture a thousand good chips or scales 
a day, (if the flint nodules be of a good quality ;) and 
in the same manner he can fashion 500 gun flints ina 
day, so that, in the space of three days, he is able to 
cleave and finish a thousand gun flints without farther _ 
assistance, ; 
In this manner, five or six blows with the hammer 
are sufficient to produce a ‘perfection of figure which 
would require more than an hour’s labour, if the faces 
were formed by grinding them against harder substan- 
ces; and less than a farthing will pay for a gun flint 
from the hand of the workman, though fifty times that 
sum would be insufficient to purchase it, if it were 
formed in any other way. 
When the gun flints are completed, they are sorted 
into two classes, fine and common flints, and according 
to their application into flints for pistols, fowling-pieces, 
and muskets. A good gun flint will give 50 strokes 
without being unfit for service. They are sold in France 
at from four pence halfpenny to seven pence per hun- 
dred. They cost twice as much in Italy, and, in 1745, 
when they were exported from the department of the 
ag and ae to lap Strasburg, and St Quintin, 
they cost 12 francs per thousand, or one shillin 
oe Oy ¥ : ee 
The manufacture of flints in France, employed 
above 800 of the inhabitants in the communes of Ne cake 
Couffy, and Meunes, in the department of the Loire and 
Cher. The mine, which is four leagues square, is 
thirty or forty feet deep, and thirty million of flints 
manufactured here were stored up in 1794. They are 
also made in the communes of Lye, in the department 
of the Indre, of Maysse and St Vincent, in the depart- 
ment of Ardeche, and at Cerilly in the department of 
the Yonne. Dolomieu received the information. con- 
tained in the preceding article from Stephen Buffet, who 
emigrated from the commune of Meunes to the banks 
of the Seine, where he carried on hi i 
Stove 0 pone on his profession for 
' 558 
GUN 
Gun flints are made also in the territory of Vicenza, 
and in one of the cantons of Sicily. They were manu- 
factured in great quantities at Stevensklint in Zeeland. 
They are also manufactured at Purfleet in Kent, and in 
various other parts of England in a very superior stile. 
See Dolomieu’s Memoir in the Memoures de ? Instia 
tut. vol. iii. p. 148.; in the Journal des Mines, No. xxxiii., _ 
. 693 ; and in Nicholson’s Journal, vol. i. 8vo. p. 88. 
Tn the Journal des Mines, No. xxxiii. p 713, and 719, 
will also be found a Memoir by M. Solivet, and obzer« 
vations by M. Tonellier on-the manufacture of gun 
flints in the commune of Cerilly. See also the. Hano~ 
verian Magazine for 1772; and Beckmann’s History of 
Inventions, vol iv. p. 609, &e. 
GUN-Makgine is the art of manufacturing small arms, 
for the pu s of war and the chace. The name hare 
quebuss, which was first given to small arms, is said te 
have been derived from the Italian word arcobousa, or 
bow with a hole, and the instrument was successively de« 
signated harquebuss, hackbut, hand-gun, match ; 
ward the IV. brought over into England 300 Flemings, 
armed with hackbuts or harquebusses. _The Spani 
are said to have, so early as the reign of Philip the IL., 
adopted them inthe army ; and that monarch caused them 
to be made of a large calibre, and so heavy thata forked 
rest was requisite to level them in taking aim. They 
were used at the siege of ar, and by the Emperor 
and Pope Leo in 1521. The French had availed 
themselves of this arm, in 1667, to the extent of four 
harquebusses in each company of their army. Eng- 
land appears to have been earlier apprized of their su« 
periority over the — then in use. Harquebuss 
soldiers formed a part of their forces in 1540; and Peter 
Van Collins is mentioned by Stowe, as the first gun- 
smith, in 1543. By an act of Henry the VIII. the 
length of the hand, agen stock, and barrel, is directed 
not to exceed one yard; and that of the hackbut three 
quarters of a yard. By astatute of Elizabeth, they are 
ordered to be made all of one size and calibre, from which 
they acquired the name of culivers, a light kind of match 
lock, fired without a rest ; and their price was fixed at 
13 shillings and sixpence, with flask, touch-box, laces 
and mould. In James the First’s reign the price was 
fixed at 14 shillings and ten pence. Charles the Second 
directs the musket barrel not to be under three feet in 
length, and to receive a ball of twelve in the pound ; 
and in 1638, he grants a charter to the gun-smiths of 
London, by the name of master wardens, and society of — 
gun-makers; at which period they made wheel and 
snap-lance locks. The Scotch used the harquebuss or 
match-lock soon after its invention, from their intimate 
correspondence with France and Flanders; yet we 
have no certain information of their having any artists 
in that profession sooner than 1640, when they be- 
came incorporated with the hammermen of Edinburgh, 
as a pendicle of' the lock-smith art. The city guard 
were armed with muskets or harquebusses in 1682, 
the expence of purchasing and maintaining of which 
was directed to Se defrayed from the money exacted 
from those who entered burgess. After the union of the 
two kingdoms, the manufacture of small arms, (if ever 
carried on to any extent, ) seems to have been confined to 
a few individuals, From the records of the hammers 
