150 



BOOK VI. 



hammer. The lower end is pointed so as to spht the hard rocks and veins 

 with its point. All of these have eyes except the fourth. The first, 

 which is in daily use among miners, is three-quarters of a foot long, a digit 

 and a half wide, and a digit thick. The second is of the same width as the 

 first, and the same thickness, but one and one half feet long, and is used to 

 shatter the hardest veins in such a way that they crack open. The third 

 is the same length as the second, but is a little wider and thicker ; with 

 this one they dig the bottoms of those shafts which slowly accumulate water. 

 The fourth is nearly three palms and one digit long, two digits thick, and in 

 the upper end it is three digits wide, in the middle it is one palm wide, and 

 at the lower end it is pointed like the others ; with this they cut out the 

 harder veins. The eye in the first tool is one palm distant from the upper 

 end, in the second and third it is seven digits distant ; each swells out 

 around the eye on both sides, and into it they fit a wooden handle, which 

 they hold with one hand, while they strike the iron tool with a hammer, after 

 placing it against the rock. These tools are made larger or smaller as 

 necessary. The smiths, as far as possible, sharpen again all that become dull. 



A — First " iron tool." B — Second. C — Third. D — Fourth.* E — Wedge. F — Iron 

 BLOCK. G— Iron plate. H — Wooden handle. I — Handle inserted in first tool. 



A wedge is usually three palms and two digits long and six digits wide ; 

 at the upper end, for a distance of a palm, it is three digits thick, and 

 beyond that point it becomes thinner by degrees, until finally it is quite 

 sharp. 



^While these particular tools serve the same purpose as the "gad" and the "moil," 

 the latter are not fitted with handles, and we have, therefore, not felt justified in adopting 

 these terms, but have given a literal rendering of the Latin. 



