BLASTING KOCKS. 1S3 



ftone, which my own experience has proved to diminifh con- 

 fiderably the expence of gunpowder, while one of them, at 

 the fame time, removes all danger from imperfe6l priming. 



I (hall alfo, with your permitfion, as many of your corref- Defcriptlon of 

 pondents muft necelTarily be ignorant of the conftrudion of jjfgj^[^*j^j^g""jj^g 

 the tools, give you a defcription of thofe now in ufe at the ftone rocks in 

 village of Shipham, in Somerfetniire, a village wholly com- Somerfctihire. 

 pofed of men, women and children, who mine after lead ore, 

 calamine, and ochre, chiefly in a lime-ftone rock ; a numerous 

 band of fome of the ftouteft beings in England. 



Thefe men iiHl ufe the iron pricker, becaule an accident The iron pricker 

 feldom or ever happens to them ; owing, I believe, in a great "ffg^T^^ith^f , 

 meafure to their flemming with fpar, and their habit of turn- for ftemming. 

 ing and loofening the inftrument at every half inch they fill. 



The tools they ufe are thefe, Plate V. 



A. A round bar of iron, bevilled oft' at one end, of 1 8 Tools and im- 



incheslong, and of the diameter of half an inch. ?'^Tl"^' ^^^'u , 



o'. . . . fcribed. A hole 



B. A ditto, of 24 inches, to follow when the hole In eighteen or 



the flone is about 1 2 inches deep. ^'^^"^y '"f*^" 



r-, « 1 n I r , r- ,^ - 1 , deep and half an 



C A rod, with a loop tor the nnger, 2i> mches long; at inch in diameter 



the bottom of which is a round flat plate of iron to draw out ^^ ^^^ by repeat- 

 the pounded ftone occafionally. ^^i^™, tL°edge 



D. A pricker, 24- inches long, with a loop alfo, ufed to of which lies in 

 preferve a paflage to infert the priming ftraw, while the hole [j^^ holTand is 

 is rammed or ftemmed with E, the iron rammer, 20 inches fliifted round be- 

 long, and which, fix inches or more from the end, is formed ^^j^" ^/"''^ 

 . , 'and ftroke, 



into a conical groove, very open at bottom, in order to enable 



the miner to ram round the pricker, and alfo that by its fliarp- 

 nei's at the end it may the eafier break to duft the pieces of 

 fpar dropped in as faft as wanted. 



F. A hammer with a handle and ftrap, about five inches 

 long; the iron head weighing about four or five pounds, ac- 

 cording to the ftrength of the operator ; for fame have them 

 of fix or feven. 



They alfo have by them a bottle of water, to pour occa- The work is 

 iionally into the hole, for the wetter it is the fafter the work an'/^hTcbT'^ed 

 goes on. ftone fcooped out 



At every ftroke of the hammer, the miner turns his chiffel, ^^'''^ ^ inftru- 

 by which means he works the bottom of the mine in a regu- 

 lar circle, and is enabled to keep his perforation true. 



When arrived at the depth of i S or 19 inches, be cleans, 



and, 



