286 



SNUFF AND SNUFF-BOXES. 



The following is a description of their milling and 

 sniffing machinery — machinery, we believe, 

 figured and published before : — 



never 



The figure a at the right of the engraving is a slab 

 of jacaranda (rose-wood) resembling a spatula ; the 

 length ten inches, of which five are taken up by the 

 handle. The blade four inches wide, and nearly half 

 an inch thick in the middle, but reduced to a quarter 

 at the edges. Except the cavity in the centre the 

 entire face of the instrument is covered with carvings, 

 as shown in the cut. The back is plain, and void of 

 ornament ; the extremity of the handle represents the 

 head of a serpent, with the tongue protruded ; the eyes 

 are imitated by two pieces of bone or white shell, which 

 strongly contrast with the dark hue of the wood. The 

 effect of colour is further attempted, by filling the 



