27 
from different countries. These objects were probably seldom 
used unmounted. A flake of grey flint was, however, found 
in the bed of the river Bann, at Toome Bridge, between the 
counties of Antrim and Derry, which had one end wrapped 
round with moss {^Hypnum brevirostre), intended apparently as a 
substitute for a handle. This unique specimen is in the collec- 
tion of Lord Talbot de Malahide. It was shown in the Paris 
Exhibition (1867); M. Gabriel de Mortillet rather severely 
remarked that it was carefully enclosed in a glass bottle, and 
that it appeared to him to be unfitted for examination with the 
eye of a critic. 
Flint flakes were doubtless often mounted as points to spears 
or arrows ; flakes of obsidian are still used in New Caledonia 
^and elsewhere for a similar purpose. — See specimens in Cases 
C 40 and E 3. 
A 22. 
Stone Hatchets. 
In Cases A 22 to A 24 stone hatchets from Ireland are 
exhibited. Such small specimens as Nos. 13 to 16 can only be 
regarded as chisels. No. 8 shows good workmanship. No. 20 
has been used as a hone as well as a hatchet. No. 3, Case D 15, 
from Carnac, Brittany, has been applied to the same double 
purpose. 
A 23. 
Attention is directed to the bluntness of the edge of No. 8 ; 
in its present state it is perfectly useless as a cutting tool. Other 
examples of these blunt implements are in the collection ; they 
do not appear to have become blunted in use, but some, at least, 
have been purposely rubbed down at the edge to prevent their 
cutting. See No. i. Case 25, and No. 9, Case 26, both from 
Ireland, No. i. Case 43, from Ohio, U.S.A., and more particularly 
No. 16, Case 45, from Missouri, U.S.A., which has been rubbed 
down purposely to a flat surface three-eighths of an inch wide 
at the broad end — the cutting part of ordinary stone hatchets. 
There is a remarkable bluntness at the edges of Nos. 6 and 8, 
Case A 32, and of Nos. 13 and 29, Case A 33, which cannot have 
arisen either from weathering or use. 
Many of the stone hatchets exhibited were probably used 
unmounted. No. 4 in this Case, however, was evidently in- 
tended for hafting, as the space towards the middle has been 
left rough where it would have been bound to the handle ; all 
other parts were rubbed to a smooth surface. See also a similar 
instance in Case A 30, No. 9, from Toulouse, France. 
