526 
with, refuse pieces of metal, the remains of castings, and in 
rare instances with the moulds, in which the implements 
have been cast. A few bronze knives have occurred, which 
probably served the purpose of a dagger as well, and we may, 
without much straining, picture a Briton giving the coup de 
grace in the morning to his enemy, and with the same 
serviceable tool carving a boar's ham for supper, the same 
evening. But knives were usually made of flint, and very 
sharp and effective they must have been ; they are found in 
considerable numbers, and not unfrequently associated with 
bronze articles, and accompanying an interment. Saws, too, 
were made of flint, not of a size adapted for timber, but 
probably to cut bone with; they are by no means uncommon, 
and very ingenious specimens of flint workmanship they are. 
But the commonest flint implement is what is called a 
" thumb flint/' from a rough resemblance to the end of a 
thumb, the greater number are round, but many oval and 
long-shaped. They have been made in this way : a slice has 
been taken off from a core of flint, at one stroke, having a 
smooth and slightly convex, surface on that side, the other 
side was then carefully chipped at the edge, so as to make 
the tool sharp -edged and yet strong. By this means a sharp- 
sided implement was made, which was no doubt used as a 
scraper for bone and hides. The Esquimaux now manufac- 
ture " thumb flints," for scraping with, which are exactly 
similar in shape to some of those we find in England. Pins 
were made both of bronze and bone, and of the latter mate- 
rial were also made long knives, very like our paper-knives, 
and which may have been used for skinning with. Grain 
was bruised by stone-pounders, generally water- worn pebbles ; 
but millstones, in the shape of the small hand-mill or quern, 
are very common, and generally made of sandstone, and to 
the mixing of particles of this with the flour is no doubt to 
be attributed, in a great measure, the extraordinary attrition 
