Records of the Geological Survey of India. 
154 
[vol. x. 
purpose for which it is intended, and gives as strong a blast as is required by the smiths, at 
the cost of a slight amount of extra labour. 
The double-cylinder machine, represented in plate II, was observed at Burhat on the 
Disang. Two wooden cylinders ( aa ), about 2 feet 6 inches high and 7 inches external dia¬ 
meter, are placed close to each other, and secured by being tied to two stakes (hi) driven 
into the ground (cc represent the fastenings). The upper ends of the cylinders are open, 
while there is a hole (rf) about an inch diameter in the side of each, near the bottom. The 
pistons are similar to that in the last machine, except that there are no handles at top of 
the rods. 
The man who works the machine stands behind it, holding the end of one piston rod 
in each hand, and working them up and down alternately, one being pushed down, while 
the other is being pulled up. This machine has the same defects as the first mentioned. 
As there is only one orifice into each cylinder, the entire indraught Would pass through the 
blast pipe (e 2 ), and greatly diminish the blast into the fire, if the pipes were fixed to the body 
of the machine. But a space of an inch or so is left between the ends of the pipes and the 
cylinders. Through it the indraught (dr) mainly takes place, while the force of the direct 
blast (d 1 ) is not materially diminished. 
In the Naga milage of Rangkatu (11 miles south-east of Makum) I observed an 
ingenious modification of this blower, constructed entirely out of bamboo. The cylinders 
(plate III) were each formed out of one segment about five inches diameter, with a 
portion of a second segment left below the joint, to allow of the whole being firmly planted 
in the ground. Between the cylinders, which were about a foot apart, an upright was 
fixed, with a cross-piece tied to it near the top. To this cross-piece the piston rods were 
fastened, while at the extreme end was a string held by the smith. The piston remote 
from him being weighted with stones (aa), a continuous action was kept up by the smith 
alternately pulling the string down and allowing it to rise. This machine, although from 
its smaller size is less' powerful than the second one, has an advantage over it in that it can be 
worked by the smith himself sitting over his fire, without the aid of an assistant. 
Although, as far as I am aware, blowing cylinders are not used in any part of Penin¬ 
sular India, they have been found amongst widely-separated communities elsewhere. I 
am informed by Mr. W. Theobald that a pair of single-acting cylinders, similar to the second 
machine mentioned above, is commonly used in Martaban and east of the Sitting, as well 
as, probably, in other parts of Burma. The same machine, but of larger dimensions, is also 
used in Borneo. The cylinder is “ made of the stem of a tree hollowed out, about 5 feet 6 
inches high and 3 feet in circumference.”* * * § The natives on the north coast of New Guinea 
use a machine made, like that at Rangkatu, out of two large joints of bamboo. “ This 
instrument is identical with the bellows in use amongst the bi'own races of the Archipelago, 
from whom it may have been borrowed."f A machine, resembling the Borneo one, is 
made use of by the natives of Madagascar,^ who, it appears, may have derived their know¬ 
ledge of it from Malay sources; and it appears that wooden blowing-machines are common 
amongst the Chinese,§ from whom, or from the Burmese, it is probable that the Assamese 
have acquired a knowledge of the principle. 
* Percy.—Metallurgy of Iron and Steel, p. 274. 
t The native races of the Indian Archipelago, Papuans, by G. W. Earl, m.b.a.s.—E thnographical Libiary, 
Vol. I, p. 76. 
% Percy.—Metallurgy of Iron and Steel, p. 277. 
§ Ibid, p, 274. 
