284 GUNS, GUN LOCKS, BARRELS, &C.

Hildebrand, a metrical romance of a very early date, thatHildebrand and Hudebrand, a father and son, and at thatmoment ignorant of their near affinity, agreed to fight for eachother’s armour; and it is said, “ They let fly their ashenspears with such force, that they stuck in the shields,and they thrust resounding axes of flint against each other,having uplifted their shields previously; but the Lady Uttarushed in between them, ‘ I know the cross of gold,’ saidshe, ‘ which I gave him for his shield; this is my Hilde-brand. You, Hudebrand, sheath your sword, this is yourfather!’ Then she led both champions into the hall, andgave them meat and wine with many embraces.”

Besides these proofs that the ancient name of this vitreousstone was known in Germany by the name of vlint; whichspecies of stone may, perhaps, without hazarding thedanger of error, be conceived to be the same whichZipporah, the wife of Moses , is represented to have usedin the 25th verse of the 4th chapter of Exodus : “ Then

Zipporah took a shaip stone, and cut off the foreskin ofher son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloodyhusband art thou to me. ” And it is added, she said soon account of the circumcision.

In addition to what has appeared, let us add, it cannotbe doubted that the instrument fired by this stone, firstobtained from it in Germany , the name of flintgewehr, vlint,or ft in l e; as the ancient name of vlint may in general benow lost, it is now commonly called, from the weapon,jlini-stone. Those people acquainted with the northern,Scandinavian, and German antiquities, know that theknives employed in ancient sacrifices, and other sharparticles, were made of this stone, as appears from the remainsbeing yet discovered in old barrows and between urns.This proves that these stones were much used by the an-cients.

It is also presumed that the Ethiopian stone, mentionedby Diodorus Siculus , as used by the Paraschite, one of theEgyptian einbalmers, first to open the body to get at theintestines, was & flint-stone. The soil being in some placessiliceous, or chalky, naturally produce such stones in com-mon with that earth.

The flint is a stone indigenous in most European countries ;they are commonly collected and also manufactured byshepherds and others who have much spare time. Theeasiest mode to shape them is with a species of pillow ofsaw-dust, or some other soft material sown up in coarse