[Footnote 9: Given by W. W. H. Davis in El Gringo, p. 119.]
The grinding stones of the mealing apparatus are of correspondingly
varying degrees of roughness; those of basalt or lava are used for the
first crushing of the corn, and sandstone is used for the final grinding
on the last metate of the series. By means of these primitive appliances
the corn meal is as finely ground as our wheaten flour. The grinding
stones now used are always flat, as shown in Fig. 105, and differ from
those that were used with the early massive type of metate in being of
cylindrical form.
One end of the series of milling troughs is usually built against the
wall near the corner of the room. In some cases, where the room is quite
narrow, the series extends across from wall to wall. Series comprising
four mealing stones, sometimes seen in Zu?i, are very generally arranged
in this manner. In all cases sufficient floor space is left behind the
mills to accommodate the women who kneel at their work. Pl. LXXXVI
illustrates an unusual arrangement, in which the fourth mealing stone is
set at right angles to the other stones of the series.
Mortars are in general use in Zu?i and Tusayan households. As a rule
they are of considerable size, and made of the same material as the
rougher mealing stones. They are employed for crushing and grinding the
chile or red pepper that enters so largely into the food of the Zu?i,
and whose use has extended to the Mexicans of the same region.
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