A large and heavy gun (Fig. 46 [1]) with a peculiar type of early flintlock having an exposed mainspring and known as a _miguelet_ was probably made in Brescia for a purchaser from the Balearic Islands. The barrel is plain; the lock (Fig. 47 [1]) and steel mountings of the walnut stock, however, are elaborately carved in openwork and in strong relief. Some of the details of this carving, especially that on the trigger guard, evidence the exquisite skill characteristic of the Brescian gunsmiths (compare the wheellock pistol mentioned above). The general style of most of the carving, however, shows a ruggedness of design and a love of the grotesque characteristic of Balearic Island taste. The barrel is inscribed “Lazari Cominaz”. Another early flintlock variation was the _snaphaunce_, a form in which the piece of steel struck by the flint was not attached to the cover of the pan holding the priming powder, but was entirely separate from it and could be turned back out of the way as a safety precaution, when immediate use of the arm was not expected. The Museum has a fine snaphaunce pistol in the Brescian style. Two other pairs of pistols with normal flintlocks are excellent examples of Brescian work. One (Fig. 46 [6]) from about 1640-1660 has barrels with longitudinal ridging about one-third of their length and with the full inscription “Lazarino Cominazzo”. The locks are lightly engraved to give an impression of very shallow relief carving, and bear the signature of “Giovanni Bourgognone in Brescia”. The walnut stocks are ornamented with openwork steel similar to those on the wheellock pistol above described. The other pair (Fig. 46 [5]), possibly somewhat earlier, have barrels octagonal for about one-sixth of their length. These bear the inscription “Lazaro Lazarino” (presumably a son of the great Lazarino Cominazzo or of one of his namesakes). The stocks are of walnut. The locks and the large and numerous mounts on the stock are elaborately chiseled steel in strong relief with designs of animals, monsters, and semi-human figures against a background of floral arabesques. Not all flintlocks were on firearms. The same mechanism was used on tinder boxes, alarm clocks, and gunpowder testers. The powder tester (Fig. 49) was like a pistol with a friction cover closing the mouth of the barrel. It was loaded (of course without a bullet) and fired. The force of the explosion blew the cover away from the barrel against the friction of a heavy spring; the distance which it moved gave an index of the strength of the gunpowder. [Illustration: _Fig. 47. Details of fine gunsmithing._] [Illustration: _Fig. 48. This was what a gentleman carried in a holster at his saddle-bow in mid-seventeenth century Italy._]