FIG. 7.—AN OLD ROMAN MILL.
FIG. 9.—POMPEIAN FLOUR MILL, 79 A. D.
FIG. 10.—SHOWING THE INTERIOR OF POMPEIAN MILL.
We have here several pictures of ancient mills. Figure 6 is an ancient Jewish mill. As we look at it we may recall the words, "Two women shall be grinding at a mill, the one shall be taken, and the other left."[14] Figure 7 is an old Roman mill bearing a strong resemblance to the coffee mill that is used in our kitchens. Figure 8 is a Scottish quern, a mill that may still be found in use, it is said, in some parts of Scotland. Figure 9 is an old flour mill dug from the ruins of the city of Pompeii which was destroyed by an eruption in the year 79 A. D. Figure 10 shows the construction of this interesting mill. The upper (outer) stone is shaped like an hour-glass, the upper half of which serves as a hopper; the lower half turns upon the cone-shaped lower stone and does the grinding. The mill was operated by the projecting handles, the operators walking round and round the mill. Sometimes it was turned by human power, sometimes by horses or oxen.
The Pompeian mill shows that as early as the first century the Romans ground their grain by animal power. Indeed about this time a still greater change was made in the method of grinding grain. When Julius Cæsar flourished (50 B. C.) men began to harness the power of running water and make it turn their mills (Fig. 11). From Figure 12 we may easily learn how this was done. The running water turns the wheel and in doing so turns the upper millstone. A hopper is suspended from the roof by ropes. Through this the grain passes into the mill. Here was a great saving in human labor and a great advancement in mill making. A Roman writer of Cæsar's time appreciating how great a blessing was the invention of the water-mill exclaimed: