Note 689 — Chapter XV · THE FIRE-DRILL

G. Jacob, Altarabisches Beduineneben 2nd Ed., (Berlin, 1897), p. 91. In his Arabic-English Lexicon, book i. p. 1257, E. W. Lane gives the following account of the subject: “zand, a piece of stick or wood, for producing fire; the upper one of the two pieces of stick, or wood, with which fire is produced: ... and zanda is the appellation of the lower one thereof, in which is the notch or hollow, or in which is a hole.... One end of the zand is put into the fard (notch) of the zanda, and the zand is then rapidly twirled round in producing fire.... The best kind of zand is made of ’afār and the best kind of zanda of markh.” It will be observed that the two writers differ as to markh wood, Jacob saying that it is used to make the upright (male) stick, and Lane that it is used to make the horizontal (female) stick. My learned friend Professor A. A. Bevan, who directed my attention to both passages and transliterated for me the Arabic words in Lane, has kindly consulted the original authorities on this point and informs me that Lane is right.