content_output-078_7 (Q6629)

The slow-match is kept burning in a holder on the top of the barrel; the flash-pan and touch-hole are at the side. The serpentin is hung upon a pivot passing through the stock and continued past the pivot, forming a lever for the hand. To discharge the piece the match in the serpentin is first brought into contact with the burning match on the barrel until ignited: then, by raising the lever and moving it to one side, the serpentin is brought into the priming in the touch-hole, and the gun discharged—though it is highly probable the first arquebuses did not carry the fire in a holder on the barrel, but only the match in the serpentin.