Axe

an instrument used for hewing timber and chopping wood, and (till the introduction of firearms) as a weapon. The minodern axe consists of a head of iron edged with steel, and a helve or handle, Stone axes, however, are amongst the earliest of human inventions, and are often used by savage tribes, They differ from celts (chisels) EAR OF BARLEY in being of more complex shape (showing awns.) and fitted for hewing. The modern axe differs from the in that its head is fixed in the plane of the of the handle, whereas the head of the adze fixed transversely to this plane.