I've got an idea: Powder keg. Pours black dust like gas can pours gas, which can be used as a fuse. When keg explodes, wood splinters a lot for lots of shrapnel damage
There's a great reference in here... the black cat, blinded by beechwood, sealed behind a wall is a direct reference to Edgar Allen Poe's "The Black Cat". Almost the same thing happens, except the cat in Poe's story loses one eye, not both.