1863.] 227 LI>«boi3. 



thirty-second (o'j) part of a carat, which was about 1 ,^g thousandths, 

 according to the present notation. The reports of the British assay- 

 ers were not in those days more exact, whatever their apparatus 

 might have been. 



About three years later, Mr. Peale brought from Paris, for the 

 use of the Mint, a beam of superior finish and much greater delicacy^ 

 in which, among other improvements, stirrups were substituted for 

 silk cords, although there was still a cord for lifting. 



Two years farther on, we had Mr. Saston restored from England 

 to his own country, and employed in the Mint in this branch of art^ 

 in which he had already become famous. Various decided improve- 

 ments were introduced by him, in the beams made for the Mint and 

 Branch Mints. 



After this artist had been claimed by Prof. A. D. Bache, for the 

 Bureau of Weights and Measures, and was transferred to Washing- 

 ton, our assay department had recourse to the manufactory of Oert- 

 ling, in London. His beams, although rather complicated, and of 

 many parts, are admirable for delicacy and beauty, and for a com- 

 bination of the most desirable qualities. 



The establishment of the Branch Mint, already referred to, made 

 a fresh call for assay balances. We were about to resort to the last- 

 named maker, when Dr. Torrey, of the United States Assay Office 

 at New York, made a favorable mention of the manufactoiy of Becker 

 & Son, at Brooklyn, from his own experience of what they could do. 

 Any less authority would perhaps have been held in.sufficient, on the 

 narrow but venerable principle of questioning whether "any good 

 thing can come out of Nazareth." The order was consequently 

 given by Gov. Pollock, Director of the Mint; and in a very short 

 time two balances, with sets of weights, were made and delivered at 

 the Mint. 



It is not at all the purpose of this notice to enter into a detailed 

 description of the parts and peculiarities of the different kinds of 

 assay-beams. There is nothing like an actual inspection of them, to 

 give a just idea of their merits; and persons who take a special 

 interest, can easily have the opportunity. Suffice it to say, that this 

 instrument compares favorably with any other, in respect to delicacy, 

 philosophic propriety, good taste, and fine finish. In respect to sim- 

 plicity and stability, two very important features, it may be said to 

 excel. 



There is one point of considerable account, in regard to this 

 beam, — that its cost is about one-third of the London make, namely, 



