o> ) 2 Y. EOGA & O. YAMAGATA. 



melted together. But this agreement, it is needless to remark, does 

 not sufficiently prove the correctness of the individual assays. The 

 remark however applies equally well to any other method. We refer 

 to this, because the said agreement has been put forward as an argu- 

 ment in favour of this method. 



Method d. This method, due to M. Stas of Belgiern and in use 

 in the mints at Brussels and at Paris, consists in punching out small 

 pieces from certain portions of a coin by the single action of a special 

 much inc. These pieces put together make up an assay. The number, 

 positions and forms of the punching* differ in different denominations 

 of coins and have been determined by experiment and calculation. 



In the case of the 5 Franc Silver coin, similar in size to the Silver 

 Yen, they are as represented in Figure 7. 



Fig. 



/ . 



The punching* taken from inner parts are distinguished by a 

 square form. 



This method as applied to the Silver Yen coin appears to give re- 

 markably exact results. We discovered however that the cutters 

 beipg necessari y of a slender form frequently meet with serious ac- 

 cidents, so that after trying the machine for a considerable time, we 

 were obliged to give it up and substitute for it another and simpler 

 form described in the next paragraph. 



