ANCIENT DESEMERS OR STEELYARDS. 



557 



the object were simply to ascertain whether a mass was up to a standard 



weight or not, the apparatus could l)e made handier l)y simply thick- 

 ening the free end of the stick, as shown 



by an example (tig. 12) from Bhutan. This 



instrument onh' shows whether a thing does 



or does not weigh as much as a pound (500 



grams). A balance from Assam (tig. 13) 



is made in the same way. Although it is 



made of nothing but a cocoanut shell, a 



stick, and three strings, it is not without a 



certain elegance. Such simple apparatus 



could be adapted even to the weighing of 



gold and silver, as a balance (fig. 14) from 



the Himalaj-as shows. It will weigh grams 



(93 grains) and 3 grams (46 grains). In spite 



of the unsuita})le shape of the stafi', we here 



tirst find two ditferent Aveights marked. The 



use of such a balance would be sure to sug- 

 gest the making of an instrument for dis- 

 criminating a greater range of weights. To 



do that, however, the conical shape of the 



staff would have to be abandoned because of 



the tendency of the suspensory thread to 



slip upon it. Yet it would not do to give 



up the counterpoising effect of the thickened 



staff, so that a knol) at the end of a cylin- 

 drical stick would force itself upon the 

 maker, as in the balance of tig. 17, which 

 comes from Thibet and is said to be a fish 

 scales. By means of the notches cut upon 

 it to mark places for the suspensory thread 

 it will weigh li^ ounces (37i grams), 2| 

 ounces (75 grams), 12^ ounces (;'550 grams), 

 I7f ounces (500 grams), 23 ounces (050 

 grams). 



This is a practical instrument, for the 

 principle of the form and dimensions of a 

 good desemer is followed; but the hignest 

 weight that can be ascertained is small. 

 This fault, however, could easily be rectified 

 by loading the knob with lead, iron, sand, 

 or something, as our (lerman desemer (tig. 

 16) shows. This will weigh up to 30 pounds, 

 first at intervals of 1 pound and for higher 



weights of 2 and 3 pounds. Simple bras pegs, as everybody knows, 



running to the end of the staff, shov, the weights with tolerable 



Fig. 12.— Royal Ethnological Mu- 

 seum of Berlin. One-.sixth natu- 

 ral size. 



Fig. 13. 



-Royal Ethnological Mu- 

 seum of Berlin. 



