BOOK X. 



489 



dipped into the water ; this operation of beating and cleansing is repeated 

 until it is all clean. Afterward he places it on an iron grate or tripod ; the 

 tripod is a palm and two digits high, one and a half digits wide, and its span 

 is two palms wide ; then he puts burning charcoal \mder the tripod or grate, 

 in order again to dry the silver that was moistened by the water. Finally, 

 the Royal Inspector*^ in the employment of the King or Prince, or the owner, 

 lays the silver on a block of wood, and with an engraver's chisel he cuts out two 



A — Muffle. B — Its little windows. C — Its little bridge. D — Bricks. E — Iron 

 DOOR. F — Its little window. G — Bellows. H — Hammer-chisel. I — Iron ring 

 which some use instead of the test. K — Pestle with which the ashes placed in 



the ring are pounded. 



small pieces, one from the under and the other from the upper side. These 

 are tested by fire, in order to ascertain whether the silver is thoroughly refined 

 or not, and at what price it should be sold to the merchants. Finally he 

 impresses upon it the seal of the King or the Prince or the owner, and, near 

 the same, the amount of the weight. 



There are some who refine silver in tests placed under iron or earthen- 

 ware muffles. They use a furnace, on the hearth of which they place the test 

 containing the fragments of silver, and they place the muffle over it ; the 



^^Praefectus Regis. 



