22 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XVII, 
easy for the mint master to secure a handsome profit by a 
slight reduction in the proportion of silver. 
Consequently we have to bear in mind that the ideal pro- 
portion and weight do not necessarily coincide with the real. 
“ As regards the question of homogeneity of silver-copper 
‘alloys when cast into bars, there is no doubt whatever. 
en ; when casting bars of standard 
“silver it is always found that the tops and the bottoms have | 
“ different finenesses and an appreciable remedy for fineness of 
