SOME DERBYSHIRE FONTS. 



145 



office of the Western Church ordained that when the infant 

 was baptized by affusion, the surplus water was not to be allowed 

 to return into the font or compartment of the font wherein was 

 the consecrated water, but that a vessel was to be provided to 

 receive the water running off the head of the recipient. This 



Fig. 3. — Salamander from the South side. 



is the explanation of the bequests of silver basins for the fonts 

 that are occasionally met with in English mediaeval wills. 

 The general modern Roman use is to have the font divided 

 into two parts for this purpose, each with its own drain running 

 into the earth. In cases where this is not provided, it is usual 

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