In the good patronage which soon came to him, was contained the assurance that his estimate, although formed so early, was perfectly correct; thenceforward he saw no reason for alteration in the type of acoustical quality that distinguishes all of his instruments, and that which he had once for all fixed upon. Briefly the acoustical quality of his instruments may be described as a further development of the tone brought to such a high degree of excellence by the great Amati; an increase in the volume and energy, with more equality of scale, while retaining all the other qualities that had caused players and listeners alike to be delighted, and which had given such renown to the great family of liutaros in Cremona. CHAPTER III. THE DATE OF THE TRUE STRADIVARIAN INDIVIDUALITY--ALTERATIONS IN DESIGN--PROPORTIONS SETTLED FOR GOOD--THE EXCEPTIONS--THE "LONG STRAD"--THE "INLAID STRADS"--AN ACKNOWLEDGED MASTER OF HIS ART--BLACK EDGING--THE ARCHING AND CHANNELLING--THE BRESCIANS, THE AMATIS AND STRADIVARI. We now resume our consideration of the progressive development of the Stradivarian design as exhibited in the instruments of 1680 to 1690 or a little later. At the earliest of these dates the complete independency or self consciousness of power, as a master liutaro, is already perceptible. There is no possibility of these violins having been made on the moulds used during his bachelorship. People sometimes speak of these instruments as being "Amatisé," which is great nonsense; had Stradivari died somewhere between 1680 and 1690, they would have been rapturous in their admiration of his originality and widely separated ideas from those of the Amati, but as he lived many years on and gave forth many more manifestations of his own individuality, the likeness of these 1680 and 1690 to old Nicolas is eagerly searched for and often supposed to be evident. It was at this time that Stradivari probably made more new moulds or blocks on which to construct, than at any other. With some few exceptions those that were now being made could be used for any of his violins during the remainder of his career. The average proportions remain the same, the differences are minute in measurement, notwithstanding their effectiveness in helping to a different expression in the designs. The exceptions referred to and made between the above dates are of a diverse kind. There is the well-known "long Strad," of which one author has said that it "has received the title," "not from increased length, but from the appearance of additional length which its narrowness gives it, and which is particularly observable between the sound holes." The actual measurements of this pattern are, length 14-3/16 inches by greatest width 8 inches bare as contrasted with the ordinary 14 by 8-1/8; it will therefore be evident at once that there is a positive increase in length, and a decrease in width. These violins