At 1720 to 1725 a close student of his work of hand may discern some signs of what was to follow, it might be said naturally. In the first place the purfling gradually assumes a heavier aspect, it is a trifle bolder or thicker in substance, although sent round the borders of the instrument with apparently the same masterly handling and iron nervousness of the preceding years. The edging is also a degree stouter. Occasionally the corners are made to a more obtuse angle, adding to the whole design a more stolid look, as if mere elegance was about to be thrown aside and more simplicity and grandeur were being sought for. This was not continued, the master seemed afraid of going too far towards heaviness, he therefore cautiously withdrew to his own old lines. Sometimes--possibly taking up and constructing upon some of his old and early moulds--the corners are brought out more prominently, but with more substance than in his early days; the result is delightful for the connoisseur's eye. Accompanying these minute modifications there will be noticed an increase slight and gradual in the expression of heaviness in the sound holes. If possible there is more freedom from mere symmetrical proportion, they are placed less accurately level, one being a trifle higher than the other, this by the bye was common with him at all times, although usually with a subtlety that left them unnoticed by an ordinary observer. This slight irregularity has been sometimes misinterpreted as one of the little secrets of the master whereby he obtained his excellent sonority; "discovered" was the exclamation, and a new rule laid down on Stradivari's lines--never place your sound holes on the same level, always one a trifle higher and you will get what the master was so famous for. The result, so far, has been a disappointment which laid bare some evidence that these over zealous enthusiasts were not sufficiently acquainted with the canons of Italian art. There was another peculiarity creeping on with regard to these sound holes--that of an enlargement of the curve opposing the lower wing, at first it gave a more staid aspect to the part, there was less sprightliness and youth about it, nevertheless it was fine at times, even magnificent, there being still the same determination of purpose, that of combining maturity of elegance with strength. Afterwards, the change--and if all the works of these later years could be seen, saved from the destructive ravages of time and wear, it would be pronounced scarcely perceptible in its progressive degrees--came creeping on, old age gradually insinuating itself in the mechanical part of the design.