The construction of these cases is most ingenious, both as regards convenience and economy of space. If they were designed by the architect who built the room, he must have been a man of no ordinary originality. Each piece of furniture consists of a desk to lay the books on when wanted for use, a shelf for those not immediately required, and a seat for the reader, whose comfort is considered by a gentle slope in the back (fig. 93). At the end next the central alley is a panel containing the heraldic devices of the Malatesta family. The principal dimensions of each case are as follows: Length 10 ft. 2 1/2 in. Height 4 ft. 2 1/4 in. Width of seat 3 ft. 1 in. Width of foot-rest 11 in. Height 3 1/2 in. Height of seat from ground 1 ft. 10 1/2 in. Width 1 ft. 4 in. Distance from desk to desk 4 ft. 1 in. Angle of slope of desk 45 deg. The books are still attached to the desks by chains. The bar which carries them is in full view just under the ledge of the desk (fig. 94), inserted into massive iron stanchions nailed to the underside of the desk. There are four of these: one at each end of the desk, and one on each side of the central standard. The bar is locked by means of a hasp attached to the standard in which the lock is sunk. The chains are of a novel form (fig. 95). Each link, about 2 1/4 in. long, consists of a solid central portion, which looks as though it were cast round a bent wire, the ends of which project beyond the solid part. The chain is attached to the book by an iron hook screwed into the lower edge of the right-hand board near the back. [Illustration: Fig. 95. Piece of a chain, Cesena.] [Illustration: Fig. 96. Chained book at Ghent.]