the neatness, or, wanting that, the original style of the purfling--the exquisite mottling of the back, which is wrought, he tells you, 'by the cunning hand of nature in the primal growth of the tree'--_twang_. Then he will break out in placid exclamations of delight upon the gracefulness of the swell--_twang_--and the noble rise in the centre--_twang_--and make you pass your hand over it to convince yourself; after which, he carefully wipes it down with a silk handkerchief. This process superinduces another favourite theme of eulogium--namely, the unparalleled hue and tone (of colour) imparted by the old Italian varnish--a hue, he is sure to inform you, which it is impossible to imitate by any modern nostrums--_twang_. Then he reverts to the subject of a Fiddle's indispensables and fittings; discourses learnedly on the carving of scrolls, and the absurd substitution, by some of the German makers, of lions' heads in lieu of them; hinting, by the way, that said makers are asses, and that their instruments bray when they should speak--_twang_. Then touching briefly on the pegs, which he prefers unornamented, he will hang lingeringly upon the neck, pronounce authoritatively upon the right degree of elevation of the finger-board, and the effects of its due adjustment upon the vibration of the whole body-harmonic, and, consequently, upon the tone. Then, jumping over the bridge, he will animadvert on the tail-piece; after which, entering at the _f_-holes--not without a fervent encomium upon their graceful drawing and neatness of cut--_twang_--he will introduce you to the _arcanum mysterii_, the interior of the marvellous fabric--point out to you, as plainly as though you were gifted with clairvoyance, the position and adaptation of the various linings, the bearings of the bass-bar, that essential adjunct to quality of tone--_twang_--and the proper position of the sound-post. Lastly, he will show you, by means of a small hand-mirror throwing a gleam of light into its entrails, the identical autograph of the immortal maker--Albani, Guarneri, or Amati, as the case may happen--with the date printed in the lean old type and now scarcely visible through the dust of a couple of centuries, '_Amati_ Cremonae fecit 1645,' followed by a manuscript signature in faded ink, which you must take for granted. "Borax has but one price; and if you do not choose to pay it, you must do without the article. The old fellow is a true believer, and is accounted the first judge in Europe; Fiddles travel to him from all parts of the Continent for his opinion, bringing their fees with them; and for every instrument he sells, it is likely he pronounces judgment upon a hundred. It is rumoured that the greatest masterpieces in being are in his possession.