were finally riveted together, either by the mechanical process of a small rivet being inserted with strong pliers, or by an ordinary rivet and riveting hammer (Fig. 509). Both these tools figure in use in a late XVth century drawing of a chain mail maker that can be seen in the Town Library of Nuremberg (Fig. 510). As to the form of the rivet used in connecting the links, it has been suggested that its shape establishes the nationality of the mail; for instance, rivets of triangular section are said to appear on European mail, and circular upon that of Eastern origin; but experts are not agreed upon the point. But in all cases, it was the endeavour to make the inner side of the mail present as smooth a surface as possible, and to take away any asperity from the apex of the rivet. The linking of the rings together was entirely a matter of practice, and might be likened to the tatting of a fishing net; but it will generally be found that a series of four rings are fitted through a centre one. A very great many variations in the arrangement of the rings prevailed, according to the required thickness of the mail. This is but the roughest description of chain mail making; there were many ways of forming the rings: some were stamped out, whilst others had their ends not riveted, but forced or butted together as in the case of the heavy fragment shown in our illustration (Fig. 514).
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Fig. 510. Chain mail maker
From the Mendel and Landauer Zwölfbrüderstiftung MS. in the Town Library, Nuremberg
Of the examples of chain mail on our list the next in point of age are those two coifs of mail which are to be found respectively in the Musée d'Artillerie and in the collection of Mr. Henry G. Keasby. The Musée d'Artillerie example, H 5, is said to have been found in a tomb at Epernay (Côte d'or), and that in the Keasby Collection (Fig. 511) has a similar provenance; both are of the same shape, roughly speaking that of a short cylinder with dependent ear flaps. Although apparently they are genuine riveted mail caps, the date that has been assigned to them—the XIIIth-XIVth century—has been a subject of considerable controversy. We should add that there is a very similar coif with rings of the same proportions in the Porte de Hal, Brussels, which is assigned to the XIIIth century (Fig. 512). For our next information we may now turn to the examination of certain fragments of XIIIth-XIVth century mail that have come under
