her fingers, nor any belt or girdle of more than 13 links of silver," and so on with many more restrictions.
But the men of law were no match for the astute women of Florence, and the novelist Sacchetti tells the story of a certain Messer Amerigo, whose trials were typical of those of his colleagues. Having been entrusted with the enforcement of certain sumptuary laws he found himself outwitted by the women at every turn, until at length he spoke to the Priors:
And@he prepares to write down ker name. But' the woman answers: "Do not write me down, for this is not ermine, it is the fur of a suckling." Saith the notary! "What is the fur of a suckling?" And the woman replies: "It an animal." We do but knock our heads against a wall; we shall do better if we leave these matters for those which are of greater moment. Whosoever will may take this trouble upon himself.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.