the ancient way of trying mixed and corrupt money, by melting it down, upon payments into the exchequer. In the time of King Henry II, a constitution was made, called the trial by combustion; the practice of which differed little or nothing from the present method of assaying silver. But whether this examination of money by combustion was to reduce an equation of money only to sterling, viz., a due proportion of alloy with copper, or to reduce it to pure fine silver, does not appear. On making the constitution of trial it was considered, that though the money did answer numero et pondera, it might be deficient in value; because mixed with copper or brass, &c.