an Italian term signifying bran, was employed to denote that celebrated academy called Della Crusca, established at Florence for purifying and perfecting the Tuscan language. The academy took its name from its office, and the end proposed by it, which is to refine the language, and as it were to separate the chaff from the wheat. Accordingly, its device is a sieve; and its motto "Più bel flor ne coglie," it gathers the finest flour.

In the hall or apartment where the academy met, every thing bore an allusion to the name and device; the seats were in form of a baker's basket; their backs were like a shovel for moving corn; the cushions were of gray satin, in the form of sacks or wallets; and the branches where the lights were placed resembled sacks. The vocabulary Della Crusca is an Italian dictionary, composed by this academy.