an Italian term signifying bran, was employed to denote that celebrated academy called Della Crusca, established at Florence in 1582 for purifying and perfecting the Tuscan language. The academy took its name from the end for which it was instituted, namely to refine the language, and, as it were, to separate the chaff from the wheat. Accordingly, its device is a sieve; and its motto Il più bel fior ne coglie, it gathers the finest flour. In the hall of meeting, everything bore allusion to the name and device; the seats were in form of a baker's basket; their backs were like a shovel for 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, and considered as the touchstone of pure Italian.