increase the strength of the defence between the rows, the lower edge of each strip, being made broader than the upper, was doubled back before being sewn down over the upper edge of the strip next below. By this means six thicknesses of leather were obtained as a defence between the rows of rings. The illustration (Fig. 88) shows Mr. Lewis's theory with three types of conventional chain mail rendering.
When the surfaces had become pressed and discoloured by usage so that the impressions of the rings stood out, a perfect resemblance to the usual portrayal of chain mail in the XIIth and XIIIth centuries would be produced. The late Mr. W. Burgess only made this objection to the theory of Mr. Lewis, that an unnecessary amount of sewing seems involved in attaching together the various strips, a method of construction, too, which was not calculated to allow of much wear and tear during a campaign. To him, therefore, it hardly appeared necessary to make the garment in strips, inasmuch as it was perfectly possible to make the exterior and interior coverings of two continuous pieces of leather, gathering them up, with or without cords, at the intervals between the rows, as suggested in sectional drawing (Fig. 89).
The last quarter of the XIIth century shows us certain advances in the form of the conical head-piece. In the illustration already referred to (page 70, Fig. 87) the hindermost soldier wears a low conical helmet from which depends a broad nasal-guard which is surrounded by a line of ornamentation. The next soldier displays only the mail coif. The third soldier bears a basin-like head-piece, to which is attached no nasal-guard, but a deep enriched border and a curious little beaded ornament at the top; whilst the fourth and foremost soldier is furnished with an almost cylindrical helmet provided with a very wide nasal-guard, and having its crown-piece enriched with what might be a band of jewelling.
Throughout the XIIth century the nasal-guard was certainly the feature of the helmet; although curiously enough it fails to appear on the seal of Henry I or on the first seal of Stephen. The seal of Henry I (Fig. 90, a, b) shows a well-modelled conical head-piece. The seal of Stephen (Fig. 91, a, b) shows a head-piece that very closely resembles that worn by the soldiers in the illumination (page 67, Fig. 83). In both the Stephen seal and the illumination it will be seen that the apex of the helmet is not immediately in the centre of the skull-piece, but in a more forward position, as in the style of the Phrygian cap. This position of the apex we find reversed in the bascinet helmet of the end of the XIVth century, for there it appears towards
