VII. THE PURFLING.
The purfling is always placed 4 m/m. from the edge and is 1¹⁄₂ m/m. wide. It consists of three parts, the two outermost of which are prepared from maple and stained black, while the middle part is made of the same kind of wood, but unstained. It is of the utmost importance that the purfling should only be inserted to the depth of one-third of the thickness of the edges, otherwise the edge will very easily break off. In the work of Stradivarius, one finds continually on the back, both above and below, a peg of maple-wood, by means of which he fastened the back to the block, and the half of this peg is inserted in the purfling. In violins having a divided back, one finds another purfling on the bottom block, along the joint of the ribs, but with backs made in one piece it scarcely ever occurs, because then the under ribs, as far as the middle rib, are prepared in one piece. The purfling is not to be regarded as an embellishment, as many suppose it is. It considerably strengthens the back and the belly towards the edges, and at the same time offers a protection, especially for the belly, against cracks, if the instrument, for example, should be opened for repairs by an inexperienced workman. I will even go so far as to assert that if the purfling were not employed, old violins could not exist without numberless cracks, for any violent blow would cause cracks, without the additional strength given by the purfling, and the greater number of old and costly violins would come down to us spoilt, or at least damaged.
The purfling also has this advantage that if perchance the edges get broken off, they can easily be replaced and the good appearance of the instrument restored without much trouble.