Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Incerniculum

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rich, Anthony (1849). The illustrated companion to the Latin dictionary, and Greek lexicon. p. vi. OCLC 894670115. https://archive.org/details/illustratedcompa00rich. 

INCERNIC'ULUM (τηλία). Usually translated a sieve; but Lucilius (Sat. xxvi. 70.) and Cato (R. R. 13. 1.) both make a distinction between the two words cribrum and incerniculum, though neither of them gives any details by which we might ascertain in what the difference consisted. A passage of Pliny (H. N. viii. 69.) compared with Aristotle (H. N. vi. 24.), suggests a more fitting interpretation, and leads to the conclusion that the incerniculum was not a sieve at all, but a large tray, chest, or perhaps basket, in which the corn dealers brought their samples of corn to market, after it had been sifted and cleared from the chaff.