pontial

Updated: May 1, 2025

At noon, as soon as the clock struck, they used to awake. You must know that their clock-bell, church-bells, and refectory-bells were all made according to the pontial device, that is, quilted with the finest down, and their clappers of fox-tails.

François Rabelais - Gargantua and Pantagruel, Illustrated, Book 5