. De re metallica. Metallurgy; Mineral industries. BOOK VIII. 269 melted out, and further, the solidified juices also impede the smelting of the metals and cause loss. The rock which lies contiguous to rich ore should also be broken into small pieces, crushed, and washed, lest any of the mineral should be lost. When, either through ignorance or carelessness, the miners while excavating have mixed the ore with earth or broken rock, the work of sorting the crude metal or the best ore is done not only by men, but also by boys and women. They throw the mixed material upon a long table, beside whic
. De re metallica. Metallurgy; Mineral industries. BOOK VIII. 269 melted out, and further, the solidified juices also impede the smelting of the metals and cause loss. The rock which lies contiguous to rich ore should also be broken into small pieces, crushed, and washed, lest any of the mineral should be lost. When, either through ignorance or carelessness, the miners while excavating have mixed the ore with earth or broken rock, the work of sorting the crude metal or the best ore is done not only by men, but also by boys and women. They throw the mixed material upon a long table, beside which they sit for almost the whole day, and they sort out the ore ; when it has been sorted out, they collect it in trays, and when collected they throw it into tubs, which are carried to the works in which the ores are smelted. The metal which is dug out in a pure or crude state, to which class belong native silver, silver glance, and gray silver, is placed on a stone by the mine foreman and flattened out by pounding with heavy square hammers. These masses, when they have been thus flattened out like plates, are placed either on the stump of a tree, and cut into pieces by pounding an iron chisel into them with a hammer, or else they are cut with an iron tool similar to a pair of shears. One blade of these shears is three feet long, and is firmly fixed in a stump, and the other blade which cuts the metal is six feet A—Masses of metal. -Hammer. C—Chisel. D—Tree stumps. E—Iron tool similar to a pair of Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Agricola, Georg, 1494-1555; Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964. New York, Dover Publications
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