Agricola, Georgius
,
De re metallica
,
1912/1950
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and it is nearly as long as the furnace; only at the front end does it touch
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the mouth of the furnace, everywhere else on the sides and at the back
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there is a space of three digits, to allow the charcoal to lie in the open space
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between it and the furnace. </
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>The muffle is as thick as a fairly thick earthen
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jar; its upper part is entire; the back has two little windows, and each side
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has two or three or even four, through which the heat passes into the scorifiers
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and melts the ore. </
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>In place of little windows, some muffles have small holes,
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ten in the back and more on each side. </
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>Moreover, in the back below the
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little windows, or small holes, there are cut away three semi-circular notches
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half a digit high, and on each side there are four. </
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>The back of the muffle
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is generally a little lower than the front.</
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>A—BROAD LITTLE WINDOWS OF MUFFLE. B—NARROW ONES. C—OPENINGS IN THE
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BACK THEREOF.</
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>The crucibles differ in the materials from which they are made, because
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they are made of either clay or ashes; and those of clay, which we also call
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“earthen,” differ in shape and size. </
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>Some are made in the shape of a mod
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erately thick salver (scorifiers), three digits wide, and of a capacity of an
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uncía
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measure; in these the ore mixed with fluxes is melted, and they are used
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by those who assay gold or silver ore. </
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>Some are triangular and much
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thicker and more capacious, holding five, or six, or even more
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uncíae;
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in
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these copper is melted, so that it can be poured out, expanded, and tested
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with fire, and in these copper ore is usually melted.</
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<
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>The cupels are made of ashes; like the preceding scorifiers they are
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tray-shaped, and their lower part is very thick but their capacity is less.
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>In these lead is separated from silver, and by them assays are concluded.
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<
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>Inasmuch as the assayers themselves make the cupels, something must
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be said about the material from which they are made, and the method
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of making them. </
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>Some make them out of all kinds of ordinary ashes; these
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are not good, because ashes of this kind contain a certain amount of fat,
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whereby such cupels are easily broken when they are hot. </
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<
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>Others make
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them likewise out of any kind of ashes which have been previously
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leached; of this kind are the ashes into which warm water has been infused
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for the purpose of making lye. </
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>These ashes, after being dried in the sun or
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a furnace, are sifted in a hair sieve; and although warm water washes away the </
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