Agricola, Georgius, De re metallica, 1912/1950

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              <s>
                <pb pagenum="248"/>
              which was not very rapid, and was more accurate for testing a large mass
                <lb/>
              than a small one. </s>
              <s>This I will explain in my commentaries. </s>
              <s>The
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              alchemists have shown us a way of separating silver from gold by which
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              neither of them is lost
                <emph type="sup"/>
              32
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              .</s>
            </p>
            <p type="main">
              <s>Gold which contains silver,
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              33
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              or silver which contains gold, is first rubbed
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              on the touchstone. </s>
              <s>Then a needle in which there is a similar amount of
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              gold or silver is rubbed on the same touchstone, and from the lines which are
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              produced in this way, is perceived what portion of silver there is in the gold,
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              or what portion of gold there is in the silver. </s>
              <s>Next there is added to the
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              silver which is in the gold, enough silver to make it three times as much as the
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              gold. </s>
              <s>Then lead is placed in a cupel and melted; a little later, a small
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              amount of copper is put in it, in fact, half an
                <emph type="italics"/>
              uncía
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              of it, or half an
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              uncia
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              and
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              a
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              sícílícus
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              (of the smaller weights) if the gold or silver does not contain any
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              copper. </s>
              <s>The cupel, when the lead and copper are wanting, attracts the particles
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              of gold and silver, and absorbs them. </s>
              <s>Finally, one-third of a
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              líbra
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              of the gold,
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              and one
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              libra
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                <emph type="sup"/>
              34
                <emph.end type="sup"/>
              of the silver must be placed together in the same cupel and
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              melted; for if the gold and silver were first placed in the cupel and melted, as I
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              have already said, it absorbs particles of them, and the gold, when separated
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              from the silver, will not be found pure. </s>
              <s>These metals are heated until the
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              lead and the copper are consumed, and again, the same weight of each is melted
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              in the same manner in another cupel. </s>
              <s>The buttons are pounded with a
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              hammer and flattened out, and each little leaf is shaped in the form of a
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              tube, and each is put into a small glass ampulla. </s>
              <s>Over these there is poured
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              one
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              uncia
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              and one
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              drachma
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              (of the large weight) of the third quality
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              aqua
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              valens,
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              which I will describe in the Tenth Book. </s>
              <s>This is heated over a slow
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              fire, and small bubbles, resembling pearls in shape, will be seen to adhere
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              to the tubes. </s>
              <s>The redder the
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              aqua
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              appears, the better it is judged to be;
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              when the redness has vanished, small white bubbles are seen to be resting
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              on the tubes, resembling pearls not only in shape, but also in colour. </s>
              <s>After
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              a short time the
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              aqua
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              is poured off and other is poured on; when this has
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              again raised six or eight small white bubbles, it is poured off and the tubes are
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              taken out and washed four or five times with spring water; or if they are
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              heated with the same water, when it is boiling, they will shine more brilliantly.
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              </s>
              <s>Then they are placed in a saucer, which is held in the hand and gradually
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              dried by the gentle heat of the fire; afterward the saucer is placed over glowing
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              charcoal and covered with a charcoal, and a moderate blast is blown upon it
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                <lb/>
              </s>
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          </chap>
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