1which the nozzle of the bellows is placed, and by a
downward movement
dislodges the ore and the sows from around it.
dislodges the ore and the sows from around it.
After a quarter of an hour, when the lead which the assistant has placed
in the forehearth is melted, the master opens the tap-hole of the furnace
with a tapping-bar. This bar is made of iron, is three and a half feet long,
the forward end pointed and a little curved, and the back end hollow so that
into it may be inserted a wooden handle, which is three feet long and thick
enough to be well grasped by the hand. The slag first flows from the furnace
into the forehearth, and in it are stones mixed with metal or with the metal
adhering to them partly altered, the slag also containing earth and solidified
juices. After this the material from the melted pyrites flows out, and then the
molten lead contained in the forehearth absorbs the gold and silver. When
that which has run out has stood for some time in the forehearth, in order
to be able to separate one from the other, the master first either skims off
the slags with the hooked bar or else lifts them off with an iron fork; the
slags, as they are very light, float on the top. He next draws off the cakes of
melted pyrites, which as they are of medium weight hold the middle place;
he leaves in the forehearth the alloy of gold or silver with the lead, for these
being the heaviest, sink to the bottom. As, however, there is a difference
in the forehearth is melted, the master opens the tap-hole of the furnace
with a tapping-bar. This bar is made of iron, is three and a half feet long,
the forward end pointed and a little curved, and the back end hollow so that
into it may be inserted a wooden handle, which is three feet long and thick
enough to be well grasped by the hand. The slag first flows from the furnace
into the forehearth, and in it are stones mixed with metal or with the metal
adhering to them partly altered, the slag also containing earth and solidified
juices. After this the material from the melted pyrites flows out, and then the
molten lead contained in the forehearth absorbs the gold and silver. When
that which has run out has stood for some time in the forehearth, in order
to be able to separate one from the other, the master first either skims off
the slags with the hooked bar or else lifts them off with an iron fork; the
slags, as they are very light, float on the top. He next draws off the cakes of
melted pyrites, which as they are of medium weight hold the middle place;
he leaves in the forehearth the alloy of gold or silver with the lead, for these
being the heaviest, sink to the bottom. As, however, there is a difference
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