18G5.] PERLEY — GOLD MINING IN NOVA SCOTIA. 211 



consisting of a head, shoe, and rod, each stamp weighing from 

 350 to 700 pounds. The shoes are made of hard grey iron to with- 

 stand the wear, and they are replaced in the bottom of the head 

 when worn out. The stamper-rods are firmly held by guides, and 

 carry projecting pins or collars. A cam shaft, carrying as many 

 cams as there are stamps, is worked by any motive power, and 

 in its revolutions the cams are brought into contact with the pins 

 or collars, and the stamps lifted and dropped in rotation. The 

 difference between the square and revolving stamps is, that the 

 heads of the square stamps are square, and their united areas are 

 almost equal to the inside area of the stamp-box, and they merely 

 rise and fall without any other motion. The revolving stamps 

 have round heads and rods, and by the action of the cam on the 

 collar as the stamps are lifted, a circular motion is given, which, 

 continuing through the fall, is supposed to be more effective in 

 crushing the quartz to a fine state, than the simple lift and fall 

 of the square stamp. 



The quartz is fed into the rear of the box in small quantities 

 at a time, and it is there acted upon by the stamps. A constant 

 supply of water, generally hot, to assist the amalgamation, is led 

 into the boxes, and forms a paste with the crushed quartz. In 

 front of the boxes is an oblong opening, which is covered with a 

 wire-net, having from 160 to 200 holes to the square inch, and 

 through this the whole of the crushed quartz must pass. 



The Chilian mill, an improvement on the Spanish arastra, 

 still in use in South America, consists of a bed about six feet in 

 diameter, which may be either of cast iron or of some hard solid 

 stone, surrounded by a sloping rim of stout sheet iron. On this 

 bed, two edge- wheels revolve, and, as the quartz is fed under them, 

 it is crushed and mixed with the water supplied into a thin paste. 

 A constant supply of water is kept up, and the overflow carries 

 away the siliceous particles which are held in suspension. Several 

 of Howell's rotary crushers have been tried, but the whole have 

 proved failures, and are laid aside. 



The extraction of the gold from the paste is effected by means 

 of quicksilver, and is termed amalgamation. There are many 

 different appliances for producing this result in operation in the 

 Province. A description of all the modes would occupy too much 

 time; and it may therefore suffice to say, that in the Chilian mill 

 the quicksilver is placed in the pan, and is brought into contact 

 with the gold as it is separated from the quartz by the act of 



