Chap. 49.] BLACK LEAD. 215 



the white, this last will coi;rode the silver. It was in the 

 Gallic provinces that the method was discovered of coating 

 articles of copper Avith white lead, so as to be scarcely distin- 

 guishable from silver : articles thus plated are known as 

 " incoctilia."^ At a later period, the people of the town of 

 Alesia^ began to use a similar process for plating articles with 

 silver, more particularlj' ornaments for horses, beasts of burden, 

 and yokes of oxen : the merit, however, of this invention 

 belongs to the Bituriges.^ After this, they began to ornament 

 their esseda, colisata, and petorita'' in a similar- manner ; and 

 luxury has at last arrived at such a pitch, that not only are 

 their decorations made of silver, but of gold even, and what 

 was formerly a marvel to behold on a cup, is now subjected to 

 the wear and tear of a carriage, and this in obedience to 

 what they call fashion ! 



White lead is tested, by pouring it, melted,^ upon paper, 

 which ought to have the appearance of being torn rather by 

 the weight than by the heat of the metal. India has neither 

 copper nor lead,^ but she procures them in exchange for her 

 precious stones and pearls. 



CHAP. 49. BLACK LEAD. 



Black lead^° is used in the form of pipes and sheets : it is ex- 

 tracted with great labour in Spain, and throughout all the Gallic 

 provinces ; but in Britannia^"* it is found in the upper stratum of 

 the earth, in such abundance, that a law has been spontaneously 

 made, prohibiting any one from working more than a certain 

 quantity of it. The various kinds of black lead are known by 

 the following names — the Ovetanian," the Caprariensian,^- 



* Literally, " inboiled," being coated by immersion in the molten tin. 



^ Supposed by Hardouin to have been the town of Alise, in Auxois. 



^ See B. iv. c. 33. "^ The names of various kinds of carriages, 



the form of which is now unknown. 



^ Both tin and lead can be fused in paper, when it is closely wrapped 

 around them. 



3 In reality India did and does possess them both ; but it is possible 

 that in those days it was not considered worth while to search for them. 



10 The "lead" of the moderns, 



^^* Mr. T. Wright, the eminent antiquarian, is of opinion that the ex- 

 tensive Roman lead mines at Shelve, in Shropshire, are here alluded tu. 

 See the Illustrated London News, Oct. 4, 1856, 



11 Probably from Ovetum, the modern Oviedo. — B. 



12 So called from the island of Capraria. See B. iii. cc. 11, 12, and B. 

 Ti. c. 37. 



