358 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL. IV. 



According to the late Dr. Percy, the first mention of mercury in the 

 metallurgy of silver is made in a treatise by one Biringuccio, an Italian, 

 and published in i 540. The process is performed in a stone or timber 

 basin in which a millstone revolves ; the matter to be treated is ground 

 in a mortar, washed and dried, then put into the hollow of above-men- 

 tioned basin and ground with the millstone, while being moistened with 

 vinegar or water in which is dissolved corrosive sublimate, verdigris and 

 common salt, the whole being covered with mercury. The millstone is 

 then caused to revolve, stirring the material for two or three hours by 

 hand or horse-power, according to plan adopted. When amalgamation 

 is supposed to be completed the amalgam is separated by a sieve or 

 washing, or passing it through a bag and then retorting or distilling, the 

 gold, silver or copper is obtained. Dr. Percy also states that he 

 (Biringuccio), in a prior description, mentions the use of vitriol and the 

 bag as being made of deerskin leather. This is undoubtedly the result 

 of a long development of the primal process in which merely the mercury 

 was employed, and the earliest treatise extant on the amalgamation pro- 

 cess in which "chemicals" (to use an expression common in some branches 

 of the amalgamation process) are mentioned as being used in combi- 

 nation with mercury, thus marking the transition from a mere empirical 

 operation to a scientific process, the result of experimental science. This 

 process was restricted not solely to ores, but applicable to recovering 

 gold or silver from the sweepings of mints, goldbeaters and goldsmiths. 

 Schliiter mentions in his work, published in 1738, that the amalgamation 

 process was used in treating the silver ores of Kongsberg, in Norway, as 

 also the "sweep" of mints and goldsmiths' workshops was treated for 

 recovery of metal by the amalgamation process in Germany when too far 

 removed from smelting works or owing to poverty of stuff Schliiter, 

 seemingly, does not state how long prior to the appearance of his work 

 the process had been in operation in Norway or Germany ; but it is 

 known — at least I find from a metallurgical work in my possession, 

 printed last century — that the process was very unpopular in Europe, 

 and, as I before stated, when Schliiter himself, and Wallerius, Cramer and 

 Gellert thought it not practical on a large scale, it is not strange that 

 Baron Inigo Born met with friction in his successful efforts last century 

 to introduce the amalgamation process into European countries. 



The Norwegian process, according to Schliiter, was conducted in mills 

 consisting of a shallow cylinder surmounted by a tub, of which the 

 cylinder is the bottom ; the tub is constructed of wood, its inside walls 

 being flush with inner surface of cylinder forming bottom, in the centre 

 of the bottom of pan is a pivot, over which fits a cast iron cross, with 

 arms almost touching side of pan, and being at right angles to one 



