Antiquities, 371 



The quality of the metal lately brought to market has been 

 found, we underlland, much iuferior to vvhat it ought to be : 

 this may be accounted for in the following way: — Grain tin 

 particularly has been greatly in demand; in ordfr to get more 

 of the metal under this form the fmeliers have of late applied 

 ores to produce it from, which are generally underftood not 

 to be fufficiently free from other meials for this purpofe, and 

 thus the grain tin, though increafed in quantity, has been lefs 

 pure : at the fame time the common tin, being robbed of the 

 better part of the ores from which that has generally been 

 fmelted, has fuftered a like degradation in quality. It is to 

 be hoped that the fmelters will fee very foon their true intereft 

 in this refpeft, and that the rifk of injuring the trade may 

 no longer be continued for the profpeft of temporary gain. 



The quantity of copper produced has not much flu6luated 

 of late, though on the whole it xnay be expelled, unlefs un- 

 looked-for difcoveries be made, to leflen ; as leveral large 

 mines have already flopped, the produce not being fufficient 

 to counterbalance the enormous outgoings their great depth 

 occafioned. Some other mines that have for many years, 

 and even of late, produced almoll as much as any in this 

 part of the world, are expefted foon to be abandoned, partly 

 for the reafon above ftated, and partly becaufe they have 

 failed in quantity of ore in the lode or vein. On the other 

 hand, fonie mines have bettered in their profpefts : Dolevath, 

 after having been brought into work at an enormous expenfe, 

 has afforded a courfe of copper of great magnitude, and 

 though the ore is not rich m proportion of metal, yet its 

 quantity is large enough to make this difcovery highly valua- 

 ble. Wheal Towan, in St. Agnes, continues its produftivc 

 ftate; and Wheal Crowndale, near Taviilock in Devon, is 

 yielding a great deal of copper ore from a fmall depth under 

 the fiirface. 



Like tin, it has been found that copper is of late inferior 

 in purity to what it was formerly, at leaft it is afl'erted that 

 the flieathing of (liips would a few years fince remain in ufe 

 a much longer time than any that can now be got will do. 

 This probably arifcs in both metals from the fame caufe, 

 from the greatnefs of the demand, which tempts the fmeltcr 

 to let improper alloys remain in a certain degree in his me- 

 tal ; but it well becomes them to refleft, whether this may 

 not fooner than they expett be the means of dellroying the 

 demand all together, by driving the confunicrs to fnnie lubdi- 

 tuie which may anfwer their purpofe better. F. I\ M. S. 



ANTiaUITIES. 



M. Grotefend has publiflied an addition to his explanation 

 lib .4 of 



