GLOSSARY. 163 



ORE The mineral matter containing metal. 

 ORTHOCLASE A certain kind of felspar of various colours. 

 OUTCROP The parts of the lode or bed exposed at the surface. 

 OXIDATION Conversion of metals into oxides. 

 OXIDE The combination of a metal with oxygen. 

 OXIDIZING Combining with oxygen. 



P. 



PACOS (South America) Mixture of ores of silver with oxides of iron, 



&c. Usually reddish in colour. 



PAINT GOLD Gold coating quartz pebbles in cement. 

 PALMA (Spain) Quarter of a vara or Spanish yard. 

 PAN To separate gold from other matter by washing it in a basin, is 



called " panning out." (See GOLD, Chap. V.) 

 PANNIO The strata through which a lode passes. 

 PARTING Separating the silver from the gold in the button derived 



by cupellation. The silver is dissolved by nitric acid, the gold 



remaining as powder. 



PAY DIRT Payable portion of alluvial deposits. 

 PEACH STONE (Cornwall) A soft greenish rock found in certain lodes. 



A peachy lode is often a very good one for tin. 

 PEPITA (Spain) A gold grain. 

 PERMIAN (See Index.) 



PEROXIDE The oxide which contains greatest amount of oxygen. 

 PETERING The pinching out of a vein. 

 PlCUL (China) A weight of 133^ Ibs. 



PILE (Australia) To " make a pile " is to make a lot of money. 

 PIPING Washing gold deposits by means of a hose. 

 PITCH (Cornwall) The part of a lode let out to be worked on tribute. 

 PLACER An auriferous alluvial deposit. 

 PLASTIC That can be moulded into different forms. 

 PLATA (Spain) Silver. 

 PLATE Black shale ; a slaty rock. 

 PLATEAU Flat table land. 

 PLUMBAGO Graphite or black lead. 

 PLUTONIC (See Index.) 



POCKET A single deposit of mineral, not a vein, 

 POLVILLOS (Spain) Good ores. 

 (Mexico) Tailings. 



PORPHYRITIC Of the nature of porphyry. 

 POST Limestone strata divided horizontally with very thin beds of 



shale. 

 PRAIRIE Name given, in some parts of N. America, to an extensive 



treeless plain. 

 PRECIPITATE Name given to solid matter which is separated from a 



solution by the addition of reagents or by exposure to heat. 

 PREDRAS DE MANO (Spain) Good ore specimens. 

 PROSPECTOR One who searches for metals or valuable mineral*. 



