46 RAMBLES AND REVERIES. 



Here the lumps are reduced to a fine grain, which 

 undergoes various washings. When purified from 

 all foreign matter, so far as washing can effect this, 

 the tin is smelted. By the kindness of Messrs. 

 Bolitho, we were enabled to watch the entire pro- 

 cess, which was fully explained to us by Mr. A. K. 

 Barnett, F.G.S., of the Penzance Smelting Works. 

 The crushed ore is first mixed with "culm," or 

 anthracite, and subjected to a heat that causes it 

 to glare like the sun and bubble like boiling water. 

 The white tin is then run off into pans, and is 

 refined by forcing green wood into the bath. The 

 ebullition which ensues produces a frothy dross that 

 has to be removed. Then the tin, still molten, is 

 poured into vessels of various sizes, in which it 

 remains till it becomes solid. When this final 

 stage of the operations was reached, we had the 

 satisfaction of each receiving a small medal of the 

 refined tin, stamped with Messrs. Bolitho's trade 

 mark, a pleasing memento of our visit. 



Tin-mining in Cornwall has seriously suffered 

 from the rich deposits that are now being worked 

 in Australia and America. During the last ten 

 years, more than a hundred mines have ceased to 

 work. Copper, too, though never of anything like 

 equal importance with tin in Cornwall, has gone 

 on gradually decreasing in the quantity obtained. 



Next to the granite and metalliferous deposits, 

 the most interesting Cornish rock is the Serpentine, 

 a tough, compact stone, which is often veined so 

 beautifully as to make it valuable for decorative 

 purposes. It forms a large portion of the Lizard 



