CHAP. XXII. AMERICAN MINES. 145 



CHAPTER XXII. 



On the production of gold and silver from the year 1700 to 

 1809 inclusive. 



IT is not the design of this inquiry to enter into 

 a description of the mechanical inventions by which 

 the ores were obtained from the bowels of the 

 earth, nor the various chemical operations by which 

 the precious metals were separated from the less 

 valuable substances with which they are commonly 

 combined ; nor is it intended to enter into the 

 relations of the different classes of society in the 

 countries where those metals were produced, far- 

 ther than may appear to be necessary to account 

 for the fluctuations in the quantities which at 

 various periods they have furnished to the general 

 commerce of the world. 



Mexico as long as it continued under the go- Mexico, 

 vernment of Spain yielded a vast mass of gold 

 and silver. It had from the commencement of 

 the European power in that country increased 

 gradually and regularly, with very few interrup- 

 tions. We have no intention of entering into the 

 history of the conquest and the continued sub- 

 mission of the native inhabitants. When Mexico 

 was first visited by the Spaniards, some progress 



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