488 



BOOK X. 



A — Implement with a ring. B — Ladle. C — Its hole. D — Pointed bar. E — Forks. 

 F — Cake of silver laid upon the implement shaped like tongs. G — Tub of water. 

 H — Block of wood, with a cake laid upon it. I — Hammer. K — Silver again 



PLACED upon the IMPLEMENT RESEMBLING TONGS. L — ANOTHER TUB FULL OF WATER. 



M — Brass wires. N — Tripod. O — Another block. P — Chisel. Q — Crucible of 

 THE furnace. R — Test still smoking. 



feet long, which has a wooden handle as many feet long, and he puts the end of 

 this bar into the test in order to stir it. He also stirs it with a hooked iron 

 bar, of which the hook is two digits wide and a palm deep, and the iron part 

 of its handle is three feet long and the wooden part the same. Then he 

 removes the test from the hearth with a shovel or a fork, and turns it over, 

 and by this means the silver falls to the ground in the shape of half a sphere ; 

 then hfting the cake with a shovel he throws it into a tub of water, where 

 it gives out a great sound. Or else, having lifted the cake of silver with a 

 fork, he lays it upon the iron implement similar to tongs, which are placed 

 across a tub full of water ; afterward, when cooled, he takes it from the 

 tub again and lays it on the block made of hard wood and beats it with a 

 hammer, in order to break off any of the powder from the test which 

 adheres to it. The cake is then placed on the implement similar to 

 tongs, laid over the tub full of water, and cleaned with a bundle of brass vidre 



