On Smelting Copper in Japan. 343 



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faults ; there are lodes which grow smaller and narrower, the fur- 

 ther they are followed ; others suddenly contract, and as sudden- 

 ly enlarge ; some diverge, and others are without any branches. 

 The rock which envelopes the ore varies in its aspect. The bar- 

 ren rock is thrown aside as of no further use. The ore is of 

 many sorts, yellow, black, reddish and gray, brilliant and dull, 

 some of it contains much, and some of it little. Indeed, the na- 

 ture of the mine is not uniform, nor is it possible to obtain the 

 ore alike in order to average the good and bad. When dug out, 

 the ore is broken to fragments, and the process of selection and 

 throwing away the barren stone is called kaname (or examining 

 the ore). Generally, the best ore produces one tenth of copper, 

 and the poorest, one twentieth. 



Sec. III. Of roasting the ore, — " Whenever ore is roasted, a 

 kiln is built under a shed. Faggots are spread upon the bottom 

 and ore laid upon them ; a layer of faggots and one of ore alter- 

 nately are piled up to the brim. A vent-hole is cut in the bottom 

 of the kiln for the draft to be free. The smoke is so sulphureous 

 as to suffocate one, and the fire cannot be approached. When 

 the fire has burned ten d^ys, and gone out, the whole is cooled 

 and taken out, but the ore has undergone but little change. 

 These are the general outlines (of the mode of roasting). 



Sec, IV. Extracting the coarse metal. — " Whoever extracts 

 the coarse metal, constructs a wall in a building, and [on one side 

 °f it] makes a large furnace, having a trough leading out of it; 

 on the other side of the wall two large bellows are placed. The 

 roasted ore is then put into the furnace upon the coal, and two 

 tall men pull the bellows, while a third, holding a long iron rod, 

 stands before the furnace to separate and ievel the mass. When 

 the fire has reached its strength, and the liquid metal has risen 

 and filled the furnace, the earthy scoria floats upon the surface, 

 and little by little flows off into die trough ; as it &ow$ out, n is 

 suffered to cool, or else water is sprinkled upon it, and it is taken 

 out and thrown aside. When the ore is all melted, more is added 

 and additional coal placed upon it, until the furnace is full of good 

 metal, when the earthy scoria and coals are all pushed off. Wa- 

 ter is then sprinkled upon the top of the furnace, to cause the 

 %iid metal to separate from the cold, and form a crust which 

 c an be raised up. An iron pole is employed to peel it off and 

 take it away ; first sprinkling and peeling, until all is taken off, 

 ^hen there is found at the bottom of the furnace a mass oi cop- 

 I**; if, however, the ore is poor, there may be none. 



Sec V. Of extracting the copper.—" The rules tor calcium 

 fhe coarse metal, and extracting the copper, are for the most part 

 nke those for melting the ore and extracting the coarse metal. 

 fi ut when the furnace is full of liquid metal, the top is luted with 

 cla y, leaving a small hole in it in which to put the coal and blast 

 the charge. If there is any scum take it out immediately, and 



Or 



