GEOLOGY OF THE QUICKSILVER DEPOSITS OF THE 

 PACIFIC SLOPE. 



By George F. Becker. 



CHAPTElt I. 



STATISTICS AND HISTORY. 



Relative value of quicksilver. — TliG exceptioiial pliysical and chemical properties 

 of quicksilver give this metal a peculiar position in the markets of the world, 

 which it is desirable to illustrate by comparison with that of other metals. 

 The normal price of a metal is slightly, and only slightly, greater than the 

 average cost of production ; for competition forces prices towards a minimum 

 and in every industry there are individual establishments which, through 

 errors in judgment or want of foresight, work at an actual loss. P'or pui-poses 

 of comparison it is fair to assume that tlie average cost of prodiu'tion is not 

 far from !I0 per cent, of the average price. From Januar\', 1850, to Janu- 

 ary, 1S8G, the average price of quicksilver ma}- be taken at about S.jO a 

 flask, though the fluctuations have been so great and so frequent that a pre- 

 cise mean could not possibly be reached. The average total cost has prob- 

 ably been about 815, or say $1.30 a kilogram. It costs about twentv-nlne 

 times as much to produce a kilogram of silver and four hundred and sixty 

 times as much to produce a kilogram of gold. These facts afford sufficient 

 proof that quicksilver is a far more abundant metal than is silver. Were 

 quicksilver and silver produced in exactly equal quantities and were the 

 MON xm- 1 1 



