202 Value of Native Gold, ée. 
investigation which may be pursued with advantage; and 
I trust that others will not only follow up the course herein 
marked out, but will turn their attention to the chemical 
analysis of the materials found in connection with Gold, for 
by this only can positive and definite results be obtained ; 
although by the mode in which I have worked, the deduc- 
tions are sufficiently accurate to serve as a guide to persons 
engaged in the purchase and sale of Gold, as a matter of 
mercantile speculation. 
The first object to which I turned my attention was the 
establishment, if possible, of the average value of the pure 
native Gold from the different fields,—and when I use the 
term pure, I mean only that the specimens were free from 
any admixture of extraneous matter, as quartz, &c. It is 
evident that if, by a well-conducted series of experiments, 
it could be proved that the Gold from any given locality was 
chemically combined in some fixed proportion with some 
other metal, while that from another locality was alloyed, 
not only in different proportions, but perhaps with a dif- 
ferent metal, keeping yet its own combination uniform and 
regular, within certain narrow limits, much would be done 
to establish the mercantile value of the Gold from each of 
these districts. Again, should the result of the experi- 
ments go to prove that the quality of the Gold varied very 
much in the same district, it would be of use, inasmuch as 
it would prove the necessity of a special investigation into 
the quality of each sample. 
I think that the experiments which I have made are suffi- 
cient to prove, at all events with regard to the Mount Alex- 
ander diggings, such a uniformity of structure as is quite 
sufficient to form the basis of some calculations which will 
very much facilitate the operations of those who are engaged 
in the sale or purchase of Gold; but to this I shall allude 
