CENTEAL AND EASTEEN NEVADA. 303 



bushels to the ton, but sometimes exceeds that quantity. It is made from the 

 nut-pine, and is brought chiefly from what is locally known as the East Hum- 

 boldt Range, 28 or 30 miles distant from the works. It costs, on an average, 

 50 cents per bushel Its quality is considered to be excellent. There are 

 limited supplies of the nut-pine nearer to the works, furnishing small quantities 

 of charcoal, but in the more remote range, above mentioned, the supply is rep- 

 resented as quite sufficient for a long time, at the present rate of consumption. 

 There are two blast-furnaces, like that just described, one of them being 

 held in reserve for any emergency by which the other may be disabled. One fur- 

 nace in steady operation could fully supply the refining furnaces that were in 

 use at the time of the writer's visit. 



The refining or calcining furnace for the sublimation of the antimony 

 contained in the crude metal, and the consequent improvement of the lead, 

 consists at these works of a bath, or cast-iron pan, about 13 feet long by 5 

 feet 8 inches wide and 8 inches deep, the metal being an inch thick. The 

 pan is set in brick-work, the construction of which is shown by an 

 elevation, a plan, and transverse sections on Plate XXV, Figures 5, 6, 7, and 

 8. Fig. 5 is a side elevation ; Fig. 6, a horizontal section through E F of 

 Fig 5 ; Figs. 7 and 8, transverse sections through A B and C D of Fig. 5. 



The pan rests on a substantial foundation and is inclosed by side-walls, 

 of common bricks, about 10 inches high, over which an arch is turned, as 

 shown in the section. A narrow space is left between the pan and the inclos- 

 ing masonry to allow for expansion. At one end of the structure is a fire- 

 place and ash-pit ; the flame passes over a bridge, which separates the fire- 

 place from the pan, and thus over the surface of the metal contained in the 

 pan, toward the stack at the opposite end. There is a horizontal channel 

 passing through the bridge, behind the pan, opening at the sides of the fur- 

 nace and communicating by vertical passages with the interior, by which 

 means air may be admitted to the charge. Doors are provided in the side of 

 the furnace for the purpose of skimming off a crust, or scum, consisting of 

 lead and antimony, that collects on the surface while the operation of calcin- 

 ing is in progress. The charge is also introduced through these doors. 

 There is a tap near the end of the pan on one side, for the purpose of draw- 



