TIN. 



t>f fmall veins which pats through the rocks in different 

 dueAions. Thefe veins alfo contain topazes. Brongniart 

 Traite Elcmeiitaire. 



Tin is found near Monterey, in the province of Gallicia 

 in Spain, in veins which travcrfe granite and mica-flate. 

 Tills ore has recently been difcovercd in fmall quantities in 

 grains and cryftals, in a I'ock of granite at Puy les Vigncs, in 

 the vicinity of St. Leonhard, in the deparment of Haute- 

 Vienne in France. It occurs in veins with wolfram, arfcnical 

 pyrites, and martial arfeniate of copper. 



The moft confiderable repofitory of tin-ore in Europe is 

 that of Cornwall. The greatcft part of the tin confiimed in 

 Europe is procured from thence ; and Camden even fuppofcs 

 tliis abundance of tin in Cornwall and DevonOiire, to have 

 given the original denomination Britain to the whole kingdom; 

 In the Syriac language, varataiinc, or baratanac, fignilies land 

 of tin; from which Bochart derives the name Britain. It oc- 

 curs in Cornwall, both in veins and alluvial depofitions, in 

 various parts of the county. Alluvial depofitions of this 

 ore are alfo met with on Dart-moor, in Devonihire. The 

 veins which contain tin interfcft both granite and flatc rocks ; 

 the latter are provincially called iillas. Thefe veins vary in 

 width, and fomctimes contain large maffes of the ore. One 



Mock was raifed from the mine called Polberrow, in St. 



"gnes, which weighed more than twelve hundred pounds, 

 and produced more than half that weight of pure metal. 

 Tin-ftone generally occupies the upper part of veins, and is 

 fucceeded by copper-ore ; but there are inftances of tin occur- 

 ring at the depth of two hundred fathoms. Different mo- 

 difications of the forms of the cryftals are peculiar to certain 

 Veins. Cryftals of tin-ftone are alfo diffeminatcd in fome of 

 the granite rocks in the vicinity of veins : the cryftals appear 

 to occupy the place of mica. Where the tin-ftone is diffe- 

 minatcd in flate, it is generally in fmall ftrings or minute 



"veins. See Mine and Veins. 



The workmen diftinguifh feveral kinds of tin ; as moor- 

 tin, which is the beft fort, a fool of which weighs eighty 

 pounds ; and mine-tin, which is the next, the fool of it 

 v.'eighing about fifty-two or fifty pounds. The tin got from 

 the foft, gravelly earth, they call pryan-tin, to diftinguilh it 

 from that obtained from the ftoncs, which is better by almoft 

 half. See STREAM-77n Ore. 



Grain-tin denotes the ore of tin that is fometimes dug very 



•rich in the form of grains or pebbles, or elfe in larger pieces, 

 compofed of many fuch diftinft grains, united in one mafs, 

 always of a black or dark rofin colour, pointed like dia- 

 monds. Grain-tin is alfo ufed to fignify the pureft and fineft 

 block or white tin, fmelted with charcoal in the blaft or 

 blowrng-houfe furnace, which never had any brood or foreign 

 mixture in the mine : whereas the mine-tin is ufually cor- 

 rupted with fome portion of mundic, or other mineral, and 

 is always fmelted with a bituminous fire, which communi- 

 cates a harfti fulphurous quality to the metal. Grain-tin 

 is peculiarly produced from ftream-work, and is worth 

 feveral ftiillirigs per hundred more than mine-tin. See 

 Streaming. 



See on this article Macquer's Chem. Dift. art. Tin; and 



iPryce's Mineralogia Cornubienfis, fol. 1778. 



There is a curiofity in the Cornifli mines, which is this : 

 that in digging at the depth of forty or fifty fathoms, they 



I frequently meet with large timber, ftill entire. 



Childrey, in his Natural Hiftory, goes back as far as the 



'deluge to place them there ; but, without having recourfe 

 to fo great antiquity, they wlio believe that the mines, when 



eexhauiled of their ore, or mineral matter, renew and fill again 



itin courfe of time, will foon folvc the difficulty, by fuppofing 



that, in the firft working of thefe mines, thefe timbers had 

 been let down to ferve as props and pillars. 



But there are other people who will think this renewal of 

 the mines itfelf a difficulty as great as the former. However, 

 what the former author adds, wz. that in fome places in the 

 mines they likewife find pick-axes, &c. with wooden ftiafts, 

 as alfo brafs nails, and tliat even a medal of Domitian has 

 been found in one, feems to countenance the opinion. 



For the life of tin in the compofition of pewter, fee 

 Pewteu. 



TiN-ZiWif of Britain. That tin was procured from 

 Britain in a very early age, appears probable from the con- 

 current leftimony of the moft ancient hiltorians. The Phoe- 

 nicians are faid by Strabo to have paffed the pillars of Her- 

 cules, now the ftraits of Gibraltar, about twelve hundred 

 years before Chrift. At what precife period they dif- 

 covercd the Cafliterides, or Tin iflands, is unknown, nor is 

 their exaft fituation determined ; but it is generally believed 

 that the Soilly iflands, and the weftern part of Britain, were 

 the places from whence thefe early navigators procured the 

 tin which they exported to other countries. The Phccni- 

 cians were extremely anxious to conceal from the reft of the 

 world the true fituation of the Cafliterides. Herodotus, who 

 wrote about four hundred and fifty years before Chrilt, 

 could not learn where thefe iflands were fituatcd ; but he 

 fuppofed tliat tin, like amber, was brought from the remoteft 

 parts of Europe. Strabo relates, that the captain of a Phosni- 

 cian veffel returning from Britain feeing himfelf purfued by 

 a Roman galley, chofe rather to run his velfel among tlie 

 rocks, that the Romans might experience the like fate, than 

 be the means of difcovering fo valuable a commerce to the 

 enemies of his country. The captain having efcaped from 

 the wreck, claimed from his country compenfation for t!io 

 lofs of his veflel and the cargo ; and it is faid he was paid 

 from the pubhc treafury the amount of his claims. By thele 

 precautions, the Phoenicians are faid to have enjoyed a pro- 

 fitable trade to thefe iflands for about three hundred years. 

 The fecret was at length difcovered, and the Greeks, Gauls, 

 and Romans, came in fucceflively for a fhare of this trade. 

 The Phocean Greeks eftabliftied a colony at Marfeilles five 

 hundred and forty years before Chrift ; and after the deftruc- 

 tionof Carthage, earned on this commerce : they endeavoured 

 to conceal from the Romans their knowledge of the Britifh 

 ifles ; for on being queftioned by Scipio refpefting the 

 fituation and extent of thofe ifles from whence the tin was 

 brought, they declared that they were entirely unknown to 

 them. The Phoenicians, in their voyage to Britain, are faid 

 to have failed from Cadiz to the harbour of the Artabici, 

 near Cape Finifterre, from whence, after four days' fail, tliey 

 arrived in Britain. Strabo relates, that Pubhus Lucius 

 Craffus having made fruitlefs attempts to difcover whence 

 the tin was brought, at length fucceeded, and arrived in 

 Britain. It is uncertain when this Craffus lived, and even 

 who he was, there being two of this name ; the father, who 

 was proconful of Spain, and the fon, who had a command 

 under Ctefar in Gaul. 



Diodorus Siculus, who wrote during the time of Auguftus, 

 appears, from the quotation which we fliall fubfequently give, 

 to have been well acquainted with the tin-trade of Britain at 

 that period. There cannot be a doubt, that from the conqueft 

 of Britain by the Romans, to the dechne of their empire in the 

 Weft, they enjoyed the undifturbed poffeffion of the Britifli 

 tin-trade. 



"What the ancient method was of preparing tin for the fur- 

 nace we cannot learn, fays Dr. Borlafe. Polybius the hif- 

 lorian is faid to have defcribed it ; and that work is com- 

 mended 



