TIN. 



mended by Strabo, but now loft. The (liort dcfcription of 

 the tin-trade jrivcii by Diodorus Siculus defcrves particular 

 attention. «' Tliefe men (the tinners) manufafturu the tm 

 by working the grounds which produce it with much flciU. 

 For though the laud is rocky, it has foft veins runnirg 

 through it, in which the tinners find the treafure, which they 

 extract, melt, and purity. Then fliaping it by moulds into a 

 cubical figure, they carry it ofl" to a certain idand lying near the 

 Britilh fhorc, which they call Ictis ; for at the reccfs of the 

 fea between tlie ifland and the main land, the pafTage being 

 dry, the tinners embrace the opportunity, and carry the tin 

 over in carts to the Idis or Port ; for it muft be obfcrved, 

 that the iflaiids which lie between the continent and Britain 

 have this peculiarity, that when the tide is full they are real 

 iflands, but when the fea retires they are fo many />fn«(/u/<?. 

 From this ifland the merchants bring the tin of the natives, 

 and export it into Gaul ; and finally through Gaul, by a 

 journey of about thirty days, to the mouth of the Rhone :" 

 lib. 4. Pofidonius, as quoted by Strabo, fays the port to 

 which till was brought in the fouth of France was Mar- 

 feilles. ; 



To what ufes the nations of antiquity applied all the tin 

 which thcv obt.iined witli fo mucli labour from Britain, is 

 not precifely known. The Phoenicians were celebrated for 

 their Ikill in tiie art of dyeing ; and the Tyrian purple, which 

 was cither a bright crimfon or a fcarlet, was held in the 

 liigheil ctlimation ; hence it has been conjettured, with much 

 probability, that the Phoenicians were acquainted with the ule 

 of the folution of tin in the preparation of that colour. In the 

 modem art of dyeing fcarlet or crimfon, the folution of tin 

 in the nitro-muriatic acid is efientiiJly neceflary to commu- 

 nicate thofe colours to woollen cloths or ftuffs, a praftice 

 which is probably derived from the ancient manufaftures of 

 the Eaft. 



The mirrors of the civilized nations of antiquity were 

 made of a compofition of copper and tin. The moft ancient 

 account that we have of tliefe mirrors is that in Exodus, 

 chap, xxxviii. 8. " And he made the laver of brafs (a mix- 

 ture of copper and tin), and the foot of brafs of the mirrors 

 of the women." The Jewifli women probably received thcfe 

 mirrors from the Egyptians when they left the country ; 

 for it was the cuftom of the Egyptians to carry a mirror in 

 their left hand, when they went to their temples. Cyril de 

 Ado. 



Pliny fays that the bell fpecula were anciently made at 

 Brundufi\im of copper and tin. The metallic mixture of 

 tin and copper, for rendering the latter metal white, is men- 

 tioned by Ariftotle. ( De Mirab. ) This compofition is ftill 

 in ufe for the fpecula of refledling telefcopes. (See Spe- 

 culum.) Tlie ancients alfo made ufe of an alloy of tin 

 with copper and lead for pot-metal. In the time of Pliny, 

 pot-metal, oUaria iempcratura, was made of two pounds of 

 lead, and an equal quantity of tin, mixed with one hundred 

 pounds of copper. From the fame writer we learu, that 

 the bronze of wliichthe Romans made their ftatues, and the 

 plates on which they engraved their infcriptions, was com- 

 pofcd of one hundred pounds of copper, mixed with twelve 

 pounds and a half of an alloy made of equal parts of lead 

 and tin. He informs as alfo that tin, plumbum album, was 

 employed in coating or tinning copper vefTels, to render 

 them more wholcfome ; and it appears that the Romans 

 not only ufed pure tin, but the fame mixture of tin and lead 

 which lome ol our workmen ufe at this time in tinning of 

 velTels. A mixture of equal parts of tin and lead they 

 called argentarium ; a mixture of two parts of lead and one 

 of tin they called tcrtiarium ; and with two parts of tin and 



;hey 



one of lead, they tinned whatever veffels they thought fit. 

 (Watfon's Chemical Effays, vol. iv.) In the manufaftuie 

 of arms, the ancients ufed an alloy of tin with copper, their 

 brafs being a compofition of thefe metals ; but by what 

 method they were enabled to communicate to it the nccef- 

 fary degree of hardnefs is unknown. 



What was the relative value of tin, compared with that 

 of gold and filver, as eftimatcd by the Phoenicians, tlie 

 Greeks, or tho Romans, is uncertain. 



The procefs of extrafting tin from its ores was probably- 

 very imptrfeft, and remained fo in this country to the time 

 of Elizabeth, when Carew informs us that fir Francis Godol- 

 phin introduced great improvements in the tin-works. 



The revcrberatory-furnace appears, from Dr. Borlafe, 

 to have been introduced into Cornwall about the beginning 

 of the lail century ; and about the fame time the introduc- 

 tion of pit-coal became general, the wood of the country hav- 

 ing been nearly exhauilcd. Sir Bevil Granville had previoufly 

 made many experiments for melting tin with pit- coal, but 

 without fuccefs, when the ore was fmelted at the blowing- 

 houfcs by large bellows worked by a water-wheel. 



Whether the Phoenicians or the Greeks interefted them- 

 felvcs in the management of the tin-mines, or whether thev 

 were fimply merchants purchafing and exporting the tin, J 

 uncertain. It appears, however, by the pafiage quoted frd 

 Diodorus Siculus, that the veins of tin-ore were worked Ss 

 mines ; though it has been, and is ftill generally believed, that 

 ftreain-tin w as the only ore worked by the ancients. From 

 the teftimony of Strabo, Pliny, and others, the Romans not 

 only traded to Britain for tin, but improved the art of 

 mining in Cornwall. The Romans being the conquerors, 

 and the Britifh under them having probably little or no 

 property, they were the working miners, but under what 

 regulations is uncertain. The Saxons did not obtain pof- 

 fefiion of Cornwall till the reiffn of Athelftan, and neither 

 they nor the Danes appear to have direfted their attention 

 to the mines. After the Norman conqueit, the working of 

 mines is faid to have yielded great profit. In the time of 

 king John, however, the right of working tin being as yet, 

 fays Borlafe, wholly in the king, as earl of CorpwaU, the 

 property of the miners was precarious and unfettled, and 

 all the tin that was raifed was engrofled and managed by 

 the Jews. The t'm-farm of Cornwall at this time amounted 

 to no more than one hundred marks, according to which 

 valuation, the bifiiop of Exeter received then, and ftill 

 receives from the duke of Cornwall, the annual fum of 

 61. ly. 4^., fo low were tlie tin profits then in Cornwall; 

 whereas in Devonfhire, the tin was then farmed at lOO/. 

 yearly. King John, fenfible of the languifliing ftate of the J 

 mines, granted the county of Cornwall fome privileges, and 1 

 is faid to have alfo granted a charter to the tinners. 



In the time of Henry III. the tin-mines of Spain, 

 which had been worked by the Moors, were flopped, and 

 Cornwall had all the trade of Europe for tin. In the ^ 

 eighteenth year of Edward I., the Jews being banifhed the 

 kingdom, the mines were again neglefted for want of propi r 

 encouragement to labour, and fecurity to enjoy and difpofe 

 of the produfts. In confequence of a petition from fomc 

 Cornifti gentlemen to Edmund, earl of Cornwall, a charter 

 was obtained with more explicit grants of privileges of 

 keeping courts of judicature, and managing and decidi.iL' 

 ftannary caufes. About this time, fays Borlafe, it appear: 

 that the rights of bounding or dividing tin grounds into .. 

 feparate portions, for encouraging the fearch for tin, were 1 1 

 more regularly adjufted, and various laws introduced for 

 the proteftion of the miner. 



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