392 On the Method of Assaying Silver. [No. 4, 



other, and to faithfully maintain the immense resulting coinage 

 close to legal standard, has been put to a severe test. If success 

 be the criterion of merit, the 20 years' large experience of this 

 method gained in the Indian Mints goes, I think, to show that it 

 is worthy of a yet wider field of utility. 



Appendix. 



1. The bottles, used in this process, are of thin (but strong) 

 white glass and contain about 12 fluid ounces : about 6 inches in 

 height and 2£ inches in diameter at the bottom, which should pre- 

 sent a perfectly even, level floor : they are without any (abrupt) 

 shoulder, but become gradually pyramidal from about half way up 

 to the neck : this shape favours the easy dropping out of the 

 chloride. The neck is about one inch in length, polished on its 

 inner surface ; the stoppers are of ground glass, polished, with 

 globular heads, and are made to fit with the utmost accuracy and 

 smoothness. The bottles and stoppers are numbered, to corre- 

 spond with the number on the muster board and also on the 

 cups. 



2. The " cups" are "Wedgwood crucibles, smooth and thin, 

 about \\ inches in height, 1 J inches in diameter above, and a little 

 less than one inch in outside diameter at the bottom. The floor 

 should be perfectly level, and neither it or the sides should 

 present any roughness likely to retain the chloride. The cups are 

 all numbered. 



3. The porcelain saucers are shallow, £ of an inch in depth, the 

 upper diameter is about 4 inches, the lower 2£ inches. 



4. The turn-table is a circular board of about 3 feet in diame- 

 ter, fenced by a brass railing (or by a simple ledge) ; its centre is 

 occupied by a raised platform about 2 feet in diameter, between 

 which and the rail the bottles (26 on each) stand, the round outer 

 edge of the platform having semilunar niches cut in it, into which 

 the bottles fit ; opposite to each niche on the platform is a little 

 concavity in which the stoppers rest when not in the bottles. Each 

 turn-table is made to revolve on its centre in either direction, and 

 is raised about 6 inches above the long general table on which all 

 are supported j close to each a funnel is fitted into the lower (sup- 





