oy 
THE ORIGIN OF MOSS GOLD. 289 
additional experiments have been made which more conclusively 
prove that mispickel, iron pyrites and other sulphides take up 
_ gold when fused with it, and in the case of the mispickel give up 
the gold, on roasting, in moss-like forms. 
The following experiments with gold and various sulphides were 
made in 1877; in each case the sulphide was loosely mixed with 
the gold (sovereign gold roiled into a thin ribbon and cut up into 
minute squares) or the gold was only laid on the top and the 
whole covered with a layer of borax and fused. 
iption and weight Weight ot Percentage of Weight of gold | Percentage of 
Baiada in grammes. | coe te gold aged: Raced ee goldin Teenie: 
30 Mispickel .... 3°25 10°80 ¢*) none 3°60 @) 
30 o Ste 1:20 4-00 1:05 not assayed 
30 8 Bi. 90 3°00 °75() | not assayed 
25 i ra 50 2°00 0B} °80 () 
30 a oe °30 1:00 "15(6) | not assayed 
30 Iron Pyrites ... 3°25 10°80 none ~ 12°25 
25 Ss a “50 2°00 39 4.4, (2) 
80 =) o Lily 1°46 none 80 (4) 
80 Copper Pyrites Le, 1°46 none 1:00 
80 Antimonite ... EZ 1°46 none 4°42 
80 Galena Getty RET 1°46 none 1:20 
The regulus of mispickel in each case showed a crystalline 
structure on fracture, and the fracture under the microscope, was 
seen to be studded with gold; there was also some moss gold over 
the surface of the button and in the cavities. On roasting, the 
mispickel regulus always yielded moss gold. 
©) A white brittle button separated during fusion, containing 
streaks of gold—weight ‘3 grammes. 
©) Precipitated spongy gold was used in this case. 
“) Yellow malleable button. 
©) Very brittle, intersected with a white crystalline vein. 
€°) Colour nearly white. 
In some cases the percentage of gold found in the product or 
regulus was greater than that added ; this, of course, was due to 
a part of the original mineral having been removed in the slag or 
volatilized. Moss gold was only obtained from the regulus of 
mispickel, none of the other sulphides yielded any. 
S—Sept. 6, 1893, 
