( 214 ) 
whether or no the Caxon he ready for mjhmg : And, that the mjbwg 
cf theCaxons caufeth the lofs md rvajle of ^ickfiher. As to Che 
/(?me'^,he ihew.sthat no fniall experience is neceflary to know that 
particular ; fince, if the Caxon be not ripe for wafting, that plate 
which the Qiuckfilver hath not laid hold on,is likely to be utterly 
loft \ or, if K be not,it muft be ground over again.And here he fets 
ctown a fure and infallib'e rule, as he accounts it,for the difcovery 
of che difpolition of the Caxon \ reflecting on the rules hitherto de- 
liverd f )r that purpofe. As to the Utter ^ he afferts, that the im- 
med.ate caufe of that mifchief of the Quickfilvers imperceptible 
getcingout of the Caxon with the water or the L/i«^/^, is, when the 
Qu'ckfilver is made over-thin without body or weight , as 'twere, 
fo that ir hath nothing to fink it to the bottom of the Caldron, and 
with rtirring the Caxon when they wafh it, it mixes it felf with the 
dregsand dirt, and goes along with them. 
Ihc two and twentieth fets down the True caufes of the lofs of 
g>uickfilver^ and their Remedies. Where the Anchor makes the re- 
paffings to be the remote caufe of wafting the Quickfilver , and 
Copperas to be of Its own nature,as hath beenalready noted, a vio- 
lent caufe of extenuating the Quickfilver, and of deftroying the 
greateft part that hath been wafted of the fame. In the working of 
which ill efiefl, the Salt, ufed in Refining, and in wafhing the Cax- 
onsy contributes not a little ; as the Lamas^mngled with the water, 
thickens it, and refiftsthefinking of the Quickfilver, which flayes 
and is thrown away together with it. See ttie Remedies in the 
Author himfelf. 
The^^;'^^ and twentieth and four and twentieth^ do explain the 
way to make the V\v\t-h'p^\t%., and to clear them of the ^ickfiher. 
When Refiners have taken the Plate and Mercury together out of 
theCaldron, ftraining if, to make them the thicker , through two 
courfe cloaths wetted, and when they have alfo beaten it with a Ba- 
tledoor to fqueefe as much Quickfilver through the cloaths as is 
poffible, they make Pine-apples of the dry Pellets in moulds fitted 
for that purpofe,fo calTd from their fimilitudc to that fruir^by rea- 
f ^n of their pyramidal figure : Of which Pines thofe that have been 
reafonably veil ftrained,;- will be Silver; fo that loo pounds of 
Pe lets wi;l produce 20 pounds weight of Silver. Here the Au- 
thor takes occafion to relate the vaftn^fs'of 'he lofs in clearing the 
Ore again from the Quickfilver,which he proves from Experience, 
wher by it appear dj/y^* faith^in the City of jP(?/^/alone,at the time 
of his writing, when the Xrading in Mettals ran but low, that yec 
com- 
