1876.] Japanese Mines. 439 
previously perfectly dried, is filled with a mixture of coarse 
calcined powdered ore, charcoal, and some felspar, clay, or 
another quartz containing stone. The latter substances are 
added to adt as a flux, and to separate the metallic iron 
from the impurities which are taken by the slag : sometimes, 
but not generally, coal or coke is used as fuel. When the 
heat produced by the continuous strong stream of air, 
pressed into the furnace by means of large Chinese bellows 
worked by four or five men, has been sufficient to smelt the 
ore, the iron will gradually run in a liquid state to the 
bottom of the furnace, and is cast in sand forms by removing 
the clay stopper of the lowest opening. The cold metal is 
sometimes purified by a second smelting, in another similar 
but smaller furnace. 
Lead is found in many of the provinces, but, owing to the 
defective way in which the mines are worked, the annual 
production is but small. The following is, in brief, a descrip- 
tion of a lead-mine near the famous Lake Biwa, — at no 
great distance from Kioto, the ancient capital of the 
Mikados, — and of the mode of smelting still practised there. 
The mine is worked by levels driven into the side of the 
hill, and the water is got rid of by an adit. The levels are 
driven entirely at random, and though there are native plans 
of the mine, they give no accurate information, either as to 
the direction or extent of the workings. Wood is used for 
fuel in the calcining kilns, and charcoal in the smelting 
furnaces. The charcoal is that of oak, maple, &c., for al- 
though the cryptomeria is the most abundant tree, charcoal 
made from it is disliked, because it is soft and swift-burning. 
The calcining kilns measure 4 feet every way, and are open 
at the top ; their sides are of clay, and usually four, six, or 
even more, are built side by side in a row. At the bottom 
of the front of each there is a hole, which is opened or closed 
when necessary, according to the rate of combustion. The 
ore, having been previously broken up into small pieces, is 
placed in these in alternate layers with wood, and undergoes 
a first calcination for five days : the process is afterwards 
repeated in other kilns. The smelting furnace is situated 
under a rude chimney or hood of wicker-work, plastered 
with clay, open in the front to about the height of 6 feet 
from the ground, while its back wall screens the men who 
work the bellows from the heat of the furnace. The furnace 
is almost the same as that spoken of in connection with 
copper-smelting. Below the lid, at the back of the furnace, 
are two holes, by which the blast is admitted, it being 
conveyed thither by clay tubes running just below the surface 
