MINES OF CHEMNITZ. 365 
an operation which is no where else conducted <^hap. 
upon so grand a scale, nor indeed does there v ^ — , 
exist such a National Laboratory in any other 
country. Although it may be considered as 
one of the finest chemical exhibitions in the 
world, it is rarely shewn to strangers ; and the 
process for the separation of the gold and silver 
being one of the principal resources of the em- 
pire, foreigners ought not to wonder at any 
difficulty hitherto found in obtaining admission 
to the Laboratory. 
I. The first operation with the produce of j^^'^^'^f^" 
the MINE is of course that, common to all tion oniie 
Ores. 
mines, of stamping the ore. But the richer ores 
are not submitted to the stamping machines\ 
They are carefully broken with hammers into 
small pieces, about the size of beans; which 
being mixed with lead, a single operation of the 
furnace is sufficient for their eduction". 
With regard to the covimon ores, after being 
stamped and washed, they are brought, in the 
(O The rule is this; — when a <7n/n^a/ (one hundred weight) of the 
ere does not contain two lotos of silver, it is sent to the stamping machines. 
(2) That is to say, it is reduced to i regulus, containing lend, and 
silver and gold: the separation of tliese metals is descrihed in the 
seqnel. 
