380 MINES OF SCHEMNITZ. 
'^HAP. proprietors obtained, in one week, 1763 marks of 
V V - ' silver : the manner of calculating being always, 
the Mines, ss bcforc Stated, how many lotos of silver are 
contained in a hundred iveight of the ore, and how 
many deniers of gold in every mark of the silver. 
From thejifth vein, that of Stephano-schadt, in the 
short space of fourteen days, were obtained 700 
marks of pure silver. Eight men having sunk 
a shaft into the same vein, realized in fifteen 
days a clear profit of 80,000 florins. During the 
time they were employed in this work, they 
made their appearance with visages as black 
as if their faces had been rubbed with the 
dust 0^ plumbago : possibly, this fact may serve 
to explain the nature of the ore. The mine 
of Siegelsberg, at present, offers little profit; 
but as the ore always contains a portion of 
gold, they continue to work it, notwithstanding 
its poverty. The whole length of the excava- 
tions at Schemnitz equals 3000 fathoms ; and 
these mines have been worked during six or 
seven centuries. The quintal (hundred weight) 
of the third or Oherh'iber-stohln vein once pro- 
duced 2200 lotos of pure silver, after the sepa- 
ration of the gold; and the average of silver 
in the quintal does not exceed, in general, more 
than from Jive to ten lotos of that metal. AH 
these remarks apply only to the Imperial mines. 
