Metals. MIN E R A L O G Y, Metals'. 487 
fafturers at Sheffield and Birmingham. For the method 
of extracting, purifying, &c. fee the article Chemistry, 
vol. iv. p. 309-12. 
The following table will fhow the annual produce of 
gold and filver in the mines of Europe, northern Afia, and 
America, as given by M. Humboldt, in chiliogrammes. 
It may be regarded rather as an approximation than as a 
very accurate datement, the amount of Englifhjilver not 
being included; perhaps this may be edimated at 4ooolbs. 
Gold. 
Silver. 
Europe 
1,297 
52,670 
Northern Afia 
- 538 
21,709 
America - 
- 17 ^ 9 * 
795 > 58 i 
19,126 
879,960 
The chiliogramme, it has been before dated, is rather 
more than 2lb. 8oz. troy. It is impoffible to value the 
quantity of gold and filver annually extracted on the 
whole globe : for we are unacquainted with the amount 
of what is procured in the interior of Africa, and the cen¬ 
tral parts of Afia, Tonquin, China, and Japan. The 
quantity of gold and filver formerly brought by.the Dutch 
from the latter country proves that it is rich in the pre¬ 
cious metals. We may draw the fame conclufion refpeft- 
ing the northern frontiers of China and other parts of 
Alia.; and the quantity of gold-dud brought to the 
wedern coalt of Africa, leads us to believe, that the coun¬ 
tries fouth of the Niger contain large quantities of this 
metal, though we have little information refpefting the 
filver of the African continent. 
From the combination of filver with other fubdances, 
fourteen fpecies are reckoned. 
1. Argentum nativum, or native filver. Specific charaCler; 
malleable, duftile, with a metallic fplendour internally; 
totally foluble in nitric acid. Native filver occurs cry- 
ftallized in cubes and oftohedrons ; the crydals are fmall, 
and often aggregated, forming beautiful ramifications ; 
the branches lometimes crofs each other in a rectangular 
direction, and are reticulated. It is fometimes in leaves and 
fometimes capillary ; and, when the filaments are much 
entangled, it becomes nearly compaCl. Native filver is 
alfo found in dtapelefs mafies of conliderable fize. In the 
year 1750, there was found in the famous mine of Hem- 
mels Furd, near Freyberg in Saxony, amafs of native di¬ 
ver, which weighed an hundred-weight and a quarter; 
in 1771, an equally large mafs was found. It is alfo men¬ 
tioned by Albini, in his Meiffnijche Berg Arconicke, p. 30, 
“ that at Sclineeberg, in 1478, a rich filver vein was dif- 
covered ; and fo large a block of native filver cut out, 
that duke Albert of Saxony defcended into the mine, 
and ufed this large block as a table to dine upon. It was 
fmelted into four hundred centners of filver ; a centner 
is nolbs.” (Jamefon’s Mineralogy.) Native filver is 
fcarcely ever pure; the metals with which it is alloyed 
are commonly gold, copper or arfenic, and iron. Native 
filver alloyed with gold is rare ; its colour is intermediate 
between filver-white and brafs-yellow ; it often contains 
a confiderable proportion of gold. It is found in almod 
all the filver-mines that are worked in Europe or America; 
but the mafies difcovered in America are not fo large as 
forne which have been found in Europe. Silver rarely oc¬ 
curs in detached grains, like gold or platinum. In mal¬ 
leability it yields only to gold, as it may be beaten out 
into leaves the 160000th part of an inch thich ; and may 
be drawn out to fo fine a wire, that a fingle grain can be 
extended nearly 400 feet in length ; its tenacity is like- 
wife fuch, that a wire 0-078 of an inch in diameter will 
fupport 17-813 pounds avoirdupoife without breaking. 
2. Argentum butyraceus, or buttery filver: without 
ludre, friable, in thin pellicles intermixed with fpar; 
white, blue, or brownilh. Found in St. George’s Mine, 
near Andreafburg in Wedphalia. 
3. Argentum nigrum, or black filver: deep black, 
friable, ponderous, efiervefcing with nitric acid, and re¬ 
covering, at lad its metallic fplendour when rubbed. 
Found in the filver-mines of Sicily, Brittany, Saxony, 
Hungary, and Bohemia, fometimes covering other mi¬ 
nerals as with a coating, fometimes interfperled in larger 
or lefs particles, not unfrequently in a pulverifed date. 
It commonly contains fulphur, arfenic, and copper, and 
fometimes a little iron. 
4. Argentum corneum, muriat of filver, or corneous 
filver: ponderous, foft, malleable, without metallic ludre, 
fomewhat diaphanous, ealily melting in the fire, and eva¬ 
porating at lad in a white fetid linoke. Found in the 
mines of Mexico, Peru, Siberia, Hungary, Bohemia, 
Saxony, Germany, &c. It melts before a candle like wax 
or fuet, and before the blow-pipe leaves fmall grains of 
pure filver. Soft, and eafily cut with a knife. Colour 
white, grey, yellowifli, green, violet, or brown. Some¬ 
times it is found in irregular mafies, fometimes in hollow 
globular pieces, or in thin plates, or in a date of powder, 
or crydallized in fmall cubes, or in accumulated flakes, or 
in acicular, rarely capillary, prilins. It melts very eafily, 
becomes purple on expofiure to the fun, and has a waxy 
ludre. The bed kind contains about 72 per cent, of di¬ 
ver. Specific gravity, from 4-745 to 4-804. 
5. Argentum carbo, or carbonat of filver. This ore 
has hitherto been difcovered only in the filver-mine of 
Wincefiaus, in Swabia = it occurs fometimes in mafies, 
and fometimes difleminated through other minerals. Its 
colour is a greyidi-black; its frafture uneven, with a 
glidening metallic ludre ; it is brittle and heavy, and ef- 
fervefces with acids ; it melts eafily under the blowpipe. 
According to Mr. Selb, who fird difcovered this mineral 
in 1788, it contains filver 72-5, carbonat of antimony 17-5, 
carbonic acid 12, and a flight trace of copper. 
6. Argentum eleftrum, or auriferous filver : malleable, 
duftile, with a metallic ludre, yellowifli, not wholly fo¬ 
luble in nitric acid. Found in the mountain Schlangen- 
berg in Siberia, and in the mines near Conigfberg in 
Norway; of a yellowifli-white colour, or that of pale 
brafs ; rarely in folitary mafies, but generally diflemi¬ 
nated, or filiform, or reticular, or in fpangles. Specific 
gravity, above io - 6 ; a fpecimen examined by Dr. Fordyce, 
contained filver 72, gold 28. 
7. Argentum dibiatum, or antimoniated filver: with a 
metallic ludre, tin-white, malleable, very hard, lamellar, 
not emitting fulphuric nor arfenical vapours when burnt; 
leaving a white oxyd when added on by nitric acid. 
Antimoniated filver does not often occur. It has been 
met with near Guadalcanal, in Spain ; in the territory of 
Furdemberg, in Swabia; and near St. Andreafberg, in the 
Hartz-fored. It is ufually in irregular grains or lumps, 
or kidney-form pieces, or crydallized in irregular four, 
fix, or eight, fided prilins, which are driated longitudi¬ 
nally. Colour white, texture laminar, frafture conchoi- 
dal. Before the blowpipe the antimony evaporates in a 
grey fmoke, and leaves a brownifh flag, which tinges bo¬ 
rax green : it gives a greyifh-black powder, and does not 
decrepitate when heated ; with quickfilver it amalga¬ 
mates eafily without the aflidance of heat. It is not fo¬ 
luble in nitro-muriatic acid, but may be diffolved in 
boiling nitric acid, leaving a refiduum of about 27 per 
cent. Contains, in its purer date, filver 84, antimony 16. 
Specific gravity, 9-4 to 10. 
8. Argentum arleilicum, or arfenical filver : with a 
metallic lplendour; eafily melting, and emitting arfenical 
vapours. Found in the mines near Andreafburg in Her- 
cynia, fometimes of a deel-white colour and ludre, and 
containing a little iron, fometimes pale ochre yellow. 
Its hardnefs is often confiderable, and then it is fibrous 
internally ; fometimes it is fo foft as to be eafily cut with a 
knife, and in curved foliations. Commonly found in 
round irregular lumps, or crydallized in fix-fided prifms 
or pyramids. Contains filver 11-75, iron 44-25, arfenic 35, 
antimony 4. Klaproth. 
9. Argentum molybcUenatum, or molybdenic filver: 
3 with 
