356 
ABSINTHE. 
times  extended  for  several  feet.  This  material  is  heavily 
charged  with  graphite,  and  is  washed  in  order  to  separate  it. 
At  the  depth  of  60  ft.  the  graphite  is  exceedingly  solid  and 
hard,  with  a  very  fine  lustre.  The  whole  material  is  taken  out 
between  the  walls  by  an  open  cutting ;  all  found  not  absolutely 
pure  is  washed,  the  other  is  bagged  at  once. 
The  product  of  the  mine  at  present  is  about  1,000  tons  per 
month,  but  is  capable  of  an  almost  indefinite  extension.  The 
process  of  separating  the  graphite  from  the  impurities  is  very 
simple.  An  inexpensive  sort  of  large  vat,  with  a  stone  bottom, 
20  ft.  in  diameter,  and  3  ft.  deep,  holds  the  materials,  which 
are  stirred  up  by  iron  rakes,  fastened  to  four  cross-bars  project- 
ing from  an  upright  shaft,  moved  by  a  water-wheel.  When  in 
motion  a  small  stream  of  water  passes  into  this  vat,  an  outlet  to 
which  exists  a  few  inches  from  the  surface  ;  through  this  outlet 
the  graphite  passes  with  the  water,  and  is  led  by  spouts  into 
broad  tanks,  where  it  temporarily  subsides,  when  the  dirty  water 
is  run  oif,  and  a  large  stream  of  clean  water  forces  the  graphite 
into  a  series  of  shallow  tanks,  in  which  it  is  dried  by  the  sun, 
the  whole  process  requiring  about  five  days  to  complete.  The 
tanks  and  reservoirs  at  present  used  cover  several  acres.  The 
cost  of  production  of  the  solid  plumbago  at  the  mine  does  not 
exceed  4s.  per  ton,  two  men  in  the  lower  workings  being  able  to 
extract  10  tons  per  day  of  solid  graphite,  in  blocks  of  any  de- 
sired size.  The  water  used  on  the  mine  costs  but  £10  per 
month,  which  sum  is  more  than  realized  by  gold  found  in  the  vat 
when  cleaning  up,  there  being  a  thin  seam  of  auriferous  quartz 
between  the  hanging  wall  and  the  graphite  occasionally  passing 
into  it.  Lumps  of  gold,  worth  8s  to  <£4  each,  are  sometimes 
found  imbedded  in  the  graphite. — Chemical  News,  May  1,  1868, 
from  Dicker 's  Mining  Record. 
ABSINTHE. 
The  indulgence  in  absinthe,  which  already  prevails  to  a  great 
extent  among  all  classes  of  Frenchmen,  threatens  to  become  as 
wide-spread  in  France  and  as  injurious  there  as  opium  eating  in 
China.    If  a  visitor  to  Paris  strolls  along  the  boulevards  from 
