QUICKSILVER  MINES  OF  OLD  AND  NEW  ALMADEN.  337 
largest,  a  square  vat  between  four  and  five  feet  across,  contained 
twenty  tons  of  pure  quicksilver.  Seven  or  eight  days  are  re- 
quired to  fill  the  furnaces,  extract  the  quicksilver,  and  remove 
the  residuum,  the  latter  being  the  most  dangerous  part  of  the 
process.  All  is  done  as  much  in  the  open  air  as  possible,  the 
furnaces  being  merely  protected  by  a  roof. 
"In  the  warehouse,  the  metal  is  prepared  for  the  market.  This 
is  done  by  putting  it  into  wrought  iron  flasks  or  bottles,  holding 
about  seventy-five  pounds  each.  The  quicksilver  is  dipped  up 
with  ladles,  and  poured  into  the  bottles  through  an  ordinary  tin 
funnel.  The  opening  or  neck  of  the  bottle  is  then  stopped  with 
a  close-fitting  screw,  put  in  with  a  vice,  so  as  to  make  it  as  tight 
as  possible.  These  bottles,  which  weigh  twenty-five  pounds  each, 
are  all  made  in  England,  where  they  can  be  furnished  much 
cheaper  than  in  the  United  States.  From  the  warehouse  the 
metal  is  transported  by  ox-carts  to  tide-water  about  twenty  miles 
distant,  whence  they  are  shipped  to  San  Francisco.  A  shipment 
of  a  thousand  bottles  was  lately  made  to  Canton,  by  way  of  an 
experiment.  In  China  it  is  chiefly  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
vermilion  and  other  articles  of  commerce.  The  quantity  of 
quicksilver  produced  at  New  Almaden  is  about  1000  bottles  per 
month,  or  nearly  1,000,000  lbs.  per  a*nnum. 
"  The  mine  whence  the  cinnabar  is  obtained  contains  veins 
of  ore  extending  in  every  direction,  sometimes  horizontal,  then 
perpendicular,  and  again  at  every  inclination.  Their  whole  ex> 
tent  now  exceeds  7000  feet.  When  a  vein  is  struck,  it  is  fol- 
lowed as  far  as  it  can  be  with  safety,  whatever  may  be  its  course, 
Some  of  the  veins  are  five  feet  in  diameter,  others  half  that 
size.  Some  are  also  richer  than  others.  In  each  of  the  veins  is 
a  single  miner,  for  not  more  than  one  can  work  to  advantage  in 
these  narrow  recesses.  Picks,  drills,  and  crowbars  are  the  tools 
employed. 
"  The  miners,  and  those  who  merely  handle  the  cinnabar,  are 
not  injured  thereby;  but  those  who  work  about  the-  furnaces,  and 
inhale  the  fumes  of  the  metal  are  seriously  affected'.  Salivation 
is  common,  and  the  attendants  on  the  furnaces  are  compelled  to 
desist  from  their  labor  every  three  or  four  weeks.  When  a  fresh 
set  of  hands  is  put  on.  The  horses  and  mules  are  also  salivated,, 
and  from  twenty  to  thirty  die  every  year  from  the  effects  of  tiia 
mercury. 
22 
