THE  MERCURY  OF  NEW  ALMA  DEN, 
99 
holes  of  this  partition  and  plays  upon  the  ore  in  the  ore-chamber, 
which  when  fully  charged  contains  ten  thousand  pounds  of  cinna- 
bar. Next  to  the  ore-chamber  is  the  first  condensing  chamber, 
which  communicates  with  it  by  a  square  hole  at  the  right  upper 
corner;  and  the  communication  of  this  first,  with  the  second  con- 
densing chamber,  is  by  a  square  hole  at  the  left  lower  corner. 
An  opening  at  the  right  upper  corner  of  the  partition,  between 
the  second  and  third  condensing  chamber,  communicates  with 
the  latter.  The  openings  between  the  chambers  are  at  the  top 
and  to  the  right,  and  at  the  bottom  and  to  the  left  alternately, 
so  that  the  vapors  from  the  ore  chamber,  are  forced  to  describe 
a  spiral  in  their  passage  through  the  eight  condensers.  The 
vapor  and  smoke  pass  from  tho  last  condensing  chamber  through 
a  square  wooden  box  eight  or  ten  feet  long,  in  which  there  is  a 
continuous  shower  of  cold  water,  and  finally  escape  into  the  open 
air  by  tall  wooden  flues. 
The  floor  or  bottom  of  each  condensing  chamber  is  about  two 
feet  above  the  ground,  and  is  arranged  with  gutters  for  collect- 
ing the  condensed  mercury  and  conveying  it  out,  into  an  open 
conduit,  along  which  it  flaws  into  an  iron  receptacle,  from  which 
it  is  poured  into  the  iron  flasks,  through  a  brush  to  cleanse  it  of 
the  scum  of  oxide  formed  on  the  surface  on  standing.  Seventy- 
five  pounds  weight  are  put  into  each  flask. 
There  are  fourteen  of  these  furnaces  and  ranges  of  condensers, 
with  passages  of  eight  or  ten  feet  in  width  between  them.  A 
shed  is  constructed  above  the  whole  at  a  sufficient  elevation  to 
permit  free  circulation  of  the  air. 
It  requires  sixty  hours  to  exhaust  each  charge  of  cinnabar, 
(10,000  lb).  The  fire  is  so  regulated  as  to  keep  it  uniformly  at  a 
red  heat. 
The  cinnabar,  either  in  irregular  masses,  or  the  finer  parti- 
cles worked  up  into  the  "  adobes'*  before  mentioned,  is  piled  in 
the  ore-chamber,  very  much  after  the  manner  of  arranging  bricks 
in  a  kiln  for  burning. 
The  subtle  nature  of  mercury  is  such  that,  notwithstanding 
the  means  here  used  to  secure  it,  not  a  little  escapes  through  the 
flues  and  the  lutings.  The  roofs  around  are  black  with  mercury, 
condensed  in  exceedingly  minute  globules.  They  may  be 
detected  in  abundance  by  a  hand  microscope  in  the  soot  taken 
from  the  flues.    The  bricks  which  enter  into  the  structure  of  the 
