Haworte. | Historical. 5 
floored with sheet lead. Lead was generally added to an- 
cient bronzes. Lead pipes were also used in Asia and Arabia. 
White lead was used as an ointment by the Egyptians, but 
not as a pigment. 
‘“*71NC.—The only clue which we have to the uses of zinc 
in these centuries in ancient times is in the references to brass 
and bronzes, the two being probably often confounded. The 
properties or even the existence of the metal itself were not 
known. . Bronzes are known to have been made by the 
Egyptians. Moses refers to brass in Numbers (xxxi, 22) and 
mention is made of it elsewhere in the sacred writings. The 
manufacture of bronzes and brasses, says Robert Hunt,’ ap- 
pears to have been engaged in from a very early period by 
some branches of the Phcenician people and the Assyrians. 
Coming down to comparatively recent times, the discovery 
and production of the metal zinc is to be accredited to the 
East; for, before even its ores were recognized in Kurope, 
Libavius (1597), who first investigated the properties of the 
metal, speaks of it as a peculiar kind of tin found in the Kast 
Indies, whence some brought to Holland came into his hands.* 
Lead in Europe. 
‘‘Lead mining of Europe probably began along the shores 
of the Mediterranean, where the knowledge of the metal was 
most readily acquired from the East. 
‘‘The Laurium mines, in Greece, are thought to have been 
worked as early as the Trojan wars (about 1200 B. c.), and 
articles of lead were found by Schliemann among the ruins 
of ancient Troy. The Phcenicians established themselves at 
Cadiz as early as the twelfth century B. c., and engaged in 
or stimulated the mining of lead and other ores of southern 
Spain, and probably thoseof Francealso. The Sardinian mines 
were also worked by them, and probably those of northern 
Spain and Sicily. The Carthaginians, succeeding the Phe- 
nicians, continued and encouraged mining in these countries. 
‘* Greece.—In Greece, lead mining was conducted on a large 
scale at Laurium during the sixth and fifth centuries B. c., 
38. Hunt, Robert: British Mining —A Treatise on the History, Discovery, Practical De- 
velopments and Future Prospects of Metalliferous Mines in the United Kingdom. London, 1880, 
4. Roscoe, H. E., and Schorlemmer, C.: A Treatise on Chemistry, vol. II, pt. i, p. 251. 
