BOOK IX.

419

exceeds the price of the latter by a gold coin 54 . These lattice-like bars arelighter than the others, and when five of them are pounded and amalgamatedwith a wooden mallet, a mass is made which is stamped with an iron die.There are some who do not make a dipping-pot on the floor for the tin to runinto, but in the hearth itself ; out of this the master, having removed thecharcoal, ladles the tin and pours it over the copper-plate. The dross whichadheres to the wood and the charcoal, having been collected, is re-smeltedin the furnace.

A—Furnace. B— Bellows. C—Iron Disc. D—Nozzle. E— Wooden Disc.

F — Blow-hole. G— Handle. H — Haft. I — Hoops. K— Masses of tin.

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Some of the Lusitanians melt tin from tin-stone in small furnaces. Theyuse round bellows made of leather, of which the fore end is a round iron discand the rear end a disc of wood ; in a hole in the former is fixed the nozzle,in the middle of the latter the blow-hole. Above this is the handle or haft,which draws open the round bellows and lets in the air, or compresses it anddrives the air out. Between the discs are several iron hoops to which theleather is fastened, making such folds as are to be seen in paper lanterns that

5 A 4 ureonummo. German Translation gives reinschen gulden, which was the equivalent01 about $1.66, or 6.9 shillings. The purchasing power of money was, however, several timesas great as at present. 1 8 F J