80
MINES OF
CHAP. II.
in the mortars; for a-passage in Pollux 1 ex-pressly notices the sieve (o-aXaS) among the toolsof the miners. Neither the form of the fur-naces nor of the bellows is described; but thelatter is noticed by Theophrastus 2 , and repre-sented as of small size. Charcoal was intro-duced ; the traders in it being mentioned by thesame author 3 .
The gold was melted by a gentle fire, with theaddition of a mixture of salt, nitre, and alum( <TTvwTr)pia') ) by which substances the silver alsowas purified 4 . It is not improbable that leadwas also added, to promote the flux of the metals.The Colophonians were the most celebratedamong the Greeks for their skill in smeltinggold : but none of them were equally skilful inpurifying silver; for the work was so imper-fectly performed, as we learn from Strabo 5 , thattheir successors were enabled to separate thesilver from the earths with a profit; althougheven they were far inferior to the operators onmetals in more modern times. Though theGreeks were acquainted with quicksilver, andhad much cinnabar, which they used as paint,they were ignorant of its property, or of its ap-plication to the purpose of quickening the pro-
1 Pollux, x. s. 149. Theopli. de Lapid. p. 393.
3 Idem. 4 Hippocrates de Diseta, p 193.