REFINERS

CHAP. XXVI.

As the reports of the quantity of the gold whichthe refiners and sweep-washers furnished to theseveral branches of the manufacturers of gold arti-cles were very discordant, and varied accordingto the persons who supplied them, in the pro-portion of one to four, or even one to five, and asall farther calculations must in some measure de-pend on the degree of correctness which could beobtained on that first step, it appeared necessaryto attend to it most scrupulously.

The business of a refiner requires a large capital.From the high value of the smallest particles oftheir commodity, a minute attention to everydetail is indispensable. It is impossible to con-duct the delicate operations on which they areengaged without some considerable knowledge ofthe chemistry of metallic substances, which is, inmany instances, extended far beyond the boundsof their own trade. Traders of this descriptionare open and accurate in their communicationswith those from whom they fear no rivalry, andsuspect no improper or underhand intention;and, except in one instance, every individualapplied to frankly stated his own product ofrefined gold, and gave his opinion of the productof other houses with whose transactions he hadany means of being acquainted. Out of twenty-three or twenty-four houses in the country andin London in these branches of trade, eleven