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of a transparent yellow, and the other of a deep browninclining to red : in this vitrefied substance there wereplainly perceived sticking at least five or six globules thatlooked more like impure silver than pure gold. Havingrubbed this odd metal upon a good touchstone, whereonthere was likewise rubbed a piece of coined silver and apiece of coined gold, the mark left by it on the stonewas notoriously more like that of the silver than of thegold. Having knocked the little lump with a hammer,it was found brittle, and slew in several pieces. Even thein si des of those pieces looked of a base dirty colour, likethat of brass or worse, for the fragments had a far greaterresemblance to bell-metal than either to gold or silver.One dram being carefully weighed out, and put on anexcellent new and well-nealed cupel, with about half adozen times its weight of lead ; though it turned verywell like good gold, yet it continued in the fire above anhour and a half, which was twice as long as was expected,and yet almost to the very last the fumes copiously as-cended, which sufficiently argued the operation to havebeen well carried on ; and when at last it was quite ended,the cupel was found very smooth and entire, but tingedwith a fine purplish red ; and, besides the refined gold,there lay upon the cavity of the cupel some dark colouredrecrements, which were concluded to have proceededfrom the deteriorated metal, not from the lead. Butwhen the gold was put again into the balance, it wasfound to weigh only about fifty-three grains, and conse-quently to have lost seven ; which yet was found to befully made up by the recrements abovementioned, whoseweight and fixity, compared with their unpromising ap-pearance, did not a little puzzle the ingenious author,especially because he had not enough either of them, orof leisure, to examine their nature. The ill-looked mass,

before