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EVERY mould, of whatever kind it may be, must have an entrance appropriate to the material if it is wished to fill its inner space with bronze or other metal. It is likewise necessary that it have vents, that is, air holes, for there is nothing that is not full of air even though it be called empty. Now, molten bronze is a material that has an immediate effect because of its heaviness, and because it is as hot as fire or even hotter,

Jan 1, 1942

UNDER the same justification that I spoke to you in the preceding chapter on crystal and some other gems, I can now speak much better and with much greater reason of glass, since it is one of the effects and peculiar fruits of the art of fire. Every product that is found [41v] in the interior of the earth is either stone or metal or one of the semiminerals, and glass, as is seen, resembles them all, although in all respects it is dependent upon art. Therefore it seems to me that before coming to the discussion of the arts themselves, I must treat of this very beautiful composition created by art and number it with the semiminerals. Thus in this chapter I shall speak to you of glass, not as a proper semimineral, nor yet as a metal, but as a fusible material that is almost made mineral by art and by the power and virtue of fire, born from the speculation of good alchemistic savants, through whose efforts it imitates. the metals on one hand and the transparency and splendor of gems. on the other. Certainly it is a very beautiful thing and one that should not be left buried in silence, in consideration first of how great a thing art has been, able to discover, and then because its beauty makes it such a pleasing thing for making drinking. glasses and an infinite number of other ornamental things that satisfy the desires of man. I shall begin, then, by telling you, to the credit of the alchemists, how I believe that this thing was found through their desire to make gems; for when they could not bring them to perfection (as also happened with the metals) they made this beautiful and attractive product, glass. However, Pliny says that it was found by chance in Syria at the mouth of the Belus River by certain merchants who were driven there by the fortunes of the sea and forced to stop and disembark there for a time in order to eat. In cooking the food they saw the rocks of that place converted into a flowing, lustrous material. And as they thought about this, it seemed beautiful to them, and when they went away they carried some stones and plants with them. Thus they gave beginning to glass making. But now leaving this discussion it does not matter how it may have been discovered, whether by merchants or by ingenious alchemists. Art is that which has given it being, through many experiments and by addition

Jan 1, 1942

NATURE produces iron ore abundantly in many regions of the world, especially in Italy where not only is there a great abundance of it but also there are various kinds. In these our Tuscan parts it is a very familiar thing, since we are situated close to the island of Elba which is so overflowing and rich in this ore that it surpasses every other place where it is found. Thus not only do the regions of Tuscany share its great quantity because of their proximity, but more than two-thirds of Italy as well as Sicily and Corsica are supplied, and perhaps some more distant place. In addition, this ore is of such perfection that it

Jan 1, 1942

OF no less importance nor less terrifying to consider than the marvelous effects of guns are those produced with fire by powder in underground mines. These are truly not only similar to fearful natural earthquakes, but it can perhaps be said that these made by art surpass the wrath of the earth with greater effect. For if the latter shakes it happens that it causes the things on the surface to shake and sometimes to fall into ruins, but the former not only shakes but always functions and destroys-surely a marvelous effect which is almost incomprehensible, and if experience did not demonstrate it, it could scarcely be believed. Who would say that the mountains, things of such great hardness, would yield to men, easily opening their bowels? Likewise, one who had not seen it would say that it was impossible for men to have a way of administering at will fearful and destructive thunderbolts which are of such a kind that, although men make them, they cannot protect themselves against them; indeed they cannot call themselves safe from the evilness of gunpowder even in mountains composed of very hard stones or in budded structures. For, as is seen, there is no seemingly impregnable fortress that does not yield when guns are brought near it. If it happens, indeed, that guns can- not be brought near to some place because of the harshness of the site,

Jan 1, 1942

OCHRE is a semimineral composed by Nature of earth and a tincture of yellow caused by a fumosity of lead ore. By itself it is a material without any [38] metal, although when it is used in smelting it helps to melt the harsh and sour ores of metals. I do not know that it has any other use, except to painters. Bole is also a red viscous earth which has a very astringent and drying nature. It has no very apparent smell or taste, and I think that the cause of its redness lies in the fumosities of iron ore, for it is a companion to this and is found in its mines. It is an efficacious medicine against any poison and in this capacity has an action like terra sigillata* or perhaps better. In

Jan 1, 1942

MANY are the salts produced. by Nature in various regions and parts of the world, as Pliny shows in his History. Likewise, many are the differences among things that are salty and from which salt can be extracted, as, for instance, all the lyes from any kind of ashes and the urine of all animals. But because these are not things that give men the useful elements necessary to life, I shall omit speaking of them in detail with the exception of some of the more notable ones, and I shall tell you that I find that men proceed in only two ways in order to have a sufficiency for their needs. One is that of extracting it from the salty waters of the sea itself, or from springs, with a certain technique [34v] adapted to the places, either by congealing or by evaporation; and the other is that of mining it from the earth. The latter salt is clear and beautiful, and it is mined from mountains, already made by Nature in the form of stone without the aid of art. All these salts have more or less efficacy* according to the fineness or coarseness of their earthy elemental mixture, and according to the provinces and places where they are found generated. All are of an earthy

Jan 1, 1942

QUICKSILVER is a body that consists of flowing and liquid materials, almost like water with a shining whiteness; it is composed by Nature of a viscous, subtle substance with an overflowing abundance of moistness and coldness together. This composition, in the opinion of the philosophic alchemists, is a thing that is very disposed to become metal-indeed they say that it is the original seed of all metals. When it lacks the warmness and dryness or the specific time that they require, it cannot congeal and so remains in the form that we see as an imperfect thing without becoming metal. These clever investigators have also called it mercury in consideration of its properties, perhaps because of its resemblance to the planet of him whose actions place him between gods and men, according to the poets in their stories. Thus these investigators think that this has a similar place among perfect metals, since it is the primary mineral matter. It might also be that they called it so because like the god Mercury it is winged and fugitive, and by virtue of its powerful subtlety penetrates all things and can issue forth from them at will. But let it be called by any name they wish-it does not matter to us. I, like them, shall sometimes call it mercury and sometimes [23 ] quicksilver as it has been named to me, and you will understand it as such. Now I shall leave aside the disputes on whether it is the primary matter of metals or not, since I have said enough concerning this question in the first chapter of the First Book. In order to approach what the philosophers say about it, I say that it may well be material about to be converted into metal, but since it is seen to be so ill-proportioned and so badly decocted, I cannot believe that it can be disposed to the generation of all kinds of metals. Indeed, if it is, I think that if its necessary processes had not been interrupted it would be more apt to generate lead, tin, iron, or even silver rather than copper or gold. And if we wish to consider it in relation to the natural complexions [of metals] or to the power of the, planets, I think that mercury is far distant from those of gold and from the power of the sun and of the moon. Therefore I say that if it is not what I have said, it is a thing that Nature has been pleased to make as it is. I am led to say this because all of it that I have seen has had the same

Jan 1, 1942

PASSING over the derivation of the word as well as the description of the alum that has been written of as a liquid and that was once called natta, I tell you that the alum that is commonly called rock alum today is a congealed earthy substance, clear and transparent, of a hot and dry nature, and of a bitter taste with a certain unctuous saltiness. It has an astringent and corrosive property and is drawn from mineral stones by means of art. All that I have seen is of the same nature but of two colors,

Jan 1, 1942

HAVING previously told you about lodestone, azure, emery, and manganese, things that perhaps belong more properly to the stones than to the metals, the desire has come to me to describe rock crystal as well and, with this, some of the better-known gems, although they are things that are not classified with metals, as far as I know, or even with the serniminerals. In truth, they are neither one nor the other, but they are stones and have the nature of stones. But let them be what they may, in order to avoid straying from the subject we have begun, we shall say that they have mineral properties in their species, as for instance, in respect to their colors. It would seem an error to me if, while I am giving you information on so many other useful things, I did not give you this as well, if for no other reason than because it is a fine accomplishment for a gentleman to have some knowledge concerning gems. Thus since I have proposed to do this, beginning to speak of crystal, I tell you that it is a lustrous, transparent, and limpid stone, composed by Nature with a predominance of wateriness. Thus, contrary to the order of natural things, it has been believed by many that Nature has generated it of pure water by means of a powerful and continuous coldness that always exists in those mountains and places where it is found, for the waters and snows can never melt there because of the great cold. They have tried to prove this opinion of theirs by saying that crystal still retains the nature of frozen water, and that this is. shown not only in its appearance but also in the fact that, like ice, it floats without sinking to the bottom when it is put in water. They also say that it is customary to put it under the tongues of the thirsty on account of the, coldness and moistness which it gives, and that it quenches the dryness of their thirst. But even if all these things were true, as they are not, they do not upon consideration bring us to the conclusion that it is water, because the diamond and the beryl would do the same. Therefore it does not seem to me credible [391 that it is as they claim, for it is a stone generated as such by Nature. And then, if this were true in those places where it rains often and many snows are formed, and these should freeze and never melt but

Jan 1, 1942

SULPHUR is a very well known mineral and apparently is produced in many places. It is engendered from an unctuous earthy and powerfully hot substance so that it is considered among experienced workers to bear a resemblance to the element of fire. This is called by these same men the masculine seed and the prime agent of Nature in the composition of metals. Because of its great dryness and heat it has, as experience shows, affinity with fire, which is easily introduced in it when brought near. And once introduced the fire is quenched only with difficulty before its unctuousness is wholly consumed. Although it shows itself to us of such a hot and dry nature, we must not think that sulphur is a substance so pure that it can stand by itself or that in order to attain its form it has no need of its portion and part of moisture like every other mixture. This is shown to us by its easy fusion, in which it resembles the metals. This thing is found in many places and in many varieties of color; some are white, others yellow and orange, and some others between gray and black. They also say that some red is found. It does not occur in that arrangement of veins like other minerals, but most liberal Nature makes whole mountains of it as is seen in the Aeolian islands, [26] near Sicily, in Etna or Moncibello which is the island of Sicily, at Pozzuoli, in the territory of Rome, in the Sienese domain at San Filippo, and in many other similar places. It is a substance that has a very strong odor and is most unpleasant to smell. It is very fixed in its substance so that it is never corrupted by time, by boiling, or by the moisture of water. For although it may stand in water a long time it never becomes soft nor does it ever decrease or increase in weight. It is brittle and easily crushed very fine. It is said that a trace of garlic rubbed on the mortar helps anyone who wishes to reduce it to impalpability. Its ores have a form more like earth than like stone although they some¬times have the color of a certain soft rock. The places where it is found are easily recognized by the great odor that they give out and by the very hot baths that often spring forth near it. What I have already told you about quicksilver that is contrary to the

Jan 1, 1942

By F. W. Bloecher, A. M. Gaudin

Using an adsorption-column technique the partition of dodecylamine between quartz and water has been determined at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 4000 mg per liter. The adsorption varies as the square root of the concentration. Attachment of dodecylamine to quartz is reversible. The amount adsorbed in a flotation operation giving almost complete recovery is under 5 pct of the amount required for a monolayer.

Jan 4, 1950

AS I have told you before, "alloy" here signifies nothing but the mixture of one metal with another in friendly companionship. Whenever you wish to do this, you should consider the purpose that moves you, whether it is to increase the quantities, or for corruption. Then you should choose whatever has by its nature more affinity with what you wish to alloy, or whatever is best for your purpose. Give it in the melt the proportion that you wish or as much as it can support without being entirely removed from its first nature, as [73v] water is in wine or white in black if too much is added. However, you must make the proportion with a definite ratio by weight and not by chance in order that you may bring your work to the degree of perfection that you desire. For he who, proceeds with his eyes closed not only stumbles many times but frequently falls. Therefore you must know first that gold does not join in an alloy with any metal other than silver and copper. Thus if you wish to make a work of gold or to have it made, and begrudge the expense of having it fine, or if you find that you do not have enough, or if you do not care about such fineness, you must decide exactly how many carats less than perfectly fine you wish it to be, or by what weight you wish it to be increased. In order to do this accurately weigh the fine gold that you have and accompany it with silver or fine copper in the quantity that you wish to give it, and melt both these things together very well. So that you may understand the procedure better, let us suppose that you wish your gold to be 23 carats. You are to imagine that the whole quantity is twenty-four parts because this is the final limit at which the gold can be perfect. Now if this were the case, you would put in one part, which corresponds to one twenty-fourth of the whole quantity. You will have taken away one carat of the value of its fineness and increased it another in quantity. In the same way it will happen if you put in two or three or four or six. Up to the limit of one-half, you will always have gold according to the denomination of the lesser virtue and the greater quantity. Surpassing one-half, so that there are eleven parts of silver and thir-

Jan 1, 1942

EXCEPT for the material, the same method that you used in alloying gold is used in alloying silver, but its alloy is fine copper. Just as the silver does in gold, so copper in silver diminishes and lowers its fineness and increases its quantity. If half the value is surpassed it is no longer called silver but copper containing silver, as I told you of gold. But in my opinion one could also say silver of 5,4, or 3 leghe or even of one. How- ever, these terms are of no importance for our purpose. It is enough that you suppose that the whole quantity of silver that you have is twelve parts. If you put one part of copper in h with the melt, you will say [74] that you have 11-lega silver and that it is in weight thirteen of the first parts† and so on, when you add two to ten and four to eight, always naming the quantity of the fine silver just as you did with the gold, either

Jan 1, 1942

IT is customary to make an alloy of copper in the same way, not to increase its quantity as with gold or silver, but to corrupt it for the art of casting and to destroy a certain natural viscosity in it. For this result it is accompanied by tin and also, sometimes, brass. But its proper and true alloy is fine tin, except, however, when you wish to make hammered works. For these, copper must be pure and without any trace [of impurity], otherwise it cannot be hammered thin, gilded in the fire, drawn into a wire, or made into vessels for use as is customary; but in casting, tin is almost essential. When you come to this association, just as it changes nature and appearance according to the proportion of tin which you give it, so it changes name and is no longer called copper but bronze, or, for a greater distinction of the quantity of tin for every hundred or more of copper, it is called by skilled workmen metal of more or less fineness as it contains more or less tin. This is recognized by the whiteness and brittleness: changing from red, which is the color of copper, it becomes white; from soft and flexible it becomes hard and brittle as glass. This admixture removes it so far from its original nature that one who does not know that it is a compound material believes it to be one of the number of metals engendered by Nature. Now, so that you may understand well, I tell you that various kinds of this are made, all according to the proportions of the quantities and according to the kind of work. For one kind of bronze is desired by those who make statues; this is not desired by those who make artillery or by those who make bells, mortars, basins, and similar cast objects. Now in order to alloy it into the species of bronze, eight, nine, ten, up to twelve pounds of tin are put with every hundred pounds of copper. Those who want it to make bells put twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, and twenty-six, depending on the tone, on whether they are large or small in form, and on whether they wish to make the tone deep or sharp and clear. From twelve upwards is used for all other works that need it, either for hardness or to give them fluidity in casting by surpassing the degree of

Jan 1, 1942

LEAD and tin mixed together make an alloy through an attachment of natural affinity which they have with each other, so that when they are mixed it is difficult to recognize by the sight which one it is, if the essences of their qualities are not surpassed by more than half. If, indeed, one can be recognized, it is the tin which gives off a certain sharp odor to the sense of smell, besides having a greater hardness and whiteness. The best of these is the one that is the purest in its kind. In the alloy of tin it is the one that is the whitest and hardest, or, when it is bent or some thin end of it is held tightly by the teeth, is heard to crackle as frozen water does. Because this happens more with this than with other metals, I do not wish now to inquire into it. It is enough that it be a sign for recognizing when tin is pure or mixed. Pewterers say that it should be joined in alloy with lead and that it is better for working when it contains four or six pounds to the hundred because it makes it softer to the hammer and more fluid in casting. But I do not like to hear this, even if all they say is true, for I see that the tin that comes from England, when worked as well as in cakes that show it to be pure, is much more beautiful and better in all works than is that made in Venice. And I believe that it is not better for any work when mixed than when pure, except for the advantage of the master who, if he does nothing else, sells lead that is worth little for tin that is worth much. I find that when mixed it serves in only two things. One is when it is wished to make a solder for copper, for use when it is not worth while to solder the bottoms and large pieces of vessels with low-grade silver as should be done. The other is when master potters calcine it in order to make glazes and to apply white to their vases. I consider lead to be useless in all other works of any kind of metal, since it unites with none of the other metals of good company except tin.

Jan 1, 1942

SINCE I have mentioned the art of alchemy in. many parts of this treatise of mine, especially when 'came to the description of the practice of various operations,* I do not here intend to argue as to whether it may be called true or not. But in case it is true, inasmuch as it is seen in operation to be a result dependent on the actions and virtues of fires, I should not pass by in silence without speaking at all of this art here, nor would I wish to do so, especially since I think that you do not really know what it is except in so far as common report is heard everywhere to the effect that whoever carries it to completion makes silver and gold with it. Because of this belief, many seek it with much time, labor, and expense, as I know you have often heard related, if not elsewhere, by me in the chapter on gold that I have written in this volume. Now do not think that I wish to teach you this art here, for I am one of those who do not know it. Therefore I shall tell you here, so that you may know more, only. that those workers who so eagerly follow after and seek it proceed by just two pathways. One is that which takes its enlightenment from the words of the wise philosophers, by means of which they think to attain it. This they call the just, holy, and good way, and they, say that in this they are but imitators and assistants of Nature, indeed, manipulators and true physicians-of .mineral bodies, purging them of superfluities and assisting them by augmenting their virtue and freeing them from their defects. In this way they sometimes proceed to corrupt these bodies in order to be able to separate the elements they contain so as to reduce them, if possible, to their primary materials, as they call them, or sometimes they convert them into new substances by means of this art or by adding another spirit different from the first one. Thus they seek in this way to bring these materials to a certain point of corruption or to a separation of elements, or to remove or add spirits to things, or to make coarse materials subtle and sometimes to make subtle materials coarse. Therefore, as you can understand, these persons, with bridle broken, run a circular track night and day, without ever having rest; and surely I do not know whether anyone has ever arrived at the desired goal. Nevertheless, even though the goal of this art were emptiness, as many

Jan 1, 1942

IT is necessary that all men who wish to bring things to a certain end should think of the agents needed to attain this. Now whichever one of the above processes you wish to use you must consider the nature of the material and see whether it is disposed to render what you wish to extract. Then you must see whether you have the other agents sufficiently powerful and proportioned to attain this result, for if the things were not in harmony your work would be vain and very laborious. Therefore, if you should wish to make waters or oils by way of distilla-

Jan 1, 1942

A GREAT labor, surely, is that of the coppersmith, since his every work must be hewn from the mass of copper by force of the hammer. At the beginning, middle, and, end all his works are inconvenient pieces and unpleasant to handle. If the work is done on the forge with the fire, it is done in order to refine or compose it into masses again, for drawing these out while hot with the blows of some heavy hammer, or in order to put the works in a condition that allows them to be drawn out while cold and worked. In this he puts all his labor and industry. He who works at this art often makes use of large hammers, sometimes of small ones, and sometimes of those that have a long iron head and a short handle. With these he is obliged ever to proceed in one of these activities, either extending the work lengthwise, narrowing it, or widening it. This is achieved by the manner and direction of striking and therefore it is sometimes hammered on the inside, sometimes on the outside, sometimes with the peen, and sometimes with the flat head. For instance, when he wishes to close it up he strikes it on the outside with the peen, and if he wishes to widen it he strikes it on the inside with either the flat head or the peen. In this way he proceeds to shape it with constant patience, and to make all the vessels that he works graceful. This metal, as I have told you, is soft, flexible, and tenacious under the hammer. It yields with a certain toughness, provided, however, that it is fine and without admixture of a trace of tin or other metal. That craftsman is a good master of this art who best makes every desired work

Jan 1, 1942

IN discussing the art of the goldsmith, it is apparent that it is an art requiring skill. He who wishes to be acclaimed a good master therein must be a good universal master in several arts, for the different kinds of work that come to his hands to be done are infinite. Those who work in gold and silver must outdistance all other craftsmen in learning and achievement to the same degree that their materials outdistance other metals in nobility. Therefore, it is necessary first of all to be a good designer, because design is the key that opens the doors not only to the goldsmith's craft but to all others. Then it is necessary that he understand melting and that he know well how to work with a hammer and how to use flat gravers and burins in engraving, as well as files and chisels. He must also possess certain secrets that are needful to the art, which in truth are parts of alchemy, such as softening gold when it is brittle and raw, coloring it when it has little color, soldering, enameling, working in niello, blanching, gilding, and an infinite number of things which must all be known in detail. But above all he who wishes to do this art well must be very patient in working, must know how to mould and how to proceed with the melt and with the file, hammer, chisel, or other implements for bringing his gold or silver work to the final state which he plans. He must also have good judgment in gems and know well how to recognize every [134v] good or defective quality they possess, and to distinguish the false gem from the true, either when set or when unmounted, as there is need; also how to value them both in buying or selling and in satisfying others who seek his appraisal. He should also be experienced not only in the technique of melting but also in the methods of assaying, parting, refining, cementing, and the like, and still many others. But if I wished to tell you of every part

Jan 1, 1942

HAVING told you of the practices of the arts involving other metals, I wish to tell you also of the practice of that of tin.* Indeed, since this is an easily melted metal, in common use for the utensils which are made for human needs, it is an art known not only to skilled men but also almost to children, wherefore I could proceed with- out telling of it. However, besides the production of plates and bowls and many other dishes for eating from and keeping things in, this embraces two other arts, both of which you should know about because they are useful and beautifid. One of these is the art .of making the letters with which books are printed, and the other is that of making the sheets from which organ pipes are built. The vessels, as perhaps you have seen, are cast one by one in moulds made of white tuff. Several pieces fastened together are then put on the iron axle of a wheel rotated by hand, and [138v] they are turned with a slightly bent tool which has a cutting edge. In this way they are made thin and of a good shape. Then they are polished with a piece of linen cloth and a little powdered tripoli, and thus they are finished. The letters for printing books are made of a composition of three parts of fine tin, an eighth part of black lead, and another eighth part of fused marcasite of antimony.t The desired quantities of these metals are melted

Jan 1, 1942