Excerpt from Manual of Assaying: Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper When I entered upon the task of preparing this book, It was with the idea of furnishing a guide to those who, having had no previous technical or especially scientific education, desired to learn something of the practical assaying of gold and silver ores, and in whose hands I could place no work that could give them this information in a clear, simple, and thoroughly detailed manner, and unburdened with unnecessary matter. This intention I have tried lo adhere to all the way through, and while I have added other information which was pertinent, I have kept such increase in an appendix, so that the body proper of the work contains the real subject-matter. It is my sincere belief that there is no book in the English language on the subject of assaying which occupies the. space that this little manual tries to fill. A number of such publications fail to meet the want, on account of their antiquity, they having been written some thirty years ago; hence their methods, apparatus, etc., are not suited to the assayers of to-day. Others are either more suitable as books of reference, or do riot give sufficient detail for the inexperienced. It is this latter fault I have carefully endeavored to avoid, and perhaps have gone to the other extreme. At all events, I have tried to give here in print-the precise instruction which I have previously imparted orally to my students. Those who may choose to criticise, will remember for whom this handbook is written. While I have consulted many of the authorities listed on pages 268-274, it is from three in particular that I have drawn great help. I refer to Mitchell's Manual of Practical Assaying, Ricketts' Notes on Assaying, and Kustel's Roasting of Gold and Silver Ores. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.