SECT. V.
Lodes of
lead.
2I2 N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y
Our lead-veins in.Cornwall...generally run .eaft and weft, but are
not large in dimenfions* nor fo dafting asithe veins this metal
in feme parts of Wales, in Derbyfhire, and other parts of England,
and feldom or never yield much lead, excepting when they are
croffed by other lodes, and then tljéy make what the-miners call a
Bunch, or bank of ore, juft in the place where the fiffures mterleö.
T ho this be the gpneral eouyfe ®fdmd>Fv®BS' with us, yet the widen
and richeft lodes of this metal which we have inCornwall, are obferved,
as I have been informed, to run north and fouth. Lodes of lead in
Britain, fays Pliny p, when exhaufted, after refting awhile, are re-
plenilhed with the fame ore. . The matter of fa<ft is much to be
queftioned; yet if there be fuch fueceflive refthyations, k cannot
be from the air, as he imagines, but from the water, which circulates
SECT. VI.
Little
wrought in
Cornwall.
the contents of the adjacent ftrata^ and depofites them, in the
retentive hollows and fiffures of the| mine. Lead does not throw
itfelf into fuch a variety of figures as' tin;- the only regular fhape
in which I have yet fcen lead-ore in Cornwall, is-lhat-fof the' pgral-
ldopiped kind, called the Dice, or teffellatedp^Jt$fel: pfthefe
in their natural fize, are inferted Plate xx. Fig1, x$xua, xxxiv, and
xxxvii. (the largeft grain of lead I have feed); and, .for the.fatif-
faftion o f the curious, two fpecimens of the Tipperary lead are added,
Fig1, xxxv and xxxvi, Jbid.
Though lead has been difeovered in fo many parts of this county,
we have not any one mine of note, excepting, ionly lEbfft. Iffy near
Padftow, in prefent working, upon account onlyjpf.the lead; 'but
as our grounds are fo fubjeft to this metal, and ift' fome, places the
ore is fo rich in f i lverand yet fo latent, efflgaifed, and, as appears
from what has been laid before, of fuch various aifoeiations, that
no two foflils can be more unlike thanjome forts off lead, ore ; and
as new riilgnifes, not here particularized, may occur to the curious,
and particularly as the ore richeft in filver has no more than the
appearance of fpar, and fometimes common clay, the gentlemen of
Cornwall have reafon to be cautious that a great deal of this precious
metal be not thrown away, as good for nothing, by thé Unfkil-
ful miner, and that the feveral forts of lead-ore, as they are railed,
be carefully examined, and feparately tried ; and becaufe few miners
know or diftinguilh lead, or will be at the pains of procuring
proper information for their mafters, when they meet with any
thing new, it is much to be wilhed that gentlemen,.who have property
and leifure, would acquaint themfelves with the eafy procefs
of allaying metals, or would fubferibe towards the maintaining a
p Lib. xxxiv, chap. xvn. ... ’ See above of Guatnek.
general
general aflay-mafter, who Ihould not only be obliged to allay, but
come to the fpot upon proper notice, and examine, at thé fide of
the mine, any néw; or likely product, which the ground Ihonld
afford. It might alfo be a part of his province to procure conftant
quarterly information of the price of metals and ores at all .foreign
markets. It halbeen mentioned-before', that the true black dead,
or molybdaena^ is foUnd in Cornwall; and if a vein of this lead,
which is found1 fro where in Europe to any purpofe but in the
county of Cumberland, Ihould offer, as *is not unlikely, ft is in
fome danger öf being neglected* or thrown away, becaufe it is 'neither
tin, common lead, nbT copper;
Quickfilver found in Cornwall I have not heard of, yet it is
thought by- fome mineralifts a ftandfng rule, that where copper
(.abounds^ there is at#ays‘ quickfilver '. Moft likely f f is dio mixed
and entangled'4with other* bodiéè, that ■ oiff miners,' not feeing it
liquid; lnever endeavour or ore J nehthèr
do they at all heed that quickfilver is found fometimesin hard
ftones off a faffron,- and -blackifh colovn *•; in bothJcafes it is very
eafy for it to efeape our labourers.
C H A P. XIX.
O f Gqld found in Cornwall.
IT has been queftioned whether there was ever any:gold worth s ^ c t . l
notice in Britain", and Cicero ' feys, that, according fo his in-or^w
formation, there was neither gold nor filver in Britain j but Strabo ?]cnewn.y
and Tacitus& who muff: have had better information, confefi bpth,
and the latter intimates, that thefe precious metals were the R.oman
motives .to conquer Britain Mr. Carew informs u^jpage 7jbj(and
Camden from him) that fome little quantities of gold were found
in his time, but fo inconfiderable that they were qfoally fold for a
few half-pence. Mr. Scawen, who writ near the middle of the
laft century, fays, that “ gold has been made out of the Comifh
tin-works.” Mr. Boyle* obferves, that » he had by him fome fine
gold, which never endured, the fire, taken out o f: tin-ore,” . moft
likely from Cornwall; for Sir Humphrey Mackworth , in his prer
See page 130 of femimetals.
• Sec before of copper, page 208.
* Boerh. page 76.
“ Mufgrave, vol. I. page"169.
» Ad Famil. tom I. lib. v n . epift. v n . edit.
Elze. & Hack. 1676.
I Vit. Agric. chap, xii. ,
* Fert Britannia auruni & argentum pretiura
viflorise.- ■ .'C 'p i'fp '. ’ I | -
« Philof. Tranf. N°. xix. page 339, and ge-
neral heads, page 39. •
* Curiofities' of England, page 24.
I i i free,