The Practical Gold-Worker, or, The Goldsmith's and Jeweller's Instructor in the Art of Alloying, Melting, Reducing, Colouring, Collecting, and Refining: The Progress of Manipulation, Recovery of Waste, Chemical and Physical Properties of Gold; With a New System of Mixing its Alloys; Solders, Enamels, and Other Useful Rules and Recipes.

THE

PRACTICAL GOLD-WORKER.

CHAPTER I.

Gold; its History and Sources of Supply.

To aid the advancement of scientific knowledge, and to give assistance to the manipulator or worker in the precious metal, is the object of the writer of this book; as well as to enable the artisan and the uninitiated to acquire a general knowledge of the history, and useful appliances of the chief material connected with the goldsmith’s art. In the first place, with the idea that the subject may be interesting to the general reader as well as to the practical man, we propose to review the ancient history of gold, together with its modern progress and usefulness as regards ornamental art. The last-mentioned matter will be amply discussed hereafter, when the processes and treatment of the precious metal will be explained, together with all that can, in common fairness to the trade of a manufacturing goldsmith, be published. This information will be derived both from actual experience, and from the study of the works of most of the leading authors who have written upon the subject.

Gold of all metals is the most imperishable, and consequently the most noble and beautiful. It is, therefore, identified with everything that is intrinsically valuable and outwardly rich. It is the most solid of all the metals, and when in a state of perfect purity consists of particles so fine in the grain and so closely united, that they can hardly be separated. When unalloyed it does not suffer any diminution or loss by melting; it does not tarnish in the air, neither is it subject to rust if laid by, but always retains its natural appearance; no acid or salt of any kind will affect it in the least degree; it has moreover a beautiful characteristic yellow colour, and is justly distinguished from all other minerals by the name of the king of metals, or the royal metal.

The history of gold abounds in so much that is interesting, that we have thought it worth while to trace a little of its ancient production and applications. Gold has been known from the remotest age. The sacred writers used to identify it with everything that was precious, and speak of it as the metal of supreme excellence. The first mention of it in the pages of the Old Testament is in the Book of Genesis (chap. ii. 10—12): And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good. The Book of Genesis is supposed to have been written by Moses about 1,500 years before the birth of Christ; gold, then, upon the evidence of Scripture, has been used upwards of 3,300 years. The first mention of its being employed for the purposes of ornamental art is found in the same book (Genesis chap. xxiv. 22): The man (this was Abraham’s servant) took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her (Rebekah’s) hands of ten shekels weight of gold. A golden skekel, according to our present currency, would be worth about £1 16s. 6d. The same book also informs us that articles or ornaments of jewellery were worn by the Jews, of almost every description now to be seen in the nineteenth century. In Genesis also (chap. xli. 42) we read of other things of the same kind, the manufacture of which was known to the ancients: And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. As far as we have been enabled to ascertain by reference, gold is mentioned in the Bible in all upwards of three hundred times, in connection with various things with the manipulation of which the old Jewish patriarchs must have been tolerably conversant; for we read of jewels, crowns, bowls, knops, bars, pillars, hooks, flowers, rings, chains, bells, plates, tablets, ouches, and talents of gold; also cherubims, candlesticks, mercy-seats, ephods, breast-plates, and calves, all of which were of gold; there were besides settings of gold, tables covered with gold, houses embellished with gold, while the throne itself is said to have been overlaid with pure gold. Further, all Solomon’s drinking vessels were made of this metal (1 Kings x. 21): And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. So abundant does it appear to have been in his time, that it is reported that he received 666 talents of gold (equal to about 27 tons) in one year.

Gold has been known and used by every nation, both uncivilised and civilised, from the earliest period down to our own time. Among the old Egyptian monuments it is found, and semi-barbarous nations also used it in the form of dust as the principal medium of exchange. When America was discovered by Columbus, gold was well known to its inhabitants; the Chinese have used it from time immemorial; the Medes and Persians were remarkable, even more than other Asiatics, for their love of gold; jewels of costly descriptions were employed to indicate the rank of the wearer, and this custom is still continued in the East at the present day. Africa too has long been celebrated as the land of gold-dust, and it is supposed that the Ophir whence Solomon obtained so much was a country on that coast. To show the sacred value, in ancient times, the Egyptians placed on gold, it was represented by a circle with a dot in the middle: this circle, amongst that nation, being the symbol of divinity and perfection.

Gold is found in America, and mines exist in California, Mexico, Brazil, British Columbia, Peru, Central America, Granada, and several other localities in South America. At present the United States of America contribute more than one-third of the total supply of gold.

The metal is never met with in a pure state in nature, being always alloyed with silver and sometimes with copper; the proportion varying greatly in the different gold mines of the world. In Californian and some other mines of America, the purity is not quite equal to our standard; nevertheless, this does not alter the fact that America is the richest gold-producing country of the whole world at the present time.

California is the largest field in America, producing gold to the value of £13,000,000 per annum; Mexico and South America contribute £1,000,000. (We are indebted for these statistics to Cassell’s Technical Educator—Mineral and Commercial Products.) Previous to 1847 (the year of the discovery of gold in California) the average produce of the whole world was far short of that now yearly produced by California. Professor Tomlinson, in his Useful Arts and Manufactures, said: Yet so comparatively small were the gatherings of the precious metal, that in reckoning the average produce of all parts of the New and Old World for a series of years previous to 1847, it did not amount to the annual value of five millions sterling.

In Australia, gold is found in New South Wales, Victoria, Melbourne, Sydney, Reedy Creek, Geelong, and numerous other places; but the places just mentioned are the most important and extensive producing districts in that country. New Zealand is also a gold-producing country. That of Australia and New Zealand is remarkable for its pureness, being considerably above our present English standard, and containing only about three per cent. of alloy, or fifteen grains to the ounce.

The year 1851 was a year of special interest to the English people, and memorable to this country in more respects than one. It was in that year that the first International Exhibition of Industry was opened in Hyde Park, and it was in that year also that Australia first began to reveal her long-hidden treasure. The first discovery in our Australian possessions was made near Bathurst, situated about one hundred miles west of Sydney, New South Wales. A gentleman of the name of Hargraves, who had for some considerable time been familiar with the geology of the district, by way of experiment, took several baskets of soil from the ground and washed the contents, when they were found to contain gold. The experiment was repeated with the assistance of a body of men, and the result fully justified his expectations and rewarded him for his labours. This brilliant discovery soon however became known, and gold-digging became a flourishing industry. Mining operations were carried on by emigrants from all parts of the world, and in a short space of time similar results to those already achieved in California followed. At the present time the gold-producing districts of Australia, with New Zealand, contribute one-third of the total supply. The purity of the Australian gold as taken from the bowels of the earth, as we have already remarked, is greater than that of any other country in the world.

In Asia, the Ural Mountains contain some rich gold districts; they are situated on the borders of Asiatic Russia. Tibet, in the Chinese Empire, also furnishes gold. The islands of Sumatra and Ceylon, in the Indian Ocean, likewise contribute to our store; so do Borneo and Japan, in the Pacific Ocean. Other parts of Asia yield small supplies, such as the rivers of India, China, Sumatra, and Asia Minor, but the total supply is not very important when compared with other places, the annual value not exceeding half a million sterling; the chief districts being the Ural Mountains and the East Indies.

In Africa, gold seems to have been found from the very earliest ages; and along the coast of Caffraria the sands abound in gold-dust. This district is reputed to be the oldest and richest of the sources known to the ancients; it is supposed, as already mentioned, that the Ophir of the ancients was part of this coast, the place where King Solomon obtained so great an abundance of gold (1 Kings x. 11): And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir. The chief sources here are Guinea and the Gold Coast; the latter includes the district between Darfur and Abyssinia, where the principal portion is found. A small quantity is found in the sands of the rivers Gambia, Senegal, and Niger; and although, says Professor Tomlinson, Africa is at once pointed out by her ‘Gold Coast’ as yielding the precious metal, the whole supply from that continent is not estimated at more than 5,000 lbs. weight annually. The value then of the whole produce of this continent will not exceed a quarter of a million sterling per annum. Africa, in this respect, has lost her ancient position and has become the poorest quarter of the hemisphere in the yield of the precious metal.

Having now spoken of most of the gold districts we come nearer home, and it will, no doubt, be interesting to our readers to know, not only what are the gold-yielding localities of Europe, but also in our own country. In Europe, the Ural Mountains, dividing Asiatic from European Russia, furnish the largest quantities of gold. It is also to be found in the sands of the Rhine (in Prussia), the Rhone (in France), the Tagus (in Spain), the Danube (in Turkey), and many other rivers, but it is rarely considered worth working, because it exists in these respective places in too small a quantity to pay expenses. The provinces of Asturias and Granada, in Spain, formerly furnished a large amount, the mines being very rich and valuable, but they are now entirely neglected. Italy is not altogether destitute, for it is known to exist in the neighbourhood of the Alps, and in the sands of some of the rivers. At Edelfus, in Sweden, it has also been found. The Carpathian Mountains, in the Austrian Empire, also furnish the precious metal. The richest and largest mine on the continent of Europe, with the exception of Russia perhaps, is in Hungary: this and the Ural Mountains furnish the chief European supply.

Our own country is not without her gold districts, for small quantities have been found in Cornwall. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth extensive washings for gold were carried on at Leadhills, Lanarkshire, Scotland. It has also been found at Glen Turret in Perthshire, at Cumberhead in Lanarkshire, and more recently large quantities have been found in Sutherlandshire. Ireland, towards the close of the last century, supplied a large quantity of gold, but the yield lasted only for a short period; it was found at Arklow, in the county of Wicklow. Pieces were found by the people varying from the smallest particle to twenty ounces in weight. Gold has also been found at Dolgelly, in North Wales, and energetic proceedings have been carried on there. Nevertheless, we shall have to look in the future, as in the past, to the great gold-producing countries of America and Australia for a sufficient supply of the precious metal for the use of our artistic workers. The total annual gold supply of Great Britain and Ireland would not be sufficient to keep ten of the largest Birmingham firms fully employed manufacturing their usual 9-carat quality of goods for one week. We have said that in ancient times Africa was the great gold country of the world. In more modern times, till as recently as the year 1847, Mexico, in North America, and Chili, Peru, and Brazil, in South America, produced most of the gold used for the currency and in the goldsmith’s art; but the discoveries in California and Australia have established a field, the productions of which will not for a considerable time, at least, be exhausted.

Gold