furnaces except through their mouths. Between the dome and the paved
floor they arrange green trees, then they close the door and the little windows,
and cover them on all sides with moss and lute, so that none of the quicksilver can exhale from the chamber. After the wood has been kindled the
possible however, that it was written late in the 15th Century (see Appendix B). He describes
the preparation of the metal from the crude ore, both by roasting and reduction from the oxide
with argol and saltpetre, and also by fusing with metallic iron. While the first description of these methods is usually attributed to Valentine, it may be pointed out that in
the Probierbüchlein (1500) as well as in Agricola the separation of silver from iron by
antimony sulphide implies the same reaction, and the separation of silver and gold with
antimony sulphide, often attributed to Valentine, is repeatedly set out in the Probierbüchlein and in De Re Metallica. Biringuccio (1540) has nothing of importance to say as to
the treatment of antimonial ores, but mentions it as an alloy for bell-metal, which would
imply the metal.
