an iron grate, as long and wide as the box and threequarters of a foot high ;
it has six feet, and there aie so many transverse bars that they almost touch
one another. On the grate they lay pine-wood and over it broken ore, and over
this they again lay pine-wood. When it has been kindled the ore melts, out
of which the bismuth drips down ; since very little wood is burned, this is the
most profitable method of smelting the bismuth. The bismuth drips through
the grate on to the hearth, while the other things remain upon the grate with
the charcoal. When the work is finished, the workman takes a stick from the
hearth and overturns the grate, and the things which have accumulated on
it; with a brush he sweeps up the bismuth and collects it in a basket, and
then he melts it in an iron pan and makes cakes. As soon as possible after
it is cool, he turns the pans over, so that the cakes may fall out, using for
this purpose a two-pronged fork of which one prong is again forked. And
immediately afterward he returns to his labours.
END OF BOOK IX.
