powder into the crucible, and again makes it smooth with his hands, and
kneads it with his fists and with the pestles; then, pushing upward and
pressing with his fingers, he makes the edge of the crucible smooth. After the
crucible has been made smooth, he sprinkles in dry charcoal dust, and again
pounds it with the same pestles, at first with the narrow heads, and afterward
with the wider ones. Then he pounds the crucible with a wooden mallet
two feet long, both heads of which are round and three digits in diameter;
its wooden handle is two palms long, and one and a half digits in diameter.
Finally, he throws into the crucible as much pure sifted ashes as both hands
can hold, and pours water into it, and, taking an old linen rag, he smears
the crucible over with the wet ashes. The crucible is round and sloping. If
copper is to be made from the best quality of " dried " cakes, it is made two
feet wide and one deep, but if from other cakes, it is made a cubit wide and
two palms deep. The master also has an iron band curved at both ends,
two palms long and as many digits wide, and with this he cuts off the edges
of the crucible if they are higher than is necessary. The copper pipe is
inclined, and projects three digits from the wall, and has its upper end and
both sides smeared thick with lute, that it may not be burned ; but the underside of the pipe is smeared thinly with lute, for this side reaches almost to the
edge of the crucible, and when the crucible is full the molten copper touches
it. The wall above the pipe is smeared over with lute, lest that should be
damaged. He does the same to the other side of an iron plate, which is a
foot and three palms long and a foot high; this stands on stones near the
crucible at the side where the hearth slopes, in order that the slag may run
out under it. Others do not place the plates upon stones, but cut out
of the plate underneath a small piece, three digits long and three digits
wide; lest the plate should fall, it is supported by an iron rod fixed in the
wäll at a height of two palms and the same number of digits, and it projects
from the wall three palms.
Then with an iron shovel, whose wooden handle is six feet long, he
throws live charcoal into the crucible; or else charcoal, kindled by means
of a few live coals, is added to them. Over the live charcoal he lays " dried "
cakes, which, if they were of copper of the first quality, weigh all together
three centumpondia, or three and a half centumpondia; but if they were
of copper of the second quality, then two and a half centumpondia; if they
were of the third quality, then two centumpondia only ; but if they were
of copper of very superior quality, then they place upon it six centumpondia,
and in this case they make the crucible wider and deeper.24 The lowest
" dried " cake is placed at a distance of two palms from the pipe, the rest at
a greater distance, and when the lower ones are melted the upper ones fall
down and get nearer to the pipe ; if they do not fall down they must
be pushed with a shovel. The blade of the shovel is a foot long, three palms
and two digits wide, the iron part of the handle is two palms long, the
