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bells, and in the coastal area of Ansi Kul in Barshkhan up to the Sea of
Harah utensils and basins are made from it. These are very coarse".
This is only exaggeration, for the utensils made in China are very
delicate and beautiful. It is said the (Ghinese) add tin to it, which becomes the material for the Chinese mirrors.
Stones, called murda sang, are found to occur in Zaruban in Zabulistan. They have different shapes. They seem to be like a black thing
which has been dyed with something like arsenic. They are melted and
cast in moulds. These moulds or shapes are like armlets or like the hairknots of Indian women. It is called khar Sini, and it is like the Chinese
mirrors. It has more of ferrous darkness.
It is God Who prospers and assists.
PREPARATION OF BRASS AND COMPOUNDS THEREOF
Shibh is the yellow copper which is obtained from a vitriol that has
been treated with different sweetening agents. This is continued till it
becomes like gold and gains the name of shibh.
The poet, Siri, thus says:
People begin to do work like him, otherwise where is gold and where
is shibh ?
Its yellowishness being temporary, the more it is heated the more does
its yellowish hue fade, and vitriol has to be added to it afresh, otherwise,
it returns to its original state.
A strange thing about shibh is that it does not burn with sulphur as
all other minerals do except for gold. It could be that the resemblance
of its yellow colour with gold saves it from calcination.140          We shall
describe calcined shibh later while discussing the preparation of flasks
and talawih. Its calcination is like that of copper.
Vitriol possesses a surprising property. It mixes with copper and enhances its weight. Its stoniness does not diminish its ductility. Just as
the yellowness of brass is temporary, the vitriol which is added to it has
the status of an addendum which does not unite with it. It is not altered
either in its direction, as fire at every melt diminishes its mass and weight
until all of it disappears.
The vitriol used in this connexion is the smoke of the earth and its
essence. Its earth is kept in a kiln having shell-like elongated pieces.
When fire is lighted and the material is heated, vitriol skims to the upper
surface and fixes itself to these pieces like a membrane. It is light and
weighs light like peels. Already treated vitriol increases the weight of
silver as it adds to the weight of copper without making it black and does
not resist braying. Thus it parts from it, as copper parts (from it).
When shibh comes in contact with gold, it spoils gold and breaks it
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