The average loss on the two check pieces is 5.7 milligrams, and the average result of the four assay pieces is 0.3909. Add the average loss to the average result, and there is got the corrected result, 0.3966. And if 0.5 gram of alloy contain 0.3966 of silver, 1000 will contain 793.2 of silver, and this is the degree of fineness.
A correction for the loss in cupellation is always made in this way when rich alloys are being assayed; and in the case of rich ores it may be done after the manner of the first of the above illustrations. There is another method of working which relies more on experiment. This is to smelt the cupel as described further on (p. 114), and to again cupel the resulting button of lead. The button of silver got in this second cupellation is added to that first obtained. It will sometimes, but not often, happen that the two buttons together will slightly exceed in weight the silver which was actually present. This is because of the retention in the buttons of a small quantity of lead. It has been stated that the proportion of lead thus retained may be as much as 1% of the silver present; this, however, can only be under exceptional conditions. A determination of the actual silver in the buttons got in the series of cupellations quoted on pages 102, 103, gave an average percentage of 99.85, so that even with the larger buttons the effect of the retained lead would be only to increase the weight by about 1 milligram. In the method of working with checks, the retained lead has no disturbing influence.
The proportion of lead required for the cupellation of any particular alloy requires consideration. With too much lead the time occupied in the process is increased, and so is the loss of silver; on the other hand, too little lead is of greater disadvantage than too much. From 8 to 16 parts of lead are required for each part of silver alloy, or, if gold is present, about twice as much as this must be used. For the cupellation of 1 gram of a silver copper alloy containing different percentages of copper, the following quantities of lead should be used:—
| Percentage of Copper in Alloy. | Lead Required. | |
| 5 | 6 | grams |
| 10 | 8 | " |
| 20 | 10 | " |
| 30 | 12 | " |
| 40 | 14 | " |
| 50-100 | 16-18 | " |
The alloy, in not too large pieces, is wrapped in the required weight of lead foil and charged into the cupel at once; or the lead may be put in first, and, when the cupellation has fairly started, the alloy may be added wrapped in tissue paper; or a portion of the lead may be first started and the alloy wrapped in the remaining lead and subsequently added. The cupellation of large quantities of alloy or of alloys which contain tin, antimony, iron, or any substance which produces a scoria, or corrodes the cupel, must be preceded by a scorification. The advantages of this are that the slag is poorer in precious metal than that found on a cupel and is more easily collected and cleaned; that larger quantities of metal can be treated, and that, even if the substance is in part infusible, or produces at the start a clinkery mass or scoria, the oxide of lead gradually accumulates, fluxes the solid matters, and produces a good final result; but if the oxide of lead by itself is not sufficient for the purpose, borax or some other flux can be easily added.
If the button of silver got is very small its weight may be estimated from its size; but it must be remembered that the weight varies as the cube of the diameter. If one button has twice the diameter of another it is eight times as heavy and so on. Scales specially constructed for measuring silver and gold buttons may be purchased; but it is much better to make the measurement with the help of a microscope provided with an eyepiece micrometer.
If the length of the long diameter of a silver button be taken the following table will give the corresponding weight in milligrams:—
| Diameter. | Weight. | Diameter. | Weight. |
| 0.04 inch | 3.6 | 0.015 inch | 0.19 |
| 0.035 " | 2.4 | 0.014 " | 0.15 |
| 0.03 " | 1.5 | 0.013 " | 0.12 |
| 0.025 " | 0.9 | 0.012 " | 0.097 |
| 0.02 " | 0.45 | 0.011 " | 0.075 |
| 0.019 " | 0.4 | 0.010 " | 0.056 |
| 0.018 " | 0.33 | 0.008 " | 0.028 |
| 0.017 " | 0.27 | 0.006 " | 0.012 |
| 0.016 " | 0.23 | 0.004 " | 0.004 |
The weight of a corresponding button of gold is got by multiplying by 2.25. These figures are based on those given by Plattner, and apply only to buttons of such shape as those left after cupellation. A sphere of silver 0.01 inch in diameter would weigh 0.09 milligram, and a similar sphere of gold weighs 0.167 milligram.
It is safer, however, to compare with a micrometer the diameter of the button whose weight has to be determined with that of a standard button of nearly equal size whose weight is known. The weights of the two buttons are proportional to the cubes of their diameters. This plan of working is described more fully in Appendix B., page 440.