Some use a sieve made of copper, having square copper handles on both sides, and through these handles runs a pole, of which one end projects three-quarters of a foot beyond one handle; the workman then places that end in a rope which is suspended from a beam, and rapidly shakes the pole alternately backward and forward. By this movement the small particles fall through the bottom of the sieve. In order that the end of the pole may be easily placed in the rope, a stick, two palms long, holds open the lower part of the rope as it hangs double, each end of the rope being tied to the beam; part of the rope, however, hangs beyond the stick to a length of half a foot.
