XXXVI.
MERCURY.
PROPERTIES AND PECULIARITIES OF MERCURY, OR QUICKSILVER.—AMALGAMATION.—CINNABAR.—WHERE IT IS FOUND.—ALMADEN AND OTHER MINES.—CURIOUS CUSTOMS AT IDRIA.—MODES OF WORKING.—HUANCA VELICA.—QUICKSILVER MINES IN CALIFORNIA.—CALIFORNIA LAWSUITS. - WONDERFUL PROPERTIES OF SPANISH TITLES.—AN UNHAPPY ACCIDENT.—PRACTICAL VALUE OF AN EARTHQUAKE—AN UNDERGROUND CHAPEL.
One of the most valuable mineral substances is the one which is known as Mercury, or Quicksilver. It has many properties peculiar to no other metal. At an ordinary temperature it is a fluid. At thirty-nine or forty degrees below zero (Fahrenheit) it becomes solid, and resembles lead. At six hundred and sixty-two degrees (Fahrenheit) it boils, and is thrown out on an invisible, transparent vapor, like steam. Before it reaches the boiling point, if it is exposed to the air at a high temperature, it absorbs oxygen, and is converted into red oxide. Strong nitric acid will absorb mercury. Acids affect it somewhat, but not to any great extent. It mixes with lead, zinc, gold, and silver, and it may be separated from them by a chemical process, and be made perfectly pure. Sometimes the cheap metals are used to adulterate mercury; but the effect of this mixture is to produce an amalgam, whose adulterations can be easily detected. It is found sometimes in a native or pure form, and sometimes amalgamated with silver; but these instances are so rare that deposits of this sort cannot be relied upon as sources of supply.
Sometimes mercury is found in its natural state in cavities in the earth, so that it may be dug up in considerable quantities. The chief source of supply, however, is in the form of cinnabar. Cinnabar is said to be an East Indian name, originally given to the mixture of the blood of the dragon with that of the elephant, and afterwards applied to the common ore of mercury. On account of its beautiful red color, known as vermilion, this ore has been worked in various parts of the world for more than three thousand years. Some of the Roman historians refer to the use of mercury in amalgamating gold; and the mines of Almaden, in Spain, which still produce cinnabar, are known to have been worked for thousands of years before the Christian era. Cinnabar consists of eighty-six per cent. of mercury, and fourteen per cent. of sulphur. It forms beds and veins in certain rocks, and in many places the rocks near the veins will have cinnabar distributed through them. When finely ground it makes a brilliant red paint, and, as before stated, is known as vermilion; and it is said that the Indians of California first called the attention of the Spanish settlers to the presence of quicksilver by their use of cinnabar in ornamenting their faces.
CINNABAR MINES.
The most important mines of mercury in the world are those of Almaden, in Spain; New Almaden, in California; Idria, in Austria; and Huanca Velica, in Peru. There are smaller mines in Hungary, Bohemia, Bavaria, China, Japan, Brazil, and a few other countries. Formerly the Almaden mines, in Spain, controlled the quicksilver market of the globe. The owners of the mines could affect the price of the article just as they pleased. If they raised or lowered it, the other mines were obliged to lower or raise their prices.
Almaden is situated in New Castile, about fifty miles north of Cordova. Apart from its mining peculiarities, it possesses no feature of attraction, as it consists simply of one long street, built on a ridge of rock, where the cinnabar ore is found. The town has a mining school, half a dozen or more ordinary schools, three hospitals, and a liberal supply of churches, and about ten thousand inhabitants. Until about the beginning of the present century the mines were worked by convicts, who were compelled to wear chains, and were kept at such severe toil that they never lived long. Later, however, the mines have been worked on a voluntary labor system, and employ about five or six thousand persons. Each laborer is required to toil only six hours a day. A longer exposure than this to the quicksilver is considered injurious to the health. The annual production of the Almaden mines is about two million pounds of pure metal.
MINES IN AUSTRIA AND PERU.