Note 21 — BOOK VII.

The results which would follow from the use of these "fluxes" would obviously depend upon the ore treated. They can all conceivably be successful. Of these, the first is the lead-glass of the German assayers—a flux much emphasized by all old authorities, [Pg 237]including Lohneys, Ercker and Cramner, and used even yet. The "powerful flux" would be a reducing, desulphurizing, and an acid flux. The "more powerful" would be a basic flux in which the reducing action of the argols would be largely neutralised by the nitre. The "still more powerful" would be a strongly sulphurizing basic flux, while the "most powerful" would be a still more sulphurizing flux, but it is badly mixed as to its oxidation and basic properties. (See also note 19 on sal artificiosus).