~Scorification Assay.~--The charge of ore is usually 3 grams, sometimes 5; the lead varies from 30 to 70 grams, and the quantity of soda, borax, or powdered glass added varies from 0.3 to 3 or 4 grams. It is generally recommended to have the lead granulated,[9] and to mix the ore with about half of it in the scorifier; then to put on the rest of the lead; and finally to sprinkle the borax or glass on the top. It answers just as well, however, to use the lead in the shape of foil, and wrap the ore up in it; and if the ore contains much sulphur, the borax may with advantage be added (wrapped in a little tissue paper) some five or ten minutes after the operation has started. [Illustration: FIG. 39.] The process of scorification is as follows:--A scorifier (fig. 38) of convenient size having been selected (one 2-1/2 inches across is most generally useful), it is dried at a gentle heat for about ten minutes. The charge is then put into it, and it is introduced, with the help of a scorifier tongs (fig. 39), into a muffle heated considerably above redness. The muffle is then closed, and when the metal has melted down, it is opened, but the temperature is kept up. A ring of slag will, after a time, form around the metal, and when this appearance (known as the eye) presents itself, the temperature may be lowered. When the eye has disappeared--that is, when the layer of slag has quite closed in--a pinch of powdered culm wrapped in tissue paper is added. As soon as the slag has again become tranquil, the scorifier is taken out, and its contents are poured into a mould (fig. 40), the slag is detached, and saved. If the button of metal weighs more than 30 grams, its size is reduced by another scorification in the same scorifier, which should have been replaced in the muffle immediately after the contents had been poured out. If the ore is not a very rich one, the button of lead will carry practically all the silver; but with rich ores it is more satisfactory to save the slag, and subsequently to melt it down with the cupel on which the lead has been treated, so as to recover the silver lost in the slag, together with that absorbed in the cupel, at one operation. Or, if the cupellation loss is neglected or calculated in some other manner, the slag or slags from the scorifier may be powdered and mixed with 20 grams of oxide of lead, 5 grams of borax, and 1 gram of charcoal. This should be melted down in a small crucible, and the resulting button of lead cupelled. [Illustration: FIG. 40.]