=242. Gold Assayers.= Assaying by acids and other reagents could be done by women. Tests are now imported, but most assayers prefer to make their own tests. Assaying requires patience, a knowledge of metals, and endurance of heat. It also requires instruction and considerable experience. Some assayers move from place to place wherever new mines are discovered, and reap the benefit of their skill and knowledge. A gold refiner informs me "that his business is mostly heavy fire work, requiring the most able men. None of it is sufficiently light for females." I find, however, that women are reported in the census of Great Britain as gold and silver refiners, cutters, and workers. =243. Enamellers.= The experience, taste, delicacy of touch, and fineness of finish required, make the art of enamelling one very suitable for women. The richness of coloring and exquisite workmanship render some specimens very beautiful. Simple metals are mostly used as a base. I saw a man enamelling jewelry, who told me he employs small girls to enamel, paying from $2 to $3 a week. It requires but two weeks to learn. I saw some jewelry that had been enamelled in Germany by women. In France, women are employed as enamellers, at from 8 to 16 cents a day. "Gold of the standard quality is the best metal to enamel on, as it imparts something of its own glow to the ground, and assists materially the richness and delicacy of the coloring, particularly in the flesh tints. Copper gives a cold greenish hue to the enamel ground, but it is more commonly used than gold on account of its cheapness. For large enamels it is necessary to use copper, as they require a heat which would melt plates of gold." A highly polished enamel is passed through the fire a number of times in the process of painting; otherwise it would be impossible to imitate any great delicacy of tint--as the colors are considerably changed by burning. "As the plates are every time subjected to a high red heat, it is obvious that enamels must be the most durable of all kinds of paintings." At an enamel factory for lining metal vessels with a porcelain coating, I saw a woman who has been employed for four years to mix enamel in the consistency of buckwheat dough, and pour it into vessels to form an enamel lining. The articles are then baked in a furnace that the enamel may harden. She stands while employed. She goes at half past seven in the morning, has half an hour at noon, and returns and works until four, for which she is paid $4 a week. She has a sister-in-law in Williamsburg that does the same kind of work. It is not at all unhealthy.