_It is found in various states, massive, in grains, small_ _scales, and capillary, or in small branches. It cannot be dissolved in any acid except that called aqua regia (207), and is more than nineteen times heavier than water._ The countries of hot climates are those chiefly in which gold is discovered. It abounds in the sands of many African rivers, and is very common in several districts both of South America and India. The gold mines of Lima and Peru have had great celebrity; but, since the late commotions in the Spanish colonies, the working of them has been much neglected. It is from Brazil that the greatest part of the gold which is seen in commerce is brought. The annual produce of the various gold mines in America has been estimated at nearly 9,500,000_l._ sterling. The principal gold mines in Europe are those of Hungary, and next to them those of Saltzburg. Spain is probably very rich in gold. Considerable mines were worked there in former times, particularly in the province of Asturia; but, after the discovery of America, these were given up or lost. Gold has been found in Sweden and Norway, and also in several parts of Ireland, but particularly in the county of Wicklow.—Among the sands of a mountain stream in that county, and among the sand of the valley on each side, lumps of gold are occasionally found. Pieces have been discovered which weighed twenty─two ounces, but they are generally much smaller, from two or three ounces to a few grains. It is said that lumps of gold, of large size, have been used as weights in some of the common shops, and that others have been placed to keep open the doors of cottages and houses in some parts of Ireland, the owners not knowing what they were. Gold is also occasionally found in Cornwall, and some other counties of England. Wherever it occurs it is commonly observed in a state of alloy with copper or silver, and in the form of grains, plates, or small crystals.