86
Lead is a metal not much used by the Japanese. The reason for this cannot be the want of ore, as has wrongly been stated by many authors; for we have the best proofs, that galena (the chief lead ore) and even an excellent kind of this mineral, is far from being rare in Japan.
Silver was in former times, especially from A.D. 1,400 to 1,600 found and melted in Japan in much larger quantities than at the present time. There has been a time when there was an abundance of silver in this country, but after the old trade of the Portuguese and Dutch[1] and particularly after the opening of Japan in 1859, silver became scarce, because of the former large export of this metal to foreign countries. We cannot agree with some authors who say that at the present time, the Japanese soil should be very rich in silver-ore, because we have not found many samples of rich ores, but chiefly a relatively small quantity of silver as an admixture in several copper and lead minerals.
The Ores in which lead occurs in Japan are:
1.—Galena or Lead glance (sulphide of lead). We have seen several varieties; the finest kind consists of crystalline aggregates of large cubes which readily cleave in directions parallel to their faces. It is found frequently in the same veins with copper pyrites and contains often a small quantity of sulphide of silver. The extraction of lead out of this mineral is effected by a roasting process, nearly similar to our western method. In many samples we found a small quantity of silver. The largest amount of silver we found in lead glance is about 1 per cent. according to the Japanese works on this subject. Galena is found in many places in Japan, but still the quantity of lead produced by the Japanese has been small up to the present time. It is not easy to understand why lead metal has been and is still a regular article of import from Europe.
It is true, bar-iron is also an article of import although
- ↑ Francois Valentyn Oud en Nieuw Oost Indie Vo. 1. 2d Stuk. Beschryving van Japan pag. 48.
