endless band of strong cloth or closely woven
matting, run on two horizontal rollers placed about seven feet apart,
one being some inches lower than the other. The upper is caused to
revolve by means of a handle. The cloth is thus dragged upwards against
a small stream of water and sand fed to it by a second man, the first
man not only turning the handle but giving a lateral motion to the band
by means of a rope tied to one side.

Chinamen were working these forerunners of the Frue vanner forty years
ago in Australia, and getting fair returns.

The Frue vanner is an endless indiarubber band drawn over an inclined
table, to which a revolving and side motion is given by ingenious
automatic mechanism, the pulp being automatically fed from the upper
end, and the concentrates collected in a trough containing water in
which the band is immersed in its passage under the table; the lighter
particles wash over the lower end. The only faults with the vanner
are--first, it is rather slow; and secondly, though so ingenious it is
just a little complicated in construction for the average non-scientific
operative.

Of pan concentrators there is an enormous selection, the principle in
most being similar--i.e., a revolving muller, which triturates the sand,
so freeing the tiny golden particles and admitting of their contact with
the mercury. The mistake with respect to most of these machines is the
attempt to grind and amalgamate in one operation. Even when the stone
under treatment contains no deleterious compounds the simple action
of grinding the hard siliceous particles has a bad effect on the
quicksilver, causing it to separate into small globules, which either
oxidising or becoming coated with the impurities contained in the ore
will not reunite, but wash away in the slimes and take with them a
percentage of the gold. As a grinder and concentrator, and in some cases
as an amalgamator, when used exclusively for either purpose, the Watson
and Denny pan is effective; but although successfully used at one mine
I know, the mode there adopted would, for reasons previously given, be
very wasteful in many other mines.

There is considerable misconception, even among men with some practical
knowledge, as to the proper function of these secondary saving
appliances; and sometimes good machines are condemned because they will
not perform work for which they were never intended. It cannot be too
clearly realized that the correct order of