A Text-Book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.

This early 20th-century manual represents a window into the meticulous science that powered the mining industry during its most consequential era. Beringer writes for the practical assayer: the professional who must determine, with precision and reliability, exactly what a ton of ore is worth before anyone invests in extracting it. The book opens with the fundamental principle that haunts every sampling operation - a bad sample means ruinous decisions - and builds methodically through the handling of solid, liquid, and gaseous materials. Calculations for moisture content, the preparation of representative samples, and the systematic approach required for reproducible results are all here in careful detail. What emerges is not merely a technical manual but a portrait of a profession that demanded both scientific rigor and practical judgment. For historians of chemistry and mining, for students of analytical techniques, or for anyone curious about how our ancestors valued the earth beneath their feet, this text preserves knowledge that powered empires.