To give some idea of the quantity of gold used in the arts, of which very little can be recovered, it may be stated that in the United Kingdom some 30,000 oz. in the shape of leaf gold, 10,000 oz. in the electroplate and other processes of gilding metals, and about the seine quantity in gilding and making colors in the pottery districts, are annually' consumed.
The quantity of gold poured into England during recent years has been immense.
See GREAT Bnimarx. What has become of it all is often matter of surprise Much has been sent to the mint, and much sent to foreign countries for their gold coinage. In France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, and Italy, all large sums are now paid in gold. instead of silver as formerly. That the continued influx of gold is gradually heightening prices in the United Ringdom is sufficiently obvious. The current price of standard gold is about 17s. 6d.
GOLD (ante). In no part of the world is gold found more widely diffused or in greater abundance than in the United States. It is found chiefly in two great belts, one the Appalachian, on the Atlantic slope, the other on the Pacific coast. of these belts extends from Virginia in a south-westerly direction through North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, becoming narrower as it reaches Alabama and Tennessee. The belt is not continuous for the whole distance, but broken at many points. It sometimes expands to a width of 75 m., but is generally much narrower. In North Carolina, whose gold production is larger than that of any Other state on the Atlantic slope, the metal is found in two -parallel lines, each crossing the state in a s.w. and n.e. direction at a considerable distance from the other. The belt is divided also in a simi lar way in Georgia. The Appalachimi belt shows itself also to a comparatively slight extent in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Vermont., but in these states the gold is not found in quantities sufficient to pay the cost of obtaining it. It was not until 1824 that native gold found its way to the United States mints. From that time the supply grew more and more abundant until in five or six years it exceeded that from foreign sources. Until 1827, the supply came mainly from North Carolina, but after that considerable quantities were mined in South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia. In 1837, branch mints were established at Charlotte, N. C., and Dahlonega, Ga. They were suspended in the time of the rebellion, but that at Charlotte has been since revived as an assay office. The discovery of gold in California led to an abandonment of many of the southern mines. The amount of gold from those mines deposited in the mints and assay offices of the United States up to June 30, 1873. was $20,052,006. Of this amount $1,631,612 came from Virginia, $9,983,585 from North Carolina, $1,378,180 from South Carolina, $7,267,784 from Georgia, $79,018 from Tennessee, and $211,827 from Alabama. The deposits from the southern mines in 1873 amounted to $158,958. It was known from a very early period that there was gold in California, but it was not until after the territory was annexed to the United Stales that the vast extent and richness of the supply was discovered. Since that (lay the development of the mines has been very rapid. At first the mining implements and methods were of the rudest sort, but as new discoveries were made and experience gained, these rude appliances were superseded, until now the business is prosecuted by means which science dictates and approves. Machines have been invented for separating the gold from the rocks in which it is embedded and for nearly every other mining process, and the work is prose cuted with unremitted energy and skill. Di&covery has followed discovery until all
the states and territories on the Pacific slope are seen to be rich in the precious ore. New mining settlements are springing up on every band, population is rapidly aug menting, capital flows in abundance to every favorable point; and there are besides great many places, too remote as yet from railway communication, where the precious metal is known to exist in great abundance. As the country becomes filled with an enterprising, wide-awake population, the now inaccessible placeswill be opened up and developed. In short, the supply of gold w. of the Rocky mountains bids fair to hold out for ages to come, if it is not for ever inexhaustible. From 1848 to 1859, inclusive. the gold product of California is estimated at $1,136,800,000; from 1860 to 1869 at $299,800,000. During the latter period the product of the states and territories was $254,950,000. Mr. John J. Valentine, the agent-of Wells, Fargo & Co., who is under stood to be thoroughly informed upon the subject, estimated the yearly production of gold from the whole Pacific slope from 1870 to 1879 inclusive, as follows: 1870, $33,750,000; 1871, $34,398,000; 1872, $38,177,395; 1873, $39,206.558; 1874, $38,466,488; 1875, $39.968,194; 1876, $42,886,935; 1877, $44,880,223; 1878, $87,756.030; 1879, $33,000,000. Total, $382,309,823. This gives as the whole product of gold from the Pacific slope since the first discoveries in 1847, the sum of $2,073.859,823. Gold has also been discovered in Alaska, and it may not be long perhaps before a tide of emigra tion will'set in that direction. The new discoveries of gold made in the last few years arc chiefly in Colorado and Dakotan, and in Mono co., Cal. The gold and silver in the world, exclusive of the unknown regions of the e., is believed to have been reduced, at the time of the discovery of America, to about $170,000,000. Humboldt estimates the amount brought into Europe from the new world from 1490 to 1500 at $260,000 annu ally. The importation was doubtless fully equal to this rate until 1521, when Mexico was conquered and a great increase at once began. The receipts of American gold in Europe for the first 300 years after Columbus's discovery arc supposed to have been more than three times as great as those from other parts of the world. England long had a considerable supply from Wales. Hungary, Austria, and Russia contain exten sive gold fields. The gold production of Italy and France is far less important. In China and Japan gold exists in great abundance in many localities, and the gold forma tions of eastern Siberia are vary extensive: The annual gold production of Africa is probably not less than $1,000,000 annually. Generally gold is found so mixed with rock and other substances that it can'be detached only by severe labor, but it is occa sionally found in nuggets of considerable size and in a nearly pure state. Some of the largest nuggets of which we have an account weighed from 37 to 233 lbs. Troy weight. During the last twenty-five years, considerable gold-mining has been conducted in Nova Scotia, the auriferous region being under the control of the queen, who is represented by the mining commissioner at Halifax, by whom it has been uivided into mining dis tricts. These districts are leased for 21 years, and a royalty is paid to the government on the gold extracted. There are 14 gold-mining districts, and the yield in 1876 was about 12,000 oz.