092v - - - - - Sand from river tellins and mussels
The long shells that can be found in fresh river waters, once calcined, makes an impalpable white sand, which moulds very neatly.
Freezing mercury
It freezes, just as I tried, by boiling it one or two hours in a rather large iron posnet, putting in, for an ℥ of ☿, ii ℥ of verdet de and vitriol of saltpetre, ana, with sufficient quantity of old water from mareschaulx.
Or else, melt 4 ℥ of tin, & as it cools, purify it of its filth, which is on top, then, make a hole in it & put in there i ℥ of ☿ & it will come out like tin if you remelt it, but it will be breakable. And If you want to assay if it is tin or ☿, redden a shovel & put a small lump of your ingot on top. If it is tin, it will melt & stay, but if it is ☿, will quickly melt, then when crackling well, it will evaporate. One ought to freeze it in a spoon or in a hollow crucible, & make a moderately sized hole.
It can also be frozen, as I assayed, in aqua fortis which beforehand will have eaten a little silver. This one, mixed, makes tin & lead run.
Mixture
Fine tin, frozen mercury with the smell of tin, looking glass tin, fine lead, as much of one as the other, makes a substance that melts very quickly, but breakable & white. I think that it would be good for solder. A long time to cool.