1939 November, Raymond B. Wailes, “Chemical Engineering for Home Experimenters”, inPopular Science,page207:
You can easily extract lead fromgalena, a natural mineral which has been used in crystal radio receivers.
1942, G. F. Loughlin, A. H. Koschmann,Geology and Ore Deposits of the Magdalena Mining District, New Mexico, Geological Survey Professional Paper, Issue 200,page 98,
Thegalena of the ore contains microscopic inclusions of various forms that become visible upon polished surfaces etched with hydrochloric or nitric acid.
1953, “Report of the Committee on the Measurement of Geologic Time”, inU.S, National Research Council,page132:
These samples had higher Pb206 and Pb208 abundances than any othergalenas yet examined.
2008, Sanghamitra Ghosh,Heavy Stable Isotope Investigations in Environmental Science and Archaeology,page77:
Very littlegalena has been reported (recovered mostly from burial mounds) in the Great Lakes region indicating that the mineral was not a major interregional exchange commodity during this period. However, numerousgalenas have been recovered from the lower Mississippi Valley region and Florida indicating thatgalena was part of an important north-south exchange system (Walthall 1981).
Excoqui non potest, nisi cum plumbo nigro aut cum vena plumbi –galenam vocant – quae iuxta argenti venas plerumque reperitur.
It cannot be smelted, except together with lead or with the vein of lead – they call itgalena – that is mostly found next to veins of silver.
1st century,inscription on a lead ingot; published in Heinrich Dressel,Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum [Corpus of Latin Inscriptions][1], Berlin: Georg Reimer,1899, section 7916,page987:
SIL[VER] CO[MPANY]; MIN[ES] OF MT ILUCR[?];GALENA; that is, “property of the Silver (Mines) Company; from the mines of Mount Ilucr[...]; made ofgalena.”
(by extension) thedross that remains aftersmelting this ore
Huius qui primus fuit in fornacibus liquor stagnum appellatur; qui secundus argentum; quod remansit in fornacibus,galena, quae fit tertia portio additae venae; haec rursus conflata dat nigrum plumbum deductis partibus nonis II.
That which first becomes liquid in the furnaces is called stagnum; that which is second is silver; what remains in the furnaces isgalena, which forms a third portion of the added vein; when again made to fuse this gives black lead, two-ninths having been deducted.
^This inscription is a stamp about the ownership and type of a lead ore ingot on whose top surface it was carved. The ingot and its inscription were discovered in theTiber River near the ancient Marmorata harbor, now part of a museum at the Baths of Diocletian, Rome. TheILVCR part (full form unknown) is the undetermined name of a mount, perhaps one inHispania. More details in the linked corpus page (in Latin).
