Quicksilver That Rolls Out of the Rock

Idria's air carried so much mercury vapour that it frequently produced salivation in the miners.

In Idria's richest depths, quicksilver globules roll loose from broken earth onto the gallery floor.

Miners in that part of Idria worked four-hour shifts; elsewhere in the mine, eight.

Idria's mercury shipped abroad in iron bottles of sixty-eight pounds, and at home in sheep's skins.