4 FIRST DISCOVERY OF METAL. 



of ore, copper often occurs in a native condition, and can 

 be beaten at once into shape. Thus, for instance, the North 

 American Indians obtained pure copper from the mines near 

 Lake Superior and elsewhere, and hammered it at once into 

 axes, bracelets, and other objects. 



Tin also early attracted notice, probably on account of the 

 great heaviness of its ores. When metals were very scarce, it 

 would naturally sometimes happen that, in order to make up 

 the necessary quantity, some tin would be added to copper, 

 or vice versd. It would then be found that the properties of 

 the alloy were quite different from those of either metal, and 

 a very few experiments would determine the most advan- 

 tageous proportion, which for axes and other cutting instru- 

 ments is about nine parts of copper to one of tin. No 

 implements or weapons of tin have yet been found, and 

 those of copper are extremely rare, whence it has been in- 

 ferred that the art of making bronze was known elsewhere 

 before the use of either copper or tin was introduced into 

 Europe. Many of the so-called " copper " axes, etc., contain 

 a small proportion of tin ; and the few exceptions indicate 

 probably a mere temporary want, rather than a total ignorance, 

 of this metal. 



The ores of iron, though more abundant, are much less 

 striking in appearance than those of copper. Moreover, 

 though they are perhaps more easily reduced, the metal, when 

 obtained, is much less tractable than bronze. This valuable 

 alloy can very easily be cast, and, in fact, all the weapons and 

 implements made of it in olden times were cast in moulds of 

 sand or stone. The art of casting iron, on the other hand, 

 was unknown until a comparatively late period. 



In the writings of the early poets, iron is frequently charac- 

 terized by the epithet TroAi'/c/^ros, and its adjective, o-iSijptos, 

 is used metaphorically to imply the greatest stubbornness. 



While, however, these facts tend very much to remove the 



