THE ART OF CASTING BRONZE IN JAPAN. 



619 



Per cent. 



Iron 1.01 



Silver 0.06 



Sulphur 0.52 



Gold Trace. 



predecessor, it was destroyed by au earthquake. Accordiug to official 

 records its fragments were melted in 1608-1G8.3 and cast into the 

 bronze coins (Kwan-ei-tsu-ho) then current.' 



This record is interesting, as it aftords another proof that the alloy 

 used by bronze founders did not differ much in composition, if at all, 

 from that in use at the time m the mints for coins. I have analyzed 

 these coins, with the following results : Individual coins differed con- 

 siderably from one another in composition, the percentage of copper 

 present varying from 60.8 to 86.8, a variation not greater, however, 

 than might be expected from the nature of the alloy and the mode in 

 which it was cast. Hence, in order to ascertain their average composi- 

 tion, 7,600 pieces were melted together, and the resulting metal was 

 analyzed and found to consist of — 



Per cent. 



Copper 77. 30 



Tin 4.32 



Lead 15. 33 



Arsenic 1. 14 



Antimony 0. 31 



Zinc Nil. Total 99.99 



We may hence not unreasonably conclude that this represents, 

 approximately, the composition of the alloy which was used for 

 casting the colossal Buddha. 



The bell is the largest in 

 Japan. Its dimensions are, ap- 

 proximately, height, 14 feet; 

 external diameter at the mouth, 

 9 feet; thickness at the rim, 

 10| inches. In section these 

 bells differ from European 

 form in having the rim thick- 

 ened internally, so that their 

 mouths are constricted. (Fig. 

 1.) And it is this constric- 

 tion which causes the gentle 

 rising and falling tones which 

 characterize the boom of all 

 Japannese bells. It is hardly 

 necessary to mention that 

 these bells are not swung, 

 neither are they famished 

 with tongues, but are rung by 

 striking the outside by means 

 of a beam of wood suspended 

 from the bell tower and swung like a battering ram. The point 

 struck is a low boss, which sometimes has the form of a lotus flower. 



Fig.l. 



SECTION OF TEMPLK BELL. 



' There is another record of the conversion of Buddhist statues in coins in 1450-1470. 



