324 Mr. J. W. Mallet's JReport on the Chemical Examination of Antiquities 



No. 11. Fragment of a chisel, marked ^, made of very inferior bronze, 

 copper-coloured, soft, and not uniform in texture. It contained cavities pro- 

 duced by air-bubbles in the casting, and was very much corroded ; oxide of tin, 

 carbonate of copper, and the 7'ed dinoxide of cop])er were observable on the 

 surface. Specific gravity, 7'896. 



No. 12. Specimen of the bronze ring-money which is found in such great 

 quantity in Ireland. It was a small ring (about an inch in diameter), in form 

 a simple circle, cast in a single piece, and having no opening like those in the 

 specimens of gold and silver, by which the rings might be strung together into 

 a chain. Its weight was 100-53 grs. = 4 dwts. 4-53 grs., or about eight of the 

 units spoken of before. The bronze was moderately hard, of a deep brass-yel- 

 low colour, very little corroded, but having a slight film of green " terugo" on 

 the surface. Specific gravity, 8'072. 



No. 13. Specimen of ring-money of a larger size than the last, being about 

 two inches in diameter: locality unknown. It differed from it also in being 

 hollow, cast upon a core of fine siliceous sand, which had not been extracted, but 

 remained firmly imbedded in the bronze. There were two small projections on 

 opposite edges of the ring outside, and the metal and core were pierced at these 

 bosses by a hole apparently intended to allow a string to pass, by which the rings 

 might be strung together. If used as money, this method of attaching the sepa- 

 rate pieces would be certainly less convenient than merely stringing the rin"'s 

 themselves through the centre. Might not these articles have been made as 

 parts of necklaces, or other ornaments for the person, though perhaps also used 

 occasionally as a circulating medium ? The weight of the specimen, including the 

 sand core, = 388-43 grs. = 16 dwts. 4-43 grs. = about 32 of the half-pennyweight 

 units. The bronze was very like that of No. 12, but much more brittle. Its 

 surface had been smooth and polished, but was slightly pitted in some places 

 by corrosion. Specific gravity, 8'231. 



No. 14. Fragment of a large cauldron or tall vessel of thin sheet bronze. 

 From its size (about 2 ft. 6 in. high), and the thinness of the plates of which it 

 was made, it displays a degree of skill and neatness in the treatment of bronze 

 most remarkable as existing at so early a period as this vessel probably belongs 

 to. The metal is not very hard, but extremely tough, and is of a beautiful 

 rich bronze-yellow colour ("gold bronze"), scarcely altered by time. Specific 

 gravity, 8-145. 



