ANTIQUITIES. 



665 



was removed, tin 15 parts, cop- 

 per 85. 



The other, found in the island 

 oF Rugen, was covered with the 

 common patina, and gave tin 13, 

 copper 87. 



3. Analysis of an antique ring. 

 I had selected for other inqui- 

 ries a fragment of an elastic and 

 flexible ring, which was found 

 with some Roman coins in the vi- 

 cinity of the Rhine. This ring was 

 made with a half-flattened stem, 

 grooved on the outside, and eight 

 lines broad. Its exterior diameter 

 is two inches and seven-eighths, its 

 interior two and a half. It is not 

 soldered, but its extremities are 

 so closed by the elasticity of the 

 metal, that it is difficult to sepa- 

 rate them. The colour of the 

 metal, in the parts that have been 

 polished, is very fine. We have 

 no sufficient clue to the use of 

 these rings. Its analysis gave tin 

 9, copper 91. 



The same proportions were 

 found in an elastic ring analysed 

 by Mr. Mongez, which was found 

 near Bourg, where several other 

 Roman antiquities had before been 

 discovered. 



It is to be wished that the 

 elastic property of bronze should 

 be examined more minutely. 



4. Analysis of a piece of Grecian 

 brass. 

 This little fragment, decorated 

 with ornaments, which was found 

 in Sicily in a Grecian tomb, ap- 

 pears to have been a button, or 

 some other ornament of armour. 

 Its proportions are, tin 11, cop- 

 per 89. 



5. Analysis of antique rivets. 

 These rivets were short, and 



of the thickness of a middle-sized 

 wire. As it was necessary they 

 should be flexible, it was requisite 

 that the alloy should be in differ- 

 ent proportions, that of the tin 

 being diminished. This consisted 

 of tin 2-25, copper 97*75. 



6. Analysis of an antique cup. 

 The great number of antique 



cups and vases found at different 

 times sufficiently prove, that the 

 ancients possessed the art of re- 

 ducing bronze to thin sheets. 

 The cup, pieces of which were 

 employed for this analysis, was 

 found in a Grecian tomb near 

 Naples. It has so well resisted 

 rust, that its inside has lost very 

 little of its polish. Being very 

 thin, I expected to find in it but 

 a small proportion of tin ; but I 

 obtained tin 14, copper 86. 



Comparing the proportions of 

 tin found in the present analysis 

 with those of a fragment of an an- 

 tique mirror, which I had already 

 published in Scherer's Journal, 

 Vol. VI. and which consisted of 

 32 per cent tin, and a little lead, 

 we find that the ancients judici- 

 ously adapted the proportions of 

 tin and copper to the purposes for 

 which they were required. I con- 

 ceive it unnecessary to particu- 

 larize the rest of the analyses I 

 made of pieces of antique bronze : 

 it is sufficient to say, that except 

 this mirror, and the rivets already 

 mentioned, I always found the 

 alloy contained from 9 to 15 per 

 cent of tin. 



7. Analysis of the quadriga of 

 Chios, 



The proportions of the alloy of 

 this master-piece of antiquity bear 

 no resemblance to those already 



