l62 On dtftuigui/}jing mixed Metals by the Smell. 



fometimes cheaper than filver*, and when Corinthian braf* 

 fold at a higher price than either. The wit of this paU'age is 

 entirely loft, if we do not fnppofe that the connoifleiir exa- 

 mined the value of the bronze and of the vellel, by holding 

 his nofe over it. 



This circuniftance, on various accounts, deferves to be care- 

 fiilly examined by our metallurgills. The firit queltioa 

 would be, to )<now whether copper, mixed with other metals, 

 can reallv be diftinouiihed bv the fniell. A late French tra- 

 veller afcribes to the inhabitants of one of the Kamtlchatdale 

 ifles fo acute a fmell, that thcv were able, he favs, to dillinguilh 

 by it inmiediatelv copper alloyed with goldf. The fecond 

 would be, to know the nature of this alloy. 



The quelHon refpcfting the manner in which the Corin- 

 thian brafs was mixed and fufed with gold or filver, has never 

 yet been finally determined. Wicgleb ;[;, and other chemills, 

 made experiments, bv fufing fome i)ieces of antient bronze ; 

 but even if they could (how with precifion the manner of 

 mixing them, their experiments would dill be drtubtful, be- 

 caufe the antients were acquainted with feveral bronze mix- 

 tures § ; and confequentiv, when they fufed antient bronze, 

 they were not certain of its being Corinthian brafs. 



Addition hy the French Tranjlator. 



Having thought it of importance to give particular intereft 

 to this paper, bv fnbmitting it to fome celebrated metalhir- 

 p-id at Paris, I besrc'fd C. Gillet Laumont to communicate 

 to me his ideas on the queftion propofcd by M. Boettiger : 

 *' Whether copper, mixed with other metals, can be diltin- 

 guiflied by the fmell, and to determine the nature of that 

 mixture." He was fo obliging as to give me the following 

 anfwer : 



" Several metals have a fmell which is peculiar to them : 

 that of iron, lead, tin, and in particular copper^, may be di- 

 ftinguiflied ; and there can be no doubt that alloys compofed 

 of thefe metals muft emit diflerent odours. But the fenfe of 

 fmelling among mankind in a civilized ftate being lefs perfect 



* Pli/i.Wh. xxxiii.ji. See Caylus Rcaie'tl d fntii^uith., vol. ii. p. 309. 



f SeeCrofct Nouira'i Foyage a la Mtr du S:u/. Paris, 1783, p. 25S, 



+ Afta Academias Moguntinse, 1777, p'. 50. 



§ For f xamplc. orubakiim, elcSiruni, Sec. There dill exift a great 

 "many n)ecia!s of eltdrum. 



II It is ofren neccff;iry, in order to c:ill forth their odour, to rub them, 

 or at leaft to examine them at a degree of lieat equal to that of the human 

 body. Care muft be taken, iti p:rticular, to leave a fufficient interval be- 

 tween each experiment, that the organs of fmtll may be entirely freed from 

 the fentatioDs produced by the pi-ectdinjj. ^^ * 



antl 



