C. Keferstein on White Copper. 127 



psvixov). Near Tasch Kouprou enormous heaps of slags are 

 even to be found, a sign of a former extensive mining concern. 

 Several literati, particularly Beckmann, in his Annotations on 

 Aristotle, consider the yjxkxoc, Mocr<ruvoixa)i/ to be our brass ; 

 and support their opinion by the circumstance, that, amongst 

 other things Strabo alludes to, he says that brass is prepared 

 from copper and an earth which is found in Asia Minor. But 

 brass was a metallic combination well known to the ancients ; 

 and Aristotle speaks (cap. 59) of opsi^aAxo? in particular ; the 

 silver-white copper mentioned by him must therefore be some- 

 thing totally different : to this may yet be added, that the cala- 

 mine which is mentioned by Strabo as coming from Asia Minor, 

 and which was employed in the manufacture of brass, came 

 from Ardira on the iEgean Sea in the district of Mysia; the 

 earth for the white copper from Paphlagonia ; and therefore 

 the places where they were found do not agree. 



Of the antique white copper, various pieces still exist; for 

 Winkelmann alleges, in several parts of his works, that 

 amongst certain antiquities a white metal was found, which 

 at first sight appeared like silver (Works, vol. ii. p. 272). 

 In annotation No. 70 the Editor observes, that, in digging in 

 the year 1779 in the Pontine marshes, a handsomely-worked 

 instrument of this kind was found, on which was the name 

 and likewise the mark .of the artist. Further accounts on 

 this subject have not come to my knowledge ; but, after the 

 facts which have been quoted, we shall probably be justified 

 in affirming that the ancients were acquainted with white 

 copper, that they employed it in the arts, and that they ob- 

 tained it from a particular ore. It still remains uncertain, 

 however, whether the metal was an alloy of copper and arsenic, 

 or of copper and nickel. 



In modern times, the Chinese are the only people who un- 

 derstand the art of preparing white copper, and of applying it 

 in various ways to useful purposes. Our scanty knowledge of 

 this country and its literature, interesting in so many respects, 

 is the cause why the preparation of this substance, as well as 

 that of so many others, is still a secret to us. The Chinese 

 fabricate several metallic combinations, which are usually called 

 white copper, as Lauder has lately detailed. (Edinb. Phil. Journ., 

 Jan. 1 823. ) One species of it is the Tutenag, which forms an ar- 

 ticle of commerce between China and India ; it is exported in 

 slabs of from 8 to 9 inches long, and 5^ wide, of a grayish 

 colour, not malleable, but very brittle. No analysis of this 

 metal has hitherto been made ; from trials made by Keir, it is 

 said to be a white alloy of copper, zinc, and iron ; according 



to 



