COPPER 



with 4 or 5 per cent, of copper, is mixed with from 

 12 to 15 per cent. uf crushed rook-Halt and the 

 mixture properly calcined, when the whole of the 

 copper i> comertcd into a soluhh> chloride. The 

 roasted HUMS is then lixiviated, and the copper con- 

 taincd in the solution thrown down as metal by 

 scrap iron. This precipitate contains ulmut 75 per 

 cent, -if pure nipper, and is mixed with the copper 

 of the later stages of purification got in the dry 

 p HI. -ess. 



A 1'1'LICATIONS OF COPPER. The metal is used for 

 a great variety of purposes. . It is most largely con- 

 Mimed along with zinc in the production of Brass 

 (i|.v. ). To a less, hut still considerable extent, it 

 i> m;i.le into hron/e and gun-metal, in which it is 

 alloyed with tin and other metals (see BRONZE). 

 Alone ii i> employed for lioilers, stills, cooking 

 Is, seamless and other pipes, wire and wire- 

 cloth, nails, and spikes. In the form of thin plates 

 it ban long been in demand for engraving and etch- 

 ing upon, and in the shape of strong rollers it is 

 extensively employed for a like purpose by the 

 calico-printer. Copper does not cast very well, but 

 it is admirably adapted for producing works of art 

 in electro-deposit instead of casting them. This 

 process is extensively employed, and does even for 

 objects as large as life-sized statues. In this way 

 en-ravings and pages of type are also copied for the 

 printing-press. For its use in coating otner metals, 

 aee BRONZING. Copper is the metal usually 

 chosen for lightning conductors. Writing-pens are 

 made of an alloy consisting for the most part of 

 eopper, and for some purposes are better than 

 those made of steel, as they do not corrode nearly 

 so soon. These pens are usually white in colour. 

 An alloy of copper, 'yellow metal,' is used for 

 sheathing the bottoms of timber ships, so as to 

 prevent molluscs and seaweeds from encumbering 

 them. Copper, owing to its ductility, may be made 

 into pipes, tubing, &c., by high pressure alone, 

 without heat. 



The copper-mines of the United Kingdom appear 

 to have first risen into importance in the early part 

 of the 18th century. According to Sir C. Lemon 

 {Journal of the Statistical Society, vol. i. ), the pro- 

 duce of the Cornish mines in 1771 was 27,896 tons 

 of ore, yielding 3347 tons of copper. In 1856 

 {Hunt's Mineral Statistics for 1856) the returns 

 were Cornwall, 163,245 ; Devon, 42,025 tons of ore ; 

 together yielding 13,500 tons of metal lie copper. 

 Since I860, the year of their maximum yield, the 

 quantity of copper obtained from mines of the 

 United Kingdom has steadily and rapidly declined 

 from 236,696 tons of ore, and 15,968 of metal, to 

 5346 and 426 tons respectively in 1893. 



The copper ore mined in other parts of the 

 country besides Cornwall and Devon is compara- 

 tively trifling. Copper is chiefly smelted at Swan- 

 sea and its neighbourhood, but to some extent also 

 in Lancashire. The English smelting works are 

 now most largely supplied with ore from Spain, 

 Sou tli Africa (see CAPE COLONY, Vol. II. p. 735), 

 Venezuela, the United States, and Australia ( q. v. ). 

 The entire quantity of metallic copper smelted 

 and refined in the United Kingdom annually varies 

 from 25,000 to 30,000 tons. 



The production of copper in the United States 

 has increased rapidly since 1872. In that year the 

 quantity of this metal obtained was 12,500 tons, 

 while in 1897 it was as much as 212,000 (long) tons, 

 and the United States is now the largest producer 

 of copper. The richest mine in the world is said to 

 be that at Calumet (Mich.), on Lake Superior, in 

 which region copper was mined by the ancient 

 Indian or pre-Inuian inhabitants. Arizona and 

 Montana (United States) are also productive ; but 

 copper occurs in several other parts of the Union. 

 A very large quantity of copper wire is used in 

 184 



that country for electrical ptirpottc*. The enortnoiiH 

 inci-eime in the output of cop|M-r ln-t \w-i-n IhWIand 

 1884, and its fall in price, led to the formation of 

 a powerful syndicate to regulate the total produc- 

 tion and control the price ; which for a time suc- 

 ceeded, but by 1890 collapsed. The price of corner, 

 which in 1890 was about 65 a ton, Hank to 

 41, 2s. 6d. in the end of 1895, but rose to 49 in 

 the middle of 1896. 



Copperas* or sulphate of iron, M used in dye- 

 ing black, in making ink, and an a dressing for 

 crops. See IRON, p. 214. 



Copperhead (Trigonocephalus contortrix), a 

 venomous snake, allied to the rattlesnake, found in 

 eastern North America. It has a thick body from 

 2 to 3 feet long, and a short tail without rattles, 

 and is slow and clumsy in its movements; but, lurk- 

 ing in dark and moist places, and giving no warn- 

 ing, is more dreaded than the rattlesnake. The 

 term was given to the peace party during the 

 American civil war. 



Coppermine River, so named, in common 

 with the Copper Mountains to the west of it, from 

 the metallic products of the vicinity, runs through 

 the North-west Territory of Canada, and after a 

 course of 250 miles, enters a bay of the Arctic 

 Ocean about 68 N. lat, and 116 W. long. It 

 was discovered by Hearue in 1771. Its course is 

 continually interrupted by falls and torrents. 



Copperplate Printing. See ENGRAVING. 



Coppetv a village of Switzerland, 8 miles N. by 

 E. of Geneva by rail, with a chateau, where 

 Necker and his daughter, Mme. de Stael, are 

 buried, and where the latter spent much of her life. 



Coppice. See COPSE. 



Copra, or COPPERAH, is the commercial name 

 for the kernel of the cocoa-nut broken into small 

 pieces and dried in the sun. From 500 Ib. of copra 

 25 gallons of cocoa-nut oil should be obtained. 

 See COCOA-NUT. 



Coprolites (from Gr. kopros, 'dung,' and lithos, 

 ' a stone ' ) are the fossilised excrements of animals 

 found in PaLneozoic, Mesozoic, and Tertiary strata. 

 Their true nature was first inferred by Dean Buck- 

 land (1829), from their occurrence in 'the bodies of 

 several species of Ichthyosaurus, in the region 

 where was situated the intestinal tube. It has 

 been since shown that they are the voidings chiefly 

 of saurians and of sauroid fishes. They often con- 

 tain portions of scales, bone, teeth, and shells, the 

 indigestible parts of the food on which the animals 

 lived. Occasionally, they may be found exhibiting 

 the spiral twisting' and other marks produced by 

 the conformation of the intestinal tube, similar to 

 what is noticed in the excrement of some living 

 fishes. These peculiar markings obtained for them 

 the name, when their true nature was unknown, 

 of 'larch-cones' and 'l*ezoar-stones.' Coprolites 

 are found to contain a large quantitv of phosphate 

 of lime ; and as this forms a valuable manure, the 

 deposits containing them have since 1846 Iteen 

 largely quarried by the manufacturers of artificial 

 manures. 



Copse, or COPPICE, a natural wood or planta- 

 tion, of which the trees are cut over from time to 

 time, without being allowed to attain the size of 

 timber-trees, sending up new shoots from their 

 roots or stools. Some kinds of trees as the firs 

 are incapable of being treated in this manner, 

 refusing to send up new shoots ; but man}' as 

 the oak, birch, chestnut, ash, elm, maple, alder, 

 hazel, and willow very readily do so, at least if 

 they have not been allowed to attain too consider- 

 able a size before being cut over. Copse-woods are 

 sometimes planted chiefly to vary ana beautify the 

 landscape, but more generally with a view to profit 



