BRONZE 535 



and tin, to -which sometimes a little zinc and lead are added. There is some con- 

 fusion amongst Continental writers about this alloy ; they translate their bronze into 

 the English brass. 



See, for an example of this, ' Dictionnaire des Arts et Manufactures.' This has 

 arisen from the carelessness of our own writers. Dr. Watson, ' Chemical Essays,' 

 remarks : ' It has been said that Queen Elizabeth left more brass ordnance at her 

 death than she found iron on her accession to the throne. This must, not be under- 

 stood as if gun-metal was made in her time of brass, for the term brass was sometimes 

 used to denote copper ; and sometimes a composition of iron, copper, and calamino 

 was called brass ; and we, at this day, commonly speak of brass cannon, though brass 

 does not enter into the composition used for casting cannon.' 



Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. 



Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. 



In many instances, we have zinc, lead, &c., entering into the composition of alloys 

 of copper and tin. However this may be, the alloy is called a bronze, if tin and 

 copper are the chief constituents. 



This alloy is much harder than copper, and was employed by the ancients to 

 make swords, hatchets, &c., before the method of working iron was generally 

 understood. Most modern archaeologists, following the Danish antiquaries, recognise 

 a bronze age ; that is to say, an epoch of civilisation when bronze was the only metal 

 in general use for cutting instruments, and other useful or ornamental objects. This 

 period is generally held to have been subsequent to the so-called stone age and anterior 

 to that of iron. Some authorities, however, arguing on metallurgical rather than on 

 archaeological grounds, have called this chronology in question, and have maintained 

 that a knowledge of iron- must have preceded that of bronze. Be that as it may, it is 

 certain that the use of bronze was general at a very early period in the history of 

 Western civilisation. 



The art of casting bronze statues may be traced to the most remote antiquity, but 

 it was first brought to a certain degree of refinement by Theodoros and Eoscus of 

 Samos, about 700 years before the Christian era, to whom the invention of 

 modelling is ascribed by Pliny. The ancients were well aware that by alloying 

 copper with tin, a more fusible metal was obtained, that the process of casting was 

 therefore rendered easier, and that the statue was harder and more durable. It was 

 during the reign of Alexander that bronze statuary received its greatest extension, 

 when the celebrated artist Lysippus succeeded, by new processes of moulding and 

 melting, in multiplying groups of statues to such a degree that Pliny called them the mob 

 of Alexander. Soon afterwards enormous bronze colossuses were made, to the height 

 of towers, of which the isle of Khodes possessed no less than one hundred. The 

 Koman consul Mutianus found 3,000 bronze statues at Athens, 3,000 at Ehodes, as 

 many at Olympia and at Delphi, although a great number had been previously carried 

 oflWrom the last town. 



From the analyses of Mr. J. A. Phillips, we learn that most of the ancient coins 

 were bronzes, the quantity of tin relatively to the copper varying slightly. The pro- 

 portions of copper and tin in many of those coins are given below, the other ingedients 

 being omitted : 



Copper. Tin. 



A coin of Alexander the Great, 335 B.C. . 8672 . . 13-14 



Philippus V. . . 200 B.C. 

 Athens .... 

 Ptolemy IX. . .70 B.C. 

 Pompey . . .53 B.C. 

 the Atilia family . 45 B.C. 

 Augustus and Agrippa, 30 B.C. 



85-15 . . 11-10 



88-41 . . 9-95 



84-21 . . 15-59 



74-11 ,. . 8.56 



68-72 . . 4-77 



78-58 . . 12-91 



The arms and cutting instruments of the ancients were composed of similar bronzes, 

 as the following proportions, also selected from Mr. J. A. Phillips' analyses, will show : 



Tin. Copper. 



Boman sword blade, found in the Thames . 85-70 . . 10-02 



Ireland . 91-39 . . 8-38 



Celtic Ireland . 90-23 . . 7-50 



Layard brought from Assyria a considerable variety of bronze articles, many of 

 them objects of ornament, but many evidently intended for use. Amongst others was 

 a bronze foot, which was constructed for the purpose of support of some kind. This 

 was submitted to the examination of Dr. Percy. It was then found that the bronzo 

 had been cast round a support of iron. By this means the appearance of considerable 

 lightness was attained, while great strength was insured. This discovery proves in a 



