- 





09) 



loft compound*. Such highly fusible aolden are usually out in 

 ingot* or trips, ami melted aa they are med by means of an instru- 

 ment called a soldering-iron, which is tipped with copper. 



A ciiriuus mode of soldering is resorted to in i>nl<-r to Ax upon the 

 back of the dial-plate of a watch the small copper studs by which it is 

 attached to the plate that encloses the wheel-work. The beat required 

 for melting spelter solder would be injurious to the enamel, and there- 

 fore the studs are made of wire plated with silver, and fixed by melt- 

 ing the silver on their sides, and causing it to rim down to their base, 

 where a mixture of borax and water is previously laid. Thus the 

 stud* are fixed without applying the jot of the blowpipe immediately 

 to the back of the enamelled plate. 



A kind of soldering, called bunixy-ln, i practised in some cases with 

 sheet-lead, where it has been desirable to make a vessel entirely of that 

 material ; the junction being effected by pouring melted lead upon the 

 edges to be united, until they fuse together. Somewhat tdinilar to 

 this is the process) of auloynota tolderixg. This process, the invention 

 of M. de Kiohemont, consults in the union of two pieces of metal 

 without the interposition of any solder, by fusing them at the point of 

 junction by jets of flame from a gas blowpipe. The apparatus used 

 f<>r the purpose contains a hydrogen gas generator, bellows for atmo- 

 spheric air, and valves for regulating the proportion in which the gas 

 and air are to be mixed. The joints formed in this way are neater and 

 less liable to flaws than those made by the common process. Mr. 

 Spencer discovered this process about the same time aa M. de Kichemont ; 

 and his experiment* led him to suppose that, by varying the admixture 

 Of gases, a jet of flame might be produced of intensity suitable for any 

 metal to which it may be desired to apply this mode of soldering. 



The recent investigations concerning the applicability of the metal 

 ofaswiwttm to purposes of use and ornament, have necessarily included 

 the preparation of some kind of solder. It is found that aluminium 

 cannot be soldered in the ordinary way. M. Mourey, of Paris, has 

 devised the following plan. He puts on each surface a solder of zinc 

 and aluminium, so as to form a thin film. Then, with a solder richer 

 in aluminium, he joins the two pieces together. The first solder thus 

 adheres to the metal, and the second solder to the first. The surfaces 

 of aluminium are in the first instance prepared by a mixture of turpen- 

 tine, balsam of copaiva, and lemon-juice, and strongly heated. The 

 solder No. 1 consists of 6 aluminium and 94 zinc ; No. 2 of 20 alumi- 

 nium and 80 zinc. 



iiOLUERS. A name given to certain alloys used for uniting 

 metallic surfaces by fusion, to effect which it is necessary that the 

 alloy should fuse at a temperature below the melting point of the 

 metallic surfaces to be joined. The following are some of the most 

 important solders. [ALLOTS.] 



(Gold (18 carats) . . . 66-6 

 Silver 16-7 

 Copper 10-7 



( Silver 



Solder for jilrcr . ) Copper $0-0 



I Draw 



3-4 



100-0 



Solder for bra- .1%*** 5C 



I Zinc 50 



Soft wider . 



Lead 



Tin 



100-0 

 67 

 3S 



100-0 



SOLDIER is a term applied now to every man employed in Oio 

 military service of a prince or state, but it was at first given to such 

 persons only as were expressly engaged, for pay, to follow some chief iu 

 hi* warlike expeditions. Ciesar mentions a band of 600 men called 

 " soldurii," who bound themselves to attend their leader in action, and 

 to live or die with him (' De Bello Gallico, 1 iii. 22), but it does not 

 appear that they served for pay. By some the word has been thought 

 to come from " solidus," the name of a coin under the Roman empire, 

 which may have been received as the payment for the sen 



The troops which formed the armies of the Crusaders were engaged 

 to serve for pay, for though the nobles voluntarily entered into the 

 war, their vassals were not obliged by the tenure of their fiefs to accom- 

 pany them. Pere Daniel ( Hist, de la Milice Fr./ torn, i., p. 103) 

 expresses his belief that Philip Augustus, near the end of the 12th 

 century, was the first of the French kings who had hired troops, at 

 least in any considerable body, in his service; and the practice of 

 retaining such troops appears to have been afterwards very general. It 

 is probable that men hired for the wars were, from the time of that 

 prince, called soudoyers or souldyours, that in, stiiNincliarie; lint tin- 

 name appears for the first time in the ' Chronicles' of Froissart, where 

 it is applied to the hired troops both of Franco and Germany. 



In the wardrobe account of Edward I. (1300) the term soldier occurs 

 frequently, and Grose considers that the persons so designated were of 

 a duTereut class from the other troojis. Some of them are called 

 "soldiers seutifars,' or esquires; some, "soldiers constables;" and 



others, simply " soldiers ; " but the pay of all was the same, namely, 

 one shilling per day. ('Mil. Antic].,' vol. i., p. 826.) From the time of 

 Edward I. to the end nf the reign of Edward III. the daily pay of a 

 banneret was !>., and of a knight 2*. ; that of a hobiler, a sort of light 

 horseman, was tW. ; of a crossbowman, 4<l. ; and of on archer, -V. In 

 that age the stipendiary troops, or soldiers, were raised in Kii_-Un>l l.y 

 corumissions granted by the king to persons who undertook to enlist 

 men for a certain pay (which was made to depend on the nature of the 

 si-rvici'), and for a certain portion of the ransom-money which might bo 

 obtained in the war. 



Little change seems to hnve taken place in the pay of the English 

 soldiers between the times of Kdward III. and Mary. We fin 

 during the reign of this queen the doily pay of a captain of 1> ,.\ 

 cavalry wan 1 On., and of a cavalry soldier, 1*. 6<l. The pay of a i 

 of light cavalry was (!.., and of a soldier It. The pay of a cap' 

 foot was 4. ; of a lieutenant, 2. ; of an ensign, 1*. ; and of a foot 

 soldier, 8d. ; a, halbardier and a hackbutter, on horseback, had each 

 l.. daily. In the times of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I., the pay 

 of the officers was a little raised, but that of a private foot -soldier wax 

 still 8rf. per day; during the civil wars the pay of the hit 

 but in the reign of William III. it was again reduced to Srf. At that 

 time the pay of a private trooper was 2. Cd., and that of a private 

 dragoon was 1. 6</., including in both cases the allowance for the hone. 

 It is evident that the pay of the private soldier in later timi- 

 from having been raised in the inverse ratio of the value of mo> 



While armour was in general use, the common soldiers of K- 

 were distinguished only by scarfs or by badges, on the latter of 

 were impressed the arms of their several leaders ; but in the reign of 

 Henry VIII. something like a uniform was won), and it appears that 

 the colour of the men's upper garments was then generally white ; the 

 soldiers in the king's particular service only, had on their coats a repre- 

 sentation of the cross of St. George. However, on an army 

 raised in 1544, the soldiers were ordered to wear coats of blue cloth 

 bordered with red. White cloaks marked with red crosses continued 

 to be the uniform of the troops during the reign of Queen Mary ; but 

 in the time of Elizabeth the infantry soldiers wore a cassock and long 

 trowsers, both of which were of Kentish gray : the cavalry were fur- 

 nished with red cloaks reaching down to the knee and without sleeves. 

 Gray coate, with breeches of the same colour, continued to be the 

 uniform as late as the end of the reign of William HI., but soon alnr 

 that time red became the general colour for the coat* of the British 

 infantry soldiers. 



It must be admitted that, till lately, the condition of a jniv.ite 

 soldier, both in this country and on the Continent, was unfavourable 

 for inspiring a love of the service in his mind. Obliged to be fui i 

 with good clothing and to preserve a becoming appearance, that which 

 remained of his scanty pay scarcely sufficed for procuring the food 

 necessary for his support. In his barracks he was subject to numerous 

 petty details of duty, which produced weariness and even disgust; and, 

 at all times, to the restraints of discipline, which deprived him of tho 

 recreations enjoyed by other classes of men ; while the barracks them- 

 selves were far from being healthy or even comfortable. These disadvan- 

 tages are now, however, in a great measure removed ; and the pay of 

 the soldier suffices to afford him the means of obtaining the comforts 

 of life in a degree at least equal to those which are enjoyed by an 

 ordinary peasant or mechanic. With the improvement of his con- 

 dition, a corresponding improvement in the character of the soldier 

 has taken place : men of steady habits are induced to enlist, and officers 

 are enabled to select the best among those persons who present them- 

 selves as recruits for the army. 



The duties of the soldier are now rendered as little burdensome as is 

 consistent with the good of the service ; the regulations promulgated 

 by the authorities prescribe that he shall at all times be treated 

 with mildness and humanity, and the non-commissioned officers are 

 required to use patience and forbearance in instructing the recruits in 

 their military exercises. When breaches of discipline on the part of 

 the soldier oblige a commander to order the infliction of punishment, 

 attention is paid as much as possible to render it a means of promoting 

 a reformation of character : the lash is now very sparingly used. 

 Wherever a regiment be now quartered, there is established for tho 

 soldiers a school, which the men ore obliged, as part of their duty, to 

 attend, and which is generally furnished with a library for their use. 

 The library and school are formed and supported by the subscription* 

 of the officers, and both have been found to contribute greatly to the 

 preservation of sobriety and good conduct among the men, by wiMnini; 

 them from the haunts of idleness and dissipation, and giving them .1 

 taste for useful knowledge. 



In time of peace the soldier, being surrounded by the members of 

 civil society, must, like them, conform to its laws ; and, being under 

 the influence of public opinion, he is, unconsciously to himself, held in 

 obedience by them ; so that no extraordinary coercion is necessary t . 

 him within the bounds of civil or military law. But in the colonies the 

 soldier, even though he be serving in a time of peace, has many 

 temptations to fall into a neglect or breach of discipline : he i.- i-.ir 

 removed from the friends of his early life, who may have ex< 

 upon his mind a moral influence for good : he sees around him only 

 the conduct, too frequently licentious, of the lower orders of people in 

 the country where he is stationed; and it may bo that he is not 



