50 THE STORY-BOOK OF SCIENCE 



make. We use these substances as God has depos- 

 ited them in the bosom of the earth for purposes of 

 human industry; but all our knowledge and all our 

 skill could not produce them. 



" In the bosom of mountains where copper is found, 

 they hollow out galleries which go down deep into 

 the earth. There workmen called miners, with 

 lamps to light them, attack the rock with great blows 

 of the pick, while others carry the detached blocks 

 outside. These blocks of stone in which copper is 

 found are called ore. In furnaces made for the pur- 

 pose they heat the ore to a very high temperature. 

 The heat of our stove, when it is red-hot, is nothing 

 in comparison. The copper melts, runs, and is sep- 

 arated from the rest. Then, with hammers of enor- 

 mous weight, set in motion by a wheel turned by 

 water, they strike the mass of copper which, little by 

 little, becomes thin and is hollowed into a large basin. 



"The coppersmith continues the work. He takes 

 the shapeless basin and, with little strokes of the 

 hammer, fashions it on the anvil to give it a regular 

 shape. " 



"That is why coppersmiths tap all day with their 

 hammers," commented Jules. "I had often won- 

 dered, when passing their shops, why they made so 

 much noise, always tapping, without any stop. They 

 were thinning the copper ; shaping it into saucepans 

 and kettles." 



Here Emile asked: "When a kettle is old, has 

 holes in it and can't be used, what do they do with it? 

 I heard Mother Ambroisine speak of selling a worn- 

 out kettle." 



