Reels. 147 



any quantity and in almost any form at less than fifty 

 cents a pound. 



Nor were these hopes without reason. Its low spe- 

 cific gravity, but two and seven-tenths heavier than 

 water, and its wide distribution, being the third most 

 abundant of the elements, justified great expectations. 

 It had been on the market but a short time as a com- 

 mercial product when I heard it characterized by one 

 of the most eminent chemists of Europe as " the metal 

 of disappointment." 



For reels, at all events, it is a wretched metal. It is 

 little harder than zinc, and consequently wholly unfit 

 for the bearings for the axle of the spool of the reel. It 

 can be soldered only with difficulty, and then not well 

 soldered. Unless some method has been recently dis- 

 covered, it cannot be electro-plated. It is very sensitive 

 to alkaline solutions, sea water, and perspiration. It is 

 miserable stuff to turn, drill, and tap, and chokes up 

 files in an exasperating manner. I have made four reels 

 of it, bushing the bearings for the axle of the spool 

 with steel collars, and nearly broke my heart over them. 

 After giving it up in despair a dozen times, I finally 

 succeeded in blackening the outside plates with plati- 

 num bichloride. As long as they were kept in lavender, 

 so to speak, they seemed to receive unqualified praise 

 from my angling friends. But if rained on in the after- 

 noon, they were covered the next morning with a white 

 efflorescence disgusting to see. 



In brief, as a reel-material aluminum merits little 

 consideration. 



But if alone and by itself aluminum is of little value 

 to the angler, its alloys with copper are quite another 

 matter. That composed of ninety parts of copper and 



