325 



Now it is not so easy to imagine how man could know that 

 the solid, shining mass consisted of ninety parts of copper and 

 ten parts of tin even in the very improbable event of the ores 

 of these metals occurring next to one another. The fact that 

 a Copper Age preceded that of Bronze makes it very probable 

 that man first learnt how to obtain the former metal, and that 

 by degrees, either accidentally, or owing to definite research, 

 he discovered the way to combine it with tin. 



" The use of bronze was known before that of iron, as it is 



FIG. 155. Copper battle-axe 

 from Servia. (Homes.) 



FIG. 156. Objects found in the Swiss pile-dwell- 

 ings of the Bronze Age. (Homes.) 



more pliant and occurs in larger amounts. Bronze stirred the 

 soil of the earth, bronze mingled with the billows of the devas- 

 tating battle, and dealt still deeper wounds." So Lucretius 

 sings ; later he thus alludes to the use of iron : " The people 

 then began to break up with iron tools the soil of the earth, and 

 with it decided the fight on a doubtful field of battle ". 



There appears, however, little doubt that even in the dim 

 dawn of time, long before any knowledge of the use of bronze and 

 copper was attained, an iron industry had flourished on the red, 



