10 USE OF GOLD AND OTHER METALS 



there are often decided indications of hammering', or at least of the 

 strong pressnre of an implement; but in pursuing the matter further 

 we find a singular perfection in the joining, which amounts to a coales- 

 cence of the metals of the two parts concerned. There is no weakness 

 or tendency to part along the contact surfaces, neither is there anything 

 like the parting of parallel wires in coils or where a series of wires is 

 joined side by side and carried through various convolutions. In a 

 number of cases 1 made sections of coils and parts composed of a num- 

 ber of wires, in the hope of discovering evidences of the individuality 

 of the strands, but the metal in the section is always homogeneous, 

 breaking with a rough granular fracture and not more readily along 

 apparent lines of junction than across them; and further, in studying 

 in detail the surface of parts unpolished or protected from wear by 

 handling, we find everywhere the granular and pitted unevenness 

 characteristic of cast surfaces. This is true of the wire forms as well 

 as of the massive parts, and in addition to this, such defects occur in 

 the wires as would hardly be possible if they were of wrought gold. 



All points considered, 1 am inclined to believe that the objects were 

 cast, and cast in their entirety. It is plain, however, that the original 

 model was made up of separately constructed parts of wire or wire like 

 strands and of eccentric and often rather massive parts, and that all 

 were set together by the assistance of pressure, the indications being 

 that the material used was sufficiently plastic to be worked after the 

 manner of clay, dough, or wax. In one case, for example, the body of 

 a serpent, consisting of two wires neatly twisted together, is held in the 

 hand of a grotesque figure. The hand consists of four fingers made by 

 doubling together two short pieces of wire. The coil has been laid 

 across the hand and pressed down into it until half buried, and the ends 

 of the fingers are drawn up around it without any indication of hammer 

 strokes. Indeed, the effect is just such as would have been produced 

 if the artist had worked in wax. Again, in the modeling of the eyes 

 we have a good illustration. The eye is a minute ball cleft across the 

 entire diameter by a sharp implement, thus giving the effect of the 

 parted lids. Now, if the material had been gold o copper, as in the 

 specimens, the ball would have been separated into two parts or hemi- 

 spheres, which would not exhibit any great distortion, but as we see 

 them here the parts are flattened and much drawn out by the pressure 

 of the cutting edge, just as if the material had been decidedly plastic. 



It seems to me that the processes of manufacture must have been 

 analogous to those employed by the more primitive metal workers of 

 our own day. In Oriental countries delicate objects of bronze and 

 other metals are made as follows : A model is constructed in some such 

 material as wax or resin, and over it are placed coatings of clay or 

 other substance capable of standing great heat. These coatings, when 

 sufficiently thickened and i)roperly dried, form the mold from which 

 the original model is extracted by means of heat. The fused metal is 



