METHOD OF COLOURING KRIS BLADES. 41 
homogeneous steel welded in so as to form the cutting edge of the 
weapon; in other cases the ingot seems to have been cut in half 
longitudinally, a flat piece of steel placed between the two halves, and 
the whole welded together again. Some blades have evidently been 
formed in one of the ways already mentioned, and then have had 
hollows cut in them, into which different qualities of steel have been 
inserted, and the whole heated and welded together. In this way flowers, 
dragons, and various patterns are produced in the texture of the metal 
itself. 
The temper of many of the blades is anything but good, some being 
so soft that they may be easily bent in the hands; on the other hand, 
some unite a keen edge with great elasticity, while some of the deeply 
fluted blades have singular rigidity with very small weight of metal. 
In Perak the art is now extinct, and the great mystery which was 
always made over the forging of weapons makes it at present almost 
impossible to glean any reliable information as to the methods by which 
the old smiths produced their best work. 
The method of colouring the blades, which is somewhat analogous 
to the browning of gun-barrels, is only known to a few Malays, and is 
kept by them as much a secret as possible, and has not, apparently, 
been hitherto fully explained. 
Newbold, writing in 1839, thus describes the process. ‘“ Place on 
the blade a mixture of boiled rice, sulphur, and salt beat together, first 
taking the precaution to cover the edges of the weapon with a thin coat 
of virgin wax. After this has remained on seven days, the damask will 
have risen to the surface; take the composition off, and immerse the 
blade in the water of a young coconut, or the juice of a pine-apple, 
for seven days longer, and wash it well with the juice of a sour lemon. 
After the rust has been cleared away, rub it with warangan (arsenic) 
dissolved in lime juice; wash it well with spring water; dry, and anoint 
it with coconut oil.” 
Before proceeding to explain the process in detail, it may be as well 
to say a few words on the rationale of it. Acid solutions of arsenious 
oxide are decomposed by metallic iron, and if the solution is of the 
proper strength and the solvent a suitable one, the arsenium is deposited 
as a black amorphous film on the iron. If a thin sheet of iron is used, 
and is then rolled up and placed in a glass tube and heated over a 
spirit-laimp the arsenium will oxidise and the vapour condense on the cool 
part of the tube in the form of white arsenious oxide. This simple 
experiment is conclusive as to there being an actual film of arsenium 
formed on the surface of the iron. 
The application of a weak current of electricity aids materially its 
deposition, and it will then be found to have been deposited only on that 
plate which is connected to the negative or zinc pole of the battery, the 
other plate remaining comparatively bright. As has been previously 
stated, kris blades are mostly compound ones, composed of steels of 
different degrees of carbonization, and when treated with a solution of 
arsenic, galvanic currents are set up and the arsenium is deposited on 
those portions of the blades which are negative to the other parts. 
Experiments show that steel is negative to wrought iron, and wrought 
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