xl Proceedings, tyc. 



tain culinary utensils for the imperial household." The Mexicans 

 and Peruvians had also attained a considerable dexterity in imitating 

 various objects from the flora and fauna of then - respective countries.'"' 

 Numerous tribes of South America, not at all known to the Mexicans 

 and Peruvians, though they had discovered gold and copper, had 

 never any idea of tin, and consequently they were deprived of the 

 improvements arising from the use of bronze. 



In the northern countries of Europe, both copper and gold were 

 introduced about the same period; and bronze was, through the 

 discovery of tin, subsecpiently known. 



Iron was, all over the world, the last discovered of the metals, 

 being the most important, from its influence on the higher degree in 

 civilisation we now admire. Meteoric-4ron, the compound of iron 

 and nickel, is supposed to have been abundantly found in certain dis- 

 tricts of the globe, and in those early days having attracted atten- 

 tion, was the first iron employed. This supposition is supported byformer 

 discoveries, and that lately made of a large mass of the said alloy, t 

 In other parts we have reason to believe that the hydrous oxide of 

 iron, known by the more common name of "bog-iron ore," being derived 

 from the most superficial and abundant sources, yielded an early sup- 

 ply of this metal. In the first period of the discovery of iron, when 

 it became known how to convert the crystallised metal into the state 

 of fibres, i.e., cast iron transformed into malleable iron, we perceive 

 that this was performed in very small quantities. A small piece of 

 such wrought iron, as the blade of a knife, or that of a small saw, 

 was looked upon as one of the wonders of the day, such a curiosity 

 being fitted into a grooved handle made of gold or copper, owing to 

 the greater abundance and ductility of those metals. These interesting 

 records, from the period of the first knowledge of iron, within the 

 boundaries of Europe, are to be seen in several of its archaeological 

 collections, of which that at Copenhagen is remarkable for its 

 valuable store of facts and illustrations connected with the early 

 civilisation of man. 



From these general views of our civilisation, and of how the intellec- 

 tual culture became introduced and gradually developed, it is evident 

 that this grand object has been specially promoted by the discovery 

 of the metals. That in some parts of the globe, where these means 

 have not come under notice, we find that the material improvements 

 have not advanced beyond a limited area ; the amount being modified 

 by the influence of local conditions, and particularly by the site, 



* These interesting facts, like so many important fragments of infor- 

 mation about these countries, have been well depicted by " the master-pen of 

 Prescott," whose early death is so much to be regretted. 



+ A large mass of meteoric-iron is stated to have been found in the in- 

 terior of Buenos Ayres, in the Argentine Republic, within the latter part of 

 last year. 



i 



