Jottings on Copper.- 67 



reasonably expected, from that memorable conjunction ; but at 

 any rate a great proportion of the terrors of ages has now been 

 dispelled ; we have found that we have neither deluge, nor 

 conflagration, nor pestilence, to fear from the encounter of a 

 cornet's tail. There remains, indeed, the chance, an almost 

 incalculably smaller one, that we might come in contact with a 

 nucleus ; and what might be the consequence of a close con- 

 junction with that wholly unknown and most mysterious mate- 

 rial it is, of course, impossible to say. We have no analogy 

 whatever to guide us, and notwithstanding what has recently 

 occurred, no experience to give us aid. It is certain that the 

 nucleus consists of ponderable matter, since it obeys the law of 

 gravity ; and that it possesses the power of either originating 

 or reflecting a vivid light ; but beyond this, as its nature is 

 wholly unknown, so must be the result of its collision. But no 

 ground for apprehension on this subject exists. We need not 

 have recourse to Kepler's idea of a guiding intelligence for our 

 sense of security, while we are certain that every orbit is 

 planned out, without the possibility of deviation, by infinite 

 wisdom and paternal goodness ; and that " known unto God are 

 all His works from the beginning of the world." 



JOTTINGS ON COPPER. 



peect's metallurgy.* 



The publication of Dr. Percy's " Metallurgy" affords a convenient 

 opportunity for considering some interesting properties of copper, 

 a metal which, next to iron, has been most conducive to human 

 civilization, and which in various shapes still plays a very im- 

 portant part in industrial and domestic life. It appears that 

 its English appellation originates in the fact of its early discovery 

 by the ancients in the island of Cyprus, whence came the adjec- 

 tive Cyprian, corrupted into the substantive cuprum, from which 

 the word copper was obtained. With the exception of titanium, 

 it is the only metal exhibiting a red colour, which is sometimes 

 shown very strikingly when minute irregularities of the surface 

 cause a peculiar play of light. It is well known to possess 

 the valuable qualities of malleability and ductility in a high 

 degree ; but its physical properties are easily modified. Thus 

 cold rolling or hammering makes it hard and brittle, the malle- 

 ability being restored by annealing at a red heat. As it ap- 



* " Metallurgy : The Art of Extracting Metals from their Ores, and adaptiug 

 them to Tarious Purposes of Manufacture." By John Percy, M.P., F.K..S., Lec- 

 turer at the Government School of Mines. Murray. 



