372 
Tin. 
tlie tinning is not mentioned, but it is said that a piece of 
copper, which in the common way of tinning only absorb- 
ed 21 grains of tin, absorbed of the new composition 432 
grains, or above twenty times as much.^ Till this dis- 
covery is generally known, our workmen should study to 
cover the copper with as thick a coat as they are able of 
pure tin. The danger from the corrosion or solution of 
the tin by vinegar, juice of lemons, or other vegetable 
acids, if any at all, cannot, it is apprehended, be sensibly 
felt, except in very irritable habits, or where sour broths, 
sauces, or syrups are suffered to stand long in tinned ves* 
sels before they are used. And, indeed, a proper atten- 
tion to keeping the vessels clean, might render the use of cop- 
per itself, for the boiling of food, especially of animal food, 
wholly safe. The French may be alio ed to excel us in 
cookery, but we probably excel them in cleanliness ; for 
the melancholy accidents attending the use of copper ves- 
sels, are much less frequent in England than in France ; 
and this difference proceeds, I conjecture, from the supe- 
rior care of the English in keeping their vessels clean, and 
from the cheapness and purity of the tin we use in tinning 
copper. We are not certain that the art of tinning cop- 
per vessels was known to the Jeius, when they came out 
of Egypt ; the vessels used in the temple service, were 
made of copper by divine appointment ; and by being 
constantly kept clean, no inconveniences followed. The 
wort, from which malt liquor is brewed, is boiled in cop - 
per vessels ; the distillers and confectioners, prepare their 
spirits and syrups in im-tinned vessels of the same metal, 
without our suffering any thing in our health from these 
practices ; at least) without our being generally persuaded 
that we suffer any thing. A new copper vessel, or a cop - 
per vessel newly tinned, is more dangerous than after it 
*L’£sprit des Journaux, Mai, 1785. 
