70 
Dr Fyfe’s Anaysh of TiUenag, or the 
De Guigne, on the contrary, states, that its properties, espe- 
cially that of imparting to copper a white colour, and render- 
ing it less liable to acquire verdigris on its surface, prove that 
it does not contain zinc. According to him, it is an alloy of 
iron, lead and bismuth. 
Engestroem, in the Stockholm Memoirs, states, that the Pak~ 
Fong, or White Copper of China, is composed of copper, nickel 
or zinc, the last of which amounts to seven-sixteenths of the 
whole, and the proportions of the two first are to each other as 
5 to 7. 
Dr Howison of Lanarkshire was so fortunate, when in China, 
as to procure a basin and ewer of Chinese or white copper, a 
part of which he sent me for analysis. From the experiments 
I have performed on it, I find the composition to be different 
from what is stated by the above named chemists, its component 
parts being Copper, Zinc, Nickel, and Iron ; the last of which, 
however, is but in small quantity. 
The basin in the possession of Dr Howison is of a whitish 
colour, approaching to that of silver, and is very sonorous. 
When held in one hand, and struck with the fingers of the 
other, the sound is distinctly heard at the distance of an English 
mile. It is also highly polished, and does not seem to be easily 
tarnished. The piece that was sent me I found was malleable 
at a natural temperature, and at a red heat ; but when heated 
to whiteness, it was quite brittle, breaking with the slightest 
blow of a hammer. By great caution, it was rolled into thin 
plates, and was drawn into wire, of about the thickness of a 
fine needle. When fused in contact with the atmospheric air, 
it oxidated, and burned with a whitish flame, in the same way 
as zinc does. Its specific gravity at 50° was 8,432. 
Five grains of it were subjected to analysis, with the view of 
ascertaining the proportion of its ingredients ; the result was. 
Copper, 
2.02 
Or in the 100 Parts, 40.4 
Zinc, 
1.27 
25.4. 
Nickel, 
1.58 
31.6 
Iron, 
0.13 
2.6 
5.00 
100.00 
The method which is practised in preparing white copper, is 
pot known in this country, though it seems to be the general 
