1846.] 
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE. 
563 
flat on one side and convex on the other, weighing four or five ounces each. 
This copper is the most valuable of any found in Asia. South American copper is 
brought to this coast, but not latterly to the market in Canton, as it brings a 
higher price at Lintin for remittance to India. The price so obtained is from nine- 
teen to twenty-two dollars per pecul. There is a natural alloy of several metals 
found in the interior of China, known under the name of white copper, which is 
used by the natives in great quantities. The constituents are not known, but cop- 
per and iron are probably the chief. It is used for spoons, dish covers, pipes, &c., 
which, when new and polished, look almost as well as silver ; but I was informed 
by the Chinese that it was very difficult to work. It sells for about fifty cents a 
pound. 
Tin. — This metal is found very abundantly, and of a pure quality, in the island 
of Banca. It is east into ingots, weighing from twenty to sixty pounds, and is 
more pure than that from Malacca. The former is known in China as “ Banca 
tin,” and the latter as “ Straits tin.” The former sells for about seventeen dol- 
lars, and the latter from fourteen to fifteen dollars per pecul. Plate tin is brought 
from Europe and the United States in boxes containing from eighty to one hundred 
and twenty-six plates, and sells for about ten dollars per box . 
Smalts. — This is an impure oxide of cobalt united with potash. In the mass it 
is not so much used, but when ground fine is employed in coloring glass and por- 
celain. The powder is of a fine azure blue. The demand is but limited. The 
price is from fifty to ninety dollars per pecul in the Canton market. 
Tutenage or China Spelter. — This is an alloy of iron and copper and zinc. It 
is harder than zinc, but less so than iron, sonorous, compact, and has some mallea- 
bility. The fresh fracture is brilliant, but soon tarnishes. It is used for dish-covers, 
household utensils, and other similar purposes. The art of making it is only known 
to the Chinese. Its export price used to be about fourteen dollars a pecul. 
Steel. — Swedish and English are the kinds imported. The quantity brought 
is increasing annually, and probably the demand will be greater every year as the 
use becomes better known. From four to five dollars per tub is the usual price. 
Spelter. — This is the impure zinc used in the manufacture of brass. It is in 
plates of half an inch in thickness, of a whitish blue. The Chinese import it but 
little, the mines found in their own country furnishing them with a supply. It 
sells for five dollars and a half per pecul. 
Vermillion. — This is made of quicksilver by oxidation, and is then exported. It 
is also used for painting porcelain. The price, which is about thirty-three dollars 
a box, is regulated by that of quicksilver. The boxes contain fifty catties each. 
Hartall or Orpiment. — This is an oxide of arsenic, and is used as a yellow paint. 
It is found in China, Hungary, and Turkey. When good, it has a yellow lemon 
color, with a shade of green, with a fohaceous shattery texture. Its lamina are a 
little flexible, and when burned it throws off much sulphurous smoke. The market 
price is from fourteen to sixteen dollar^ per pecul. 
Alum. — This substance is obtained in considerable quantities by the Chinese, 
and exported to the Indian Archipelago. It is frequently adulterated with gypsum, 
lime, &c., and the taste is not so strong as that in our markets. Large quantities 
are employed to purify the water of the river for culinary purposes. The duty on 
the article when exported is five taels per pecul. Its value in the market is from 
two to three dollars per pecul. 
Amber. — This substance is found on the shores of China, and is principally used 
for ornaments and incense. It frequently contains insects, which are valued us 
curiosities. The price is from eight to fourteen dollars per catty, and it is said 
that there is also false amber to be found in the markets. 
Saltpetre. — Saltpetre is brought from India where it is obtained by lixiviating 
the soil. It is also found in Sumatra, in caves and other protected places, and is 
an article of importation from the Indian Archipelago. The quantity brought to 
this market is small, as the Chinese make nearly enough for their own consump- 
tion, and the unlimited importation is prohibited by the government, lest the people 
manufacture it into gunpowder too freely. The price varies from four dollars 
seventy -five cents to twelve dollars and upwards a pecul. 
China Ware or Porcelain. — At present the foreign demand for this ware is very 
limited, and that which is purchased is more for curiosity as Chinese than for its 
No. 4. 
7 
