Metals. 
M 1 N E R A L O G Y. Metals. 491 
bet’ll ufed by the ancients for this purpofe; Geoffrey, 
iron ; Monge'z and Dize, tin. The laft opinion is ftrength- 
ened by the experiments of M. Hjelm, who having accu¬ 
rately examined the blade of a dagger dilcovered in the 
earth, found that it confided of 83$ copper and 16% tin. 
Of a like mixture of both metals he made blades for 
knives, which in hardnefs approached very near to the 
former. New Tranf. of the Royal Academy of Sciences at 
Stockholm, vol. xvii. 1797. 
1. Cuprum nativum, or native copper. Native copper 
is found in Cornwall, Anglefea, Wicklow, in Ireland, on 
the lhores of the Copper-illand near Kamtfichatka, in Ice¬ 
land, and the Feroe iflands, Hungary, Siberia, Sweden, 
Norway, and many other parts of the.old and new world ; 
in compact maffes, plates, threads, and arborefeent and 
botryoidal figures of various forms; fometimes cryftal- 
lized, in cubes or double four-fided pyramids ; texture 
fometimes granulated, rarely lamellar. Superficial co¬ 
lour, when tarnifhed, greenifli-yeliow, or reddifh with pale 
green, bluifh, or variegated; when hard and compaff, it 
takes a fine polifh, and exhibits a rich metallic luftre, but 
foon tarniflies by the aftion of the air, aud contracts a 
greenifh ruft or oxyd, called verdegris. 
Mr. Jamefon mentions a mafs of native copper, on the 
authority of profeffor Vandilli, weighing 2600 Portuguefe 
pounds. It is laid to have been found in a valley nearCa- 
choeira, in Brafil. 
Under the article Mine, p. 430, we brought the hiftory 
of the copper-mines of Devon and Cornwall up to the 
year 1811. We fhall add a few particulars from Mr.Gren- 
t'ell’s Obfervations on the Expediency of a Copper Coin¬ 
age, 1814. “ The Cornifh mines now yield 80,000 tons of 
ore annually, the fmelting of which confumes nearly2oo,ooo 
tons of coal; and the metal thus obtained, being on kn ave¬ 
rage from 5 to 15 in the 100 parts, may beftatedat 8000 tons 
of copper. Such is the quantity yearly added from Corn¬ 
wall to the ltock of a metal which is perifliable only in a 
flight degree after many years ufe ; the lols and waite be¬ 
ing different, in proportion as it is either expofed to the 
fire in culinary and manufacturers’ veffels, to the aCtion 
of the fea and wear and tear on the bottoms of lhips, or 
as it is compounded with tin and zink, to form mixed 
metals, as bell, pot, and brafs; or as it is difperfed over 
the country in an extenfive circulation of coin. With 
full allowances for lols, in all thefe inftances, the old me¬ 
tal or (hruff, conftantly returning to the furnace, f’erves 
to increafe the accumulation of copper in this and every 
other country.” Adverting to the advantage which 
Great Britain, as a coal-country, pofieffes over every 
other, Mr. G. proceeds; “To fmeit one ton of copper- 
ore, two tons, and fometimes two tons and a half, of 
coal, are requifite. Conceive, then, what forefts mull be 
felled to fupply with wood the place of 200,000 tons of 
coal; what time would be loft, before, in the fame extent 
of diftrift, timber of proper growth could be renewed. In 
a country dependent on her woods for the fmelting of 
copper-ore, twenty years might elapfe before the miner 
and fmelter could renew their operations on 80,000 tons 
of ore, which, remote from coals, would probably remain 
for ever hid and unknown in the rocks, where this ftub- 
born mineral is depofited. I have leen, fcientifically ar¬ 
ranged and pompoufly exhibited, at the Confeil des Mines 
at Paris, abundant fpecimens of the richeft copper-ores 
any country can boalt of, all collected from the interior 
departments of France; but I alfo faw that the fpecimens 
of coal exhibited in the fame cabinet were from other 
departments remote from the ore, without any commu¬ 
nication by the fea or rivers, and unconnected by roads 
or canals, tor the conveyance of one mineral to the other. 
Although the difplay was magnifique, my amor patriae 
was not alarmed by apprehenfion of any competition be¬ 
tween the two countries in the copper-trade, knowing that 
all the mines in the 103 (now 86) departments do not and 
cannot be made to yield copper enough for tnonjieur's bat- 
terie de cuijine. In an official Report on the Copper- 
Trade of France, which was prefented to the French Go¬ 
vernment in 1 Son, and of which I obtained a copy at 
Paris, for the late Mr. Williams, of Anglefea, the follow¬ 
ing paffage ffiows the advantage England has over France 
in refpect to our copper-mines: An commencement de la 
revolution, la France exigeait plus de 6,ooo,ooolbs. par an 
pour J'es forces navales, Jon artillerie, etj'es difevens iifages, 
en cuivre rofette, fyc. S<-s mines ne fournijjent (pie la 'ving-t- 
icme partie environ." Since then, the navy, ordnance, 
mint, and all the manufactures, of France, require fo¬ 
reign fupplies of copper, we may hope, that, now peace 
is reftored, Engliffi copper will again have the preference 
thoughout that extenfive country. We have already 
(Feb. 1817) had notice of a rife of 20I. per ton in the' 
price of copper-ore at Redruth in Cornwall. 
2. Cuprum lateritium, or copper ochre: red, Joft, with¬ 
out metallic luftre. Found in the mines of Saxony, in 
compact lumps fprinkled in fmall particles. Colour hya¬ 
cinth-red, more or lefs inclining to brown or yellow. 
Texture generally earthy, rarely imperfeClly conchoidal, 
and often covering other foflils as with a cruft. It is 
eafily pulverifable, and makes a confiderable ltain on pa¬ 
per; when breathed on, gives an earthy fmell: it often 
decrepitates and blackens in the fire, and is not totally 
foluble in acids or volatile alkali: it has a greater or lefs 
mixture of iron, and contains from 30 to 54 per cent, of 
oxyd of copper. 
3. Cuprum rubrum, or red copper: of a dull-red or 
brownilh-red colour, hardijk, without metallic luftre. 
Found in the mines of Cornwall, India, Siberia, Hun¬ 
gary, &c. in compaft maffes ; of a common, lamellar, or 
fibrous, texture; and often cryftailized in cubes, prifms, 
or pyramids. Colour Various ihades of cochineal red, 
making a bright red ftreak, and giving a red powder. It 
decrepitates and turns black in the fire ; is foluble in ni¬ 
tric acid with effervefcence, and in the muriatic without 
effervefcence ; to the nitric acid it gives a green tinge, and 
a blue one to volatile alkali. It frequently contains 
nearly 70 per cent, of copper. 
4. Cuprum hepaticum, or hepatic copper: brown, foft, 
without metallic luftre. Found commonly with the red 
oxyd in the mines of Sweden,,Saxony, Aultria, &c. fome¬ 
times in an earthy and friable ftate, fometimes compact 
and indurated, not unfrequently covering other ores in 
ftalaflitical concentric layers: colour greyiffi, yellowilh, 
yellowifti or reddifh brown. It fometimes contains a 
fmall quantity of filver, but is chiefly compofed of oxyd 
of copper and iron: it yields from as low as 2 to 20 per 
cent, of copper. 
5. Cuprum piceum, or indurated copper : black, hard- 
ifli, without metallic luftre. Found in the mines of Her- 
cynia and Aultria, in a lamellar or imperfe&ly-conchoidal 
ftate, or coating copper pyrites : colour bro'wniffi black, 
or dark yellowilh brown. It contains a large quantity of 
iron, and yields only 7 or 8 per cent, of copper. 
6. Cuprum fuliginofum, or black copper: black, fu- 
perficial. Found in the mines of Hungary, Saxony, and 
Sweden, generally in a friable ftate, and fieems to have 
been produced by pyritical copper-ore, or mundic which 
has been decompoled with iron. 
7. Cuprum caeruleum, or mountain-blue : lky-blue,foft, 
without metallic luftre; foluble in acids without effer- 
velcence, and giving them a green colour. | 3 . Lapis Ar- 
menus, or Armenian ftone: with a mixture of lime, and 
generally in a ftate of powder. Found in the mines of 
Cornwall, Derbylhire, &c. in Armenia, Siberia, Hungary, 
Saxony, &c. malfive and earthy : colour often verging to 
green. It is fometimes found in a powdery ftate, and 
fometimes inverting other ores. Contains often copper 
69, carbonic acid 29, water 2, 
8. Cuprum cuprigo, or carbonat of copper: Ikyorfmalt 
blue, without metallic luftre, entirely foluble in acids 
with effervefcence, and giving them a green colour. Found 
in moll of the copper-mines of Europe ; generally in fmall 
granular particles, difperfed through different ftones 5 
ftala£litical s 
