Astrolabe.—The astrolabe is an instrument which was largely used in taking the altitude of the sun or stars at sea. It was well known to the Greeks, and takes its names from two Greek words, meaning a star and to take. Perfected by the Arabs, the instrument was introduced into Europe about the tenth century. It is said that the most famous examples are to be seen in the museums at Madrid and Florence. There is one in the British Museum, which was made for Henry, Prince of Wales, in 1574.

Barrow.—Mounds in which bronze celts, knives, spear-heads, and food receptacles are found along with the remains of chieftains and others of the prehistoric peoples once inhabiting this country. The term "barrow" originally denoted a "little hill." Round barrows are the most common form, although some are oval and some of the "long barrow" type. The methods of burial differed, but in most instances implements of stone or bronze as well as vessels of pottery and some trinkets belonging to the dead were usually placed near to the body.

Betel-Nut Boxes.—The beautifully ornate boxes, chiefly found in India, made for holding the betel-nut and the shell lime used by the natives who chew the leaves and nut of the areca palm.

Bidri Metal.—The metal objects known as bidri are made of an alloy of copper-zinc and lead, damascened with silver, showing a peculiarly striking contrast in black and white. The villages round Lucknow are famous for this curious and effective inlaid metal work.

Brass.—An alloy of copper and zinc. Early brass was copper mixed with calamine melted in a crucible. The ancient form of alloyed metal employed by the Romans was copper and tin, which, although frequently termed "brass" is more correctly defined as bronze (see Bronze). The greater the proportion of zinc the lighter the colour; but the addition of an extra quantity of zinc reduced the tenacity and ductility of the metal.

Brasses.—The term brasses is applied (in antiquarian and curio metallurgy) to the monumental brasses which as early as the first half of the thirteenth century replaced the older effigies, such as those of the Crusaders, which may be seen in the Temple Church, in London. The brasses, of which many rubbings have been taken, include the large brasses, covering nearly the whole of their tomb flag, and the small brasses on which were engraved emblems, escutcheons, and inscriptions, inset into large slabs of marble or stone, ornamenting rather than constituting the covering of tombs.

Brazier.—Primarily a pan for holding burning coals. The brazier was in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries a domestic appliance for keeping hot dishes for the table, some very interesting examples of an ornamental character, doubtless used for that purpose, being referred to in Chapter VIII. The brazier, so called to-day, is a tripod open fire chiefly used out of doors in some open space.Bronze.—The bronze of the ancients consisted chiefly of pure copper and an alloy of tin. In those very early days the compounding and mixing of the metals must have been done largely by experience and "rule of thumb." It was before the days of metallurgical research and before the chemistry of metals was understood. As yet there was no formula. Curiously enough the proper nomenclature of metals has never been formulated, and "bronze" is the term still applied in a very haphazard way to various alloys.

Quite recently a very able lecture was delivered by Dr. Rosenhain, of the National Physical Laboratory, on the "Nomenclature of Alloys" at a meeting of the Birmingham Section of the Institute of Metals. Every one, he told us, described metals "at his own sweet will," and for the most part by misleading terms. He suggested in reference to copper-bronze alloys that "copper-zinc" might denote an alloy with more copper than zinc in it, and "zinc-copper" when the former metal was present in a greater degree. He thought "tin-copper" would serve as a fairly wide definition of modern bronze. In such bronzes aluminium is now generally added. Other scientists have suggested the definition of bronze by chemical numerals, thereby indicating their contents with more exactitude. At present, however, the term bronze is very elastic.

Buckler.—The old English name bocler denoted a shield with a boss. It was worn on the left arm; used in the Middle Ages to parry blows rather than intended to act as a cover for the body like the larger and more cumbrous shields.

Chattie or Chatty.—A porous earthenware vessel used in India for cooling water and other purposes.

Chaufferette.—A spherical metal vessel in the interior of which was a small chain, from which was suspended a cup in which could be placed a piece of red-hot metal or charcoal. It was usually a hand-warmer; some chaufferettes, however, were larger, almost like small stoves. The name is derived from a table stove or small furnace, literally a cylindrical box of sheet-iron, the word coming from the French chauffer, to heat.

Circe-Perdu Process.—The Japanese have been wonderfully clever in their manipulation of metals, especially considering the very primitive appliances they used in the early days. Some of their most remarkably intricate bronzes were fashioned and modelled in wax, delicately tooled, hardened a little, and then covered over with layers of fine clay until the mould became strong enough. The clay mould when dried was heated until the wax ran out, leaving a smooth and beautifully finished mould in which the bronze metal could be poured, the clay being broken away when it was cold. Great skill and at the same time much patience were needed to produce such charming effects. The bronzes of old Japan were frequently inlaid with fine and delicate tracery in silver and gold. Up to comparatively recent times beautifully modelled ornaments were fashioned by such laborious processes, and even now by more modern methods much labour is expended on their production.

Counters.—Counters have been used in card games from quite early times. They were frequently of engraved metal. In the reign of James I., we are told by Horace Walpole, one Nicholas Hilliard was licensed for twelve years to engrave card counters on which was the Royal portrait. In later reigns similar counters were so engraved. Those of the time of Queen Anne bore a great resemblance to the obverse of the then current coins. Sets of counters were frequently supplied in metal boxes, the exteriors of which were often decorated by engravings. It should be clearly understood that metal card-counters—old and modern—are quite distinct from commercial counters or jettons.

Couvre de Feu.—The French term, literally, cover of the fire, became the name of the metal shield or cover with which the fire was shut down in the days of the Norman kings. From the same root term the English curfew is derived. It was the curfew bell that sounded the signal for the couvre de feu to be brought out and lights and fires to be extinguished. These metal plates, so frequently engraved all over, are among the rarities of domestic curios (see p. 113).

Damascene.—The process of inlaying steel or other metal work with silver or gold beaten into the incised metal. To damascene (also spelled damasken) was a process first emanating from Damascus—hence its name.

Dialling.—A dial plate is made by fixing to a flat surface a stile or gnomon, which forms with the horizon an angle equal to the latitude of the place in which it is to be used. When the gnomon is in position a line is drawn upon the surface of the plate so that the shadow of the stile falls exactly upon it at noonday, the plane through the stile and the sun coinciding with the meridian. It cannot be too clearly understood by users of old sundials that dial plates used in any other latitude than that for which they were constructed must necessarily be inaccurate.

Ember Tongs.—These little tongs were formerly used to take up the hot embers from among the ashes of a dying fire. They were constantly in use in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many being decorative, the handles often being fashioned to serve the purpose of a pipe stopper.

Enamels.—The enamels applied to copper or brass are glass coloured with oxides of metals, producing blue, green, violet, red, and other shades. These when fused adhere to the metal surface and are very lasting. Various processes have been adopted, especially in the fine arts. The principal older processes are champlevÉ, cloisonnÉ, and Limoges. In the first named the spaces to be filled in with enamels are cut into the metal foundation; then, when the enamels have been fired, they are rubbed down and polished. The cloisonnÉ process, chiefly practised in the East, consists of small cells or cloisons formed of wire filled with the requisite colours. Limoges enamels, the finest period of which is placed in the sixteenth century, were formed by a ground of enamel painted over, chiefly with classical subjects.

Opaque enamels on, usually, a convex copper disc or plate, were the work of later craftsmen. At Battersea and Bilston in England, towards the close of the eighteenth century, many small boxes and trinkets (see p. 356) were produced. The enamels of recent date applied to utilitarian objects and cooking vessels are seldom fixed upon a ground-work of copper—iron or steel being the usual base. In jewelry and small trinkets enamelling on copper is still practised, many such objects being of Oriental origin.

Fibula.—A small brooch or buckle. Many of the beautifully fashioned fibulÆ have been found among the remains of Roman London, a large number being on view in the Guildhall Museum.

Gipciere.—A kind of pouch formerly worn at the girdle, an early type of purse. The name is sometimes spelled gipser.

Hookah.—The name given to the bottle through which tobacco smoke is passed. In smoking with a hookah the smoke is cooled by being made to pass through water.

Latten.—The name is primarily derived from the nature of the material—thin sheets. The brass or latten brass was formerly used chiefly for making church utensils. Black latten consists of milled sheets of brass, composed of copper and zinc; roll latten, of metal polished on both sides; and white latten of brass and tin.

Meander.—A term applied to the decorations on Japanese and other bronzes. To wind, to twist, meandering like the winding river Maeander, in Phrygia, from which the proverbial term is derived.

Mirrors of Bronze.—The bronze mirrors of the Romans were given their reflective power by using an alloy of antimony and lead, a combined metal which took a highly reflective polish; the backs, handles, and frames were of bronze.

Mortars.—Mortars such as those referred to on p. 226 with accompanying pestles, were commonly in domestic use from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. In later years they were employed chiefly in the preparation of drugs, but more recently they have been superseded by the modern way of preparing spices and other compounds by machinery. The form of the vessel may be described as an inverted bell, the substances therein being pounded or rubbed with the pestle.

Patina.—A term expressive of the colour or encrustation which is imparted to works of art by age. It is used chiefly in reference to the beautiful green formation which covers ancient bronzes, shading from light green to deep brown. This crustation consists of basic copper carbonate, the result of exposure to the air. It is chiefly found on bronzes, the alloy of which is mostly of tin and very little zinc. The patina or patine is also the name given by the Romans to a shallow basin used for domestic purposes.

Pilgrims' Signs.—The symbols or signs worn by pilgrims when visiting one or other of the famous shrines in this country in mediÆval days were distinct from the crests or badges of wealthy patrons which were at one time worn pretty generally as indicating on whose service the journey they were making was being performed. Pilgrims' signs were worn on the outward journey chiefly as protective amulets; on the return journey mostly as proof of the pilgrimage, such signs being purchased at or near the shrines to which homage had been paid. The chief shrines in this country were those of St. Thomas À Becket at Canterbury, and Walsingham Priory in Norfolk, where Our Lady of Walsingham was held in high repute.

Weather-Vane.—The vane denotes any flat surface attached to an axis and moved by the wind, usually applied to some elevated object for the purpose of telling which way the wind blows. A strip of metal cut to some fanciful form and placed upon a perpendicular axis around which it moves easily.

I
THE
METAL
AND ITS
ALLOYS