Bell metal

“ The bell is truly a mountain of metal. It is said to contain a very large proportion of gold and silver. While it was in fusion, the nobles and the people cast in, as votive offerings, their plate and money: I endeavoured in vain to assay a small part: the natives regard it with superstitious veneration, and they would not allow even a grain to be filed off. At the same time, it may be said, the compound has a white shining appearance, unlike bell-metal in general; and, perhaps, its silvery aspect has strengthened, if not excited, a conjecture respecting the costliness of its constituents. ”

“ Castings in bell metal are all more or less brittle; and, when recent, have a color varying from a dark ash-gray to grayish-white, which is darkest in the more cuprous varieties, in which it turns somewhat on the yellowish-red or bluish-red. The larger the proportion of copper in the alloy, the deeper and graver the tone of the bells formed of it. The addition of tin, iron, or zinc, causes them to give out their tones sharper. Bismuth and lead are also often used to modify the tone, which each metal affects differently. ”

“ When the people at the melting-houses are employed in melting, there is formed under the furnace, in the crevices of the wall, among the stones where it is not well plastered, a metal which is called zinc or conterfeht; and when the wall is scraped, the metal falls down into a trough placed to receive it. This metal has a great resemblance to tin, but it is harder and less malleable, and rings like a small bell. It could be made also, if people would give themselves the trouble; but it is not much valued, and the servants and workmen only collect it when they are promised drink-money. ”

“ Jamrach strikes the uninviting piece of metal upon the side in such a way as to cause it to spin, and we, for the first time, fully realise what sweet music may lie in a bell. The sound is of the most startling volume—as loud as that of a good-sized church bell, in fact—and dies away very slowly and gradually in a prolonged note of indescribable sweetness. The metal is a peculiar amalgam, silver being the chief ingredient ”

“ The former metal adds strength and tenacity to the bell, the latter brings out its tone. The popular superstition that silver improves the tone of bells is not only entirely baseless, but in point of fact it has just the opposite effect! The numerous stories which are current, of silver being thrown into bells at their casting, of which Great Tom of Lincoln is an example, must therefore be discredited. ”

“ However, nothing further was done, and the devices of Gregory, Newton and Cassegrain went together into the discard for some fifty years.
These early experiments gave singularly little information about material for mirrors and methods of working it, so little that those who followed, even up to Lord Rosse, had to work the problems out for themselves. We know from his original paper that Newton used bell-metal, whitened by the addition of arsenic, following the lore of the alchemists. ”

“ If there is any considerable percentage of silver in this bell—as seems likely on inspection, and if it weighs two hundred tons, as we are told—it would be very valuable as old metal. But it is still more precious to Moscow as her unique and most interesting treasure.
The ordinary bass voice is often little better than a growl or huskiness of the throat. No one thinks of calling it musical. ”

“ At first only one surface of the copper was plated with silver and thus its usefulness was necessarily restricted, but it was a simple matter to apply the silver to both sides and thenceforward whatever was made in solid metal could be reproduced in plate, and firm after firm went into the business, ever and anon introducing further improvements. ”

“ Grasping the shaft, the skipper and one of the crew essayed with all their might to drive the six feet of iron into the white, grooved belly that quaked alongside. The rusty metal, entering a little way, bent and snapped. Then it was that Bjarnison recollected having left his other and newer lances at the station to be sharpened. By nature a careful, methodical man, he was annoyed with himself. He had now no means of marking the whales so that they should be sighted from a distance, and although the sea was calm, and the air clear, he did not care about risking the two carcasses as they were. ”

“ And thereupon Angus opened his mouth to yell to deaf, snoring Donald; but ere utterance could be made, the fog above him glowed, and upon his wet face he felt a warmth. In a moment it was past; the glow and warmth were gone; but the roaring flurry, now intermittent, and failing with the distance, continued, till of a sudden, with the shriek of ardent metal plunged in water, it ceased.
Angus threw himself from the thwart and frantically shook the sleeper.
“Donald!—your knife—cut the rope! See, yonder!”—-pointing to the dim, inert shape on the weedy verge—“A man! He fell...” ”

“ In very truth, even the works of art, elegant, embellished, elaborate, useful, are fashioned in various shapes by the artist from the metals gold, silver, brass, lead, and iron. How few artists could make anything that is beautiful and perfect without using metals? Even if tools of iron or brass were not used, we could not make tools of wood and stone without the help of metal. ”

“ Mechanically, aluminium is somewhat inferior to copper, as its coefficient of expansion with temperature is 50% greater; and its elastic limit is very low, the metal tending to take a permanent set under comparatively light tension, and being seriously affected at less than half its ultimate tensile strength. Joints in aluminium wire are difficult to make, since the present methods of soldering are little better than cementing the metal with the flux; in practice the joints are purely mechanical, being usually made by means of tight-fitting sleeves forced into Contact with the wire. ”

“ In 1742 a Workman named Thomas Bolsover was mending the handle of a knife made of silver and copper, when, accidentally overheating it, he caused the metals to fuse and flow, and found that as a consequence the silver adhered to the copper as a thin coating. Being an intelligent man, he perceived the commercial value of his chance discovery, and began the manufacture of articles which, with all the appearance of silver, were both cheaper and stronger than those made of the pure metal. ”

“ Their fitness for the purpose required, and the effectiveness of their tints and tones for carrying out ornamental designs, were what the artist considered. One metal was as easily wrought by him as another. Iron was like clay in his competent hands, and he moulded, cut, and hammered as he willed, using copper, gold, silver, iron, tin, zinc, lead, and antimony simply as pigments, and combining them as a painter would his colors. ”

“ The captain expressed himself satisfied, and Sigurd laid the hundred-weight of metal on the platform. Then the gun was uncovered and unlashed, and slewed round on its pivot for loading. Lastly Sigurd went below, to return speedily, bearing something resembling a torpedo in shape, but about twelve inches in length and sharp-nosed. This was screwed on to the end of the harpoon now projecting from the gun’s muzzle; and the harpoon was complete—pointed with a bomb that would explode shortly after striking. ”

“ Very few metals are used alone in the various arts and manufactures. For every purpose some combination has been found which makes the product better. Even coins are so alloyed. Silver and gold in the form of money would be entirely too soft, unless alloyed with some hardening metal. Some substances, like arsenic, antimony and bismuth, are too brittle to be used alone. The only metals which can be used alone are aluminum, zinc, iron, tin, copper, lead, mercury, silver, gold and platinum."
"What is bronze, of which all the ancient guns were made?" ”

“ But was the colour a lacquer of heat upon some familiar metal? Or was it an intrinsic quality of the metal itself? He thrust in the blue-point of his pocket-knife to test the constitution of the stuff. Instantly the entire sphere burst into a mighty whispering, sharp with protest, almost twanging goldenly, if a whisper could possibly be considered to twang, rising higher, sinking deeper, the two extremes of the registry of sound threatening to complete the circle and coalesce into the bull-mouthed thundering he had so often heard beyond the taboo distance. ”

“ And not only in bronze, but in Paris jewellery, enamels, silver, pewter and iron work a cultured refinement is apparent, beside which other productions, even the most finished, appear crude. The French artist attains his ideal, and it is difficult to imagine, from his standpoint, that the metal-work of the present can be surpassed. The best English metal-worker, on the contrary, is probably not often quite satisfied with the results he attains, perhaps because in, Great Britain the pursuit of art has for centuries been fitful and individual, while in France art traditions are hereditary. ”

“ Attempting a definition of black metal is no simple task. According to Keith KahnHarris, author of a remarkable essay on the genre, black metal is traditionally „characterized by screamed, high-pitched vocals, extremely rapid tempos, „tremolo‟ riffs, a „trebly‟ guitar sound, and simple production values.‟ [4] As far as the aesthetics of the genre are concerned, Kahn-Harris mentions a „discursive transgression‟ which embraces misanthropy, occultism, Satanism and paganism. ”

“ Metals.—The noble metals, such as gold, platinum and silver, have, since the early years of the 18th century, been largely used as adjuncts to pottery decoration, especially on the fine white earthen-wares and porcelains of the last two centuries. At first the gold was applied with a kind of japanner’s size and was not fired to the glaze, but for the last 150 years or so the metals have generally been fired to the surface of the glaze like enamel colours, by mixing the metal with a small proportion of flux or fusible ground glass. ”

“ And now, if those ashes shall be molten with a strong fire, then the ashes which arise out of the imperfect Metals, are turned into Glass, or scoria, but the ashes of the perfect Metals do reduce, and restore themselves into a malleable Body, whether it be Silver or Gold, according as it had this or that Metalline mixture in it; and if you proceed yet farther, with melting the aforesaid scoria in the fire, there will a new Regulus fall out, which contains in it that Metal, which is the noblest next Gold and Silver, viz. Lead, and Copper ”

“ We have, secondly, work in bronze, iron, gold, and [Pg 97] other metals; in which the laws of structure are still more definite.
All kinds of twisted and wreathen work on every scale become delightful when wrought in ductile or tenacious metal; but metal which is to be hammered into form separates itself into two great divisions—solid, and flat.
a. In solid metal-work, i.e., metal cast thick enough to resist bending, whether it be hollow or not, violent and various projection may be admitted, which would be offensive in marble ”

“ Although, as I have shown, iron and steel were largely used in the manufacture of instruments, fortunately for us bronze was the metal usually selected, for thus many instruments have withstood the lapse of time which would otherwise have been oxidized out of existence. Copper is much more easily got from ore than iron, and consequently it was the first to be used by man, and very early the advantage of combining it with tin to form bronze was found out. ”

“ Upon analysis the brass was found to contain 70%-75% copper, 20%-30% zinc, and other trace elements. The blades, cocking levers, and button releases of lancets and scarificators were found to be made of ferrous metal (iron or steel) . In addition to the typical brass pieces, a number of “white metal” pieces were analyzed. (The term “white metal” is used to designate any undetermined silver-colored metal alloy.) Those white metal pieces dating from the eighteenth century (a Swiss or Tyrolean fleam and an English veterinary spring lancet) were found to be composed entirely of ferrous metal. ”

“ There are apparently no traces of implements of war.
In metal there are numerous and somewhat remarkable works. They are of gold, gold-copper alloy, copper, and bronze. The objects are of small size, rarely reaching a pound in weight, and they are almost exclusively pendent ornaments. They were, for the most part, cast in molds, and in nine cases out of ten represent animal forms. A few bells are found, all of which are of bronze. Pieces formed of alloyed metal are usually washed or plated with pure gold.
The great body of relics are in clay, and the workmanship displayed is often admirable. ”

“ Whether they have any Signs, whereby to know whether the Fusion have been well or ill perform'd; and the Metal have obtain'd the perfection, to be expected from such Ore, melted in such a Furnace?
84. Whether they observe any great difference in the goodness of the Metal, that first melts, from that of the rest of the Metal which comes afterwards in the same or another operation? And whether the Rule holds constantly? (For, though they observe in Tin-Mines, the best Metal comes first, yet in the works of an Industrious friend of mine, he informs me, that the best Metal comes last.) ”

“ The fire of the artist’s own genius operating upon these materials which have been thus diligently{91} collected, will enable him to make new combinations, perhaps, superior to what had ever before been in the possession of the art: as in the mixture of the variety of metals, which are said to have been melted and run together at the burning of Corinth, a new and till then unknown metal was produced, equal in value to any of those that had contributed to its composition. ”