THE BOOK OF OBJECT LESSONS. MINERAL KINGDOM. LESSON I.-COPPER. I. Description of Appearance, Qualities, &c. NAME derived from Cyprus, whence the Greeks first obtained it. Latin name, cuprum. Colour, red; lustrous; malleable; ductile; a pound can be made to reach over a mile and a quarter; very sonorous and tenacious; lightest of metals except iron and tin; good conductor of heat. II. Districts producing the Ore.* Found extensively in the British Isles mines situated in Anglesea (Amlwch), Cumberland, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Devon, Cornwall (upwards of eighty; produce, annually, some a hundred, others fifteen hundred tons), Ireland, Isle of Man; Siberia; Spain, Saxony, Russia, Sweden; Morocco, Nigritia; North America (Fahlun), Canada near the lakes Superior and Huron; Brazil, Chili; Cuba, Jamaica ; Australia (Burra-Burra), New Zealand. * Every place mentioned in this and the succeeding lessons is to be found upon the map. B III. Process of Preparation. Ore obtained by mining; removed to the surface, and broken into small pieces; "best ore" separated from the inferior; crushed under large hammers or in mills or "grinders" (machines consisting of heavy revolving rollers); passed through sieves; washed in large cisterns. Sold to the smelters; smelting performed chiefly at Swansea; fuel cheap and accessible; ready means of export and plentiful supply of a valuable return cargo for vessels bringing the ore. Smelting consists of about ten different processes. The metal produced in various forms ingots, slabs, sheets, &c. Devon and Cornwall export the ore to South Wales. Copper is exported from Swansea, London, Liverpool, &c. IV. Uses to which the Metal is applied. Copper ranks in utility next to iron; enters largely into our manufactures at Birmingham, Sheffield, and Bristol. Notice a few of its more common uses. 1. In household utensils-coppersmiths' goods; require to be kept very clean; verdigris injurious to man. 2. For coinage; copper coins of small value. 3. In making pins; brass wire. 4. Copper-plates for engraving. Notice the pleasure and enjoyment derived from beautiful prints. 5. Sheathing, fastenings and cables for ships. 6. Boilers for locomotive and other engines; vats, &c. 7. Useful alloys brass (copper and zinc), bronze and bell-metal (copper and tin), pinchbeck and tombac (brass and copper). V. Statistics. The Swansea district contains nearly six hundred furnaces; consuming five hundred thousand tons of coal per annum; employing four thousand hands; weekly wages amount to about four thousand pounds. Twenty tons of coal consumed in producing one of copper. Value per ton, from five to ten pounds. LESSON II.-GOLD. I. Description of Appearance, Qualities, &c. A PRECIOUS metal; yellow mineral; very soft; lustrous; heavy; exceedingly malleable. (Illustrations: -a grain can be beaten out to cover fiftysix square inches, or two and three quarter miles, of silver wire; the gold of a guinea would reach nine and a half miles if beaten to extreme thinness, or cover eight miles of wire.) A perfect metal; tenacious; a good conductor of heat; insoluble in water; found as an ore, alloyed with copper, silver, and iron; also in alluvial soil, in scales, grains, lumps; e. g., a lump of twentysix pounds' weight found in Siberia in 1826. II. Countries where found. Very widely diffused; e. g., in (a) EuropeHungary, Lead Hills (Scotland), small quantities; (b) Asia-Ural Mountains, Siberia, Sumatra, Bornéo, Celebes; (c) Australia - Ballarat, Bendigo, Mount Alexander, The Ovens; (d) Africa Mozambique, Zanguebar; (e) America Mexico, |