that a disc of copper could be welded to a disc of tin by pressing them strongly one against the other. Up to a certain distance from the surfaces of contact a real alloy is formed; a layer of bronze of a certain thickness unites the two metals, and this could not take place did not the particles of both metals mutually interpenetrate.
§ 4. Internal Activity of Alloys.
Structure of Alloys.—Metallic alloys have a remarkable structure, which is essentially mobile, and which we have only now begun to understand by the aid of the microscope. Microscopical examination justifies to a certain degree Coulomb's conjecture. That illustrious physicist explained the physical properties of metals by imagining them to be formed of two kinds of elements—integral particles, to which the metal owes its elastic properties, and a cement which binds the particles, and to which it owes its coherence. M. Brillouin has also taken up this hypothesis of duality of structure. The metal is supposed to be formed of very small, isolated, crystalline grains, embedded in an almost continuous network of viscous matter. A more or less compact mass surrounding more or less distinct crystals is the conception which may be formed of an alloy.
Changes of Structure produced by Deforming Agencies.—It has been shown that profound changes of crystalline structure can be produced by various mechanical means, such as hammering, and the stretching of metallic bars carried to the point of rupture. Some of these changes are very slow, and it is only after months and years that they are com-
