procured in a separate state some thirty years ago, but in so small a quantity that its peculiar qualities could not be defined. We are indebted to a celebrated French adept[1] for the process by which the metal can be obtained in considerable masses.
Here is a bar of aluminium. It resembles silver in its beautiful lustre, but can be easily distinguished from that metal by its bluish colour. If we handle the bar we shall marvel greatly at its lightness, as aluminium is only two and a-half times heavier than water, or less than one-third the weight of iron. The alchemist will tell us that it is endowed with many striking properties. It can be fused almost as easily as zinc, and cast into any form. It is malleable and ductile to a great extent, and can be beaten into the thinnest plates, or drawn out into the finest wires. It is a better conductor of electricity than any metal at present known. It does not tarnish on exposure to the air, and is not affected by the sulphurous vapours that prove so destructive to the lustre of silver. It is admirably adapted for the manufacture of bells, as it has all the sonorous qualities of the most expensive bronzes. Its marvellous lightness and strength render it an invaluable material for defensive armour. It is free from deleterious qualities, and therefore suited for domestic utensils. It may be fashioned into ornaments that will never lose their splendour, and into deli-
- ↑ M. St. Claire Deville.
