Mar.4] PROCEEDINGS. [1890.
ON COPPERAND BRONZE OF ANCIENT EGYPT
AND ASSYRIA.By J. H. Gladstone, Ph.D.,F.R.S.Mr. Flinders Petrie has kindlypermitted me to examine the
Copper and Bronze toolswhich he was fortunateenough to find
duringhis excavations in Egypt last winter. He had holes drilled
in a number of these tools,andgaveme the metal whichwas thus
obtainedfromthe interior of them. Thespecimens,therefore,were
in a fairly finestateof division, but they containedsmallquantities
of workshop dirt and grease,whichhadto be removed by washing
in ether. Some of the specimens also, if not all, are oxidized
superficiallymoreor less : in one case, that of the handle of the
mirrorfrom Kahun, the fine powder has thus become dark in
colour; and when the specimen washeatedin a stream of hydrogen
gas it yielded waterequivalentto 2-9 per cent, of oxygen. Most
probablythe whole of the oxygen was not obtained by this method ;
and whether any part of this 2-9 per cent, wasin the original alloy
it is impossible to say.
Toolsof the TwelfthDynasty.
Theveryinterestingfindof tools at Kahun consistedof a variety
of implements, whichwere in a remarkably goodstateof preserva
tion. Of these I have examineda large hatchetfoundin the basket,
a round chisel,the handle of a mirror, and a knife.
The Hatchet.—Theboringsfromthis,whensubmittedto analysis,
provedto be copper mixedwitha little of those substanceswhich
usually accompany it in its ores, especially arsenic. The most
interestingpointto determine wasthe presence or absence of tin,
hut unfortunately it is one of the most difficultproblemsin chemical
analysisto separate properlytin, arsenic, and antimony ; and in this
case it was renderedall the more difficultby the small amountof
materialat our disposal, andthe small percentageof these metalsin
that material. Theanalysiswhichmy assistant, Mr. Hibbert,who
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