Mar.4] PROCEEDINGS. [1890.
A broken imageof Horus in my own collectionwas covered with
a hard, irregularcoatingof greenish matter,somethinglike the pre
ceding; but it was not suffering actualdisintegration. It was found
to consist of copper, witha little ironandalumina,and only traces
of lead. Therewas no chlorine in the outer crust.
A small ordinaryimageof Osiris whichI had by me, and which
showedno signs of active deterioration, wasalso examined. It
consistedof copper anda little tin ; but there wasno lead or earthy
matter.
Throughthe kindness of Mr. Rylands I also receivedtwo small
piecesof bronze, muchcorroded,fromthe collection of Mr. F. G.
Hilton Price. They came from Bubastis. As this town was
destroyedB.C. 352, theymustbe of an earlier datethan that,and
probablyare some centuriesearlier. Thepieceof an image con
tainedcopper,a fair amount of lead, a little tin, and tracesof iron
and alumina. Thesmallbar consisted of copper, witha little tin,
and traces of iron and alumina, but onlya veryminutetraceof lead.
Theseobservations seemto suggest thatthe copper alloysthat
containleadare more liableto corrosion thanthe others.
Assyrian Bronze.
Throughthe kindness of Mr. Rylands I have alsohadthe op
portunityof examining the bronze of the gates of the palace of
Shalmaneser II, B.C. 859-825, found buried at Balawat. The
authoritiesat the British Museum couldonly spare twosmallfrag
ments: one of a metallic band,the other of one of the bolts which
attachedit to the wooden frameworkof the door. Themetallic
bandwas corroded almostentirelythrough,presentingan appearance
of dark red and of white streaks, as though the components had
separated fromoneanother. Thedarkred portion owedits colour
to the presence of a mixture of metallic copper,sub-oxideof copper,
and black oxide. The alloy consisted of copper and tin with
smallquantitiesof arsenic, iron,and alumina. Thesewerefor the
mostpart in the state of oxide, but there was also a notable quantity
of chloride present. Thesampleanalysedgavethe following per
centagesof the two principal metals:—
Copper 73-9
Tin 9-04
whichwouldindicate 1 1 per cent, of tin if these two metalsconstituted
the whole of the original alloy.
231