A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEAD AND BRONZE.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3552, 15 May 1880, Page 4

A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEAD AND BRONZE.

At the ordinary meeting of the Society of Arts, Dr Granvilje Cole described a Dew metallic ..compound, known as Spence's metal, which is expected will be largely used ,as a substitute for lead and bronze. It h a combination of lead, iron,^ and zinc sulphides, and .is about onefourth the cost of lead, and consequently much cheaper than bronze.; -Its melting point is comparatively low, a temperature 100 deg. above the boiling point of water being sufficient to reduce it to the liquid state; like type metal it expands on cooling ; it is capable-ofa very high polish, furthe?, ifc is claimed that it will resist climatic influeqees well, and that it is scarcely attacked by the strongest acids. This is a combination pf properties which will make it highly serviceable for many artistic and industrial purposes. Casts can be obtained from metal, plaster, and even gelatine moulds, soperfect is the reproduction that the green patina of bronze, the dark blue hue of steel and the appearance of silver and gold have been obtained. Satisfactory experiments - having been made that show that for joining gas and water pipes it is far better tban lead, it accordingly has;been adopted by some of the London and'i provincial gasworks. Amongst miscellanedus uses that.Spence's metal may be put to, the lecturer mentioned for joining iron to stone or stone to wood, for setting railings in stone, for coating the holds in ships, for hermetically sealing boxes, for covering cloth, for preserving fruit, or other articles of To the useful properties mentioned must bs added that of quick setting of the melted metal. It was showQ that a pot of. butter might be coated with it. Sanitarily it will be useful, since water has" no action on it, for cisterns instead of. lead ; and further, beinjj an almost non conductor of cold, the lining of pipes with it would prevent' water from freezing.