Illustration: NATIVE COPPER.
Copper is a reddish-coloured heavy metal, much used for sheathing
the under part of ships, for making boilers, &c. It is about
eight-and-a-half times heavier than water, and is too valuable to be
used for many purposes where either iron, tinned iron, or zinc are
applied, but for which purposes its great durability would fit it,
as it is easily rolled out or beaten into plates, and is not quickly
acted on by the weather. It is used as coin in pence, halfpence, and
farthings; all vessels for cooking purposes, when made of copper, are
tinned inside to prevent the food becoming poisonous from verdigris,
which is the rust of copper, and is very injurious. Copper is found
chiefly combined with sulphur, forming “native sulphuret of copper.”
Copper melts at a full red heat.