Brass

an alloy of copper and zinc. Ordinary brass is composed of two parts by weight of copper and one of zinc. Brass is harder than copper and is more handsome than zinc. Its bright yellow gives it the appearance of gold. It is much used for ornamental metal work of all sorts, such as gas fixtures, hinges, door plates, hand rails, boxings, eyelets, tubing, wire, kitchenware, and clockwork. Much that passes for brass is really bronze. Brass is very suitable for the making of castings, as it retains its full size in cooling. The surface is usually polished in a turning lathe. It is not known whether brass was in use before the time of the Romans. A form of brass known as pinchbeck is used to make cheap jewelry. An alloy consisting of three parts of brass and two of zinc may be drawn out under the hammer when heated. The brass rolling industry of the United States is centralized in the valley of the Naugatuck, Connecticut. The water is held in large reservoirs to furnish power. A narrow valley, forty miles long, furnishes a total fall of 600 feet. A population of 100,000 people is engaged directly or indirectly in brass manufactures. One hundred and seventy-five million pounds of copper are converted annually into sheet brass by the mills of nine large companies. This small valley uses half the copper mined in the United States. See Alloy; Copper; Zinc