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Gongs and Cymbals

The secret method employed by the Chinese for working the hard brittle bronze used for making gongs and cymbals, seems to be solved by the fact that the bronze of which these instruments are made, consisting of copper alloyed with about 20 per cent. of tin, and almost as brittle as glass at ordinary temperatures, becomes as malleable as soft iron, if worked at a dull red heat. This discovery was recently made in Paris, by M.M. Julien and Champion, the result of experiments at the Paris Mint.