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LEFT COPLEY 143 COPPERHEAD made them, he was induced to consider the simpler hypotheosis that the sun was the center round which the earth and the other planets revolve. Besides this fun- damental truth Copernicus anticipated many other of the principal facts of as- tronomical science, such as the motion of the earth round its axis, the immense distance of the stars which made their apparent position the same from any part of the earth's orbit, etc. His gen- eral theory also enabled him to explain for the first time many of the important phenomena of nature, such as the varia- tions of the seasons and the precession of the equinoxes. The great work in which Copernicus explained his theory "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Orbs," was completed in 1530, and pub- lished at Nuremberg in 1543. He was excommunicated by the Pope on account of it. He died at Frauenburg, May 24, 1543. COPLEY, JOHN SINGLETON, an American painter; born in Boston, Mass., July 3, 1737; removed to London, Eng- land, in 1776, and acquired a reputation as a historical painter. He was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1779. His most celebrated picture is "Death of Lord Chatham," now in the National Gallery. He died in London, Sept. 9, 1815. COPPEE, FRANCOIS (ko-pa), a French dramatist; born in Paris, Jan. 12, 1842. He was trained for what the Parisians call a ministerial career, but wrote "The Reliquary" and "Intimacies," books of verse. In "Modern Poems," "The Benediction," and "The Strike of the Smiths," we have a very modern note. He died May 23, 1908. COPPER, a dyad metallic element; symbol, Cu.; at. wt. 63.5: sp. gr., 8.95; melting point, 1,091° C. Copper is a red malleable, ductile metal, occurring in a native state on the S. shore of Lake Superior. It also occurs to a greater ex- tent as copper pyrites of a brass yellow color as peacock ore, characterized b^ its iridescent colors, in the Butte mines, Montana; as gray copper ore, a sulphide, in Cornwall and Freiberg; as indigo copper, so called from its color, in Chile; as malachite, or green carbonate, in Si- beria and Australia; and as azurit^ or blue carbonate in Buna Burra, Aus- tralia. Copper forms several alloys. Brass is an alloy of two-thirds copper and one- third zinc; bronze, gun-metal, and bell- metal are alloys oi copper with tin. Cop- per forms two series of compounds, the cuprous and cupric salts. Copper ar- senite, or Scheele's green, is used as a pigment for wall papers; it is very poi- sonous. Copper salts are detected by giving in an acid solution a black pre- cipitate with H,.S. All salts of copper are poisonous. Verdigris is an acetate of copper, often formed by cooking food in copper vessels. Production. — Since the census year 1880 the United States has risen to the rank of the largest copper producer in the world, outstripping by far any other country. The production of copper in the United States in 1919 was 1,310,- 541,529 pounds. The production in 1918 was 1,908,533,595 pounds. The largest production was from Arizona, which con- tributed 536,513,368 pounds. Michigan was second with 201,716,335 pounds, and Montana third with 176,189,873 pounds. The production of Utah was 148,057,450 pounds. Other States producing over 50,000,000 pounds were New Mexico and Nevada. Alaska produced 56,534,992 pounds. The total value of the produc- tion in 1919 was $243,761,000, compared with a value in 1918 of $471,408,000. The imports of copper ore in 1919 amounted to 49,716,511 pounds. There were imported 263,220,449 pounds of un- refined black copper, and copper in bars, pigs, or other forms. The exports of copper in 1919 amounted to 516,627,775 pounds. History. — Copper has been known since prehistoric times. There may have been a copper age before that of bronze. The latter compound metal, an alloy of cop- per and tin, was known long before brass had been made. The word copper occurs once in the Old Testament (Ezra viii : 27) , but what is in many places called brass should have been rendered copper. Cop- per was in use in ancient Assyria. The classical nations were familiar with it. The Greeks brought it from Cyprus, the mines being at Tamassus, near Fama- gosta. Copper mines were first opened in England a. d. 1189, but not very suc- cessfully till A. D. 1689. COPPERAS, sulphate of iron or green vitriol {FeS04.7H=0), a salt of a pecu- liar astringent taste and of a fine green color. When exposed to the air it as- sumes a brownish hue. It is much used in dyeing black and in making ink, and in medicine as a tonic. The copperas of commerce is usually made by the decom- position of iron pyrites. COPPERHE/ D, a venomous serpent* closely allied to che rattlesnake, found in the United States from New England to Florida. It has a thick body from 2 to 3 feet long. Lurking in dark and moist places, and giving no warning, it is more dreaded than the rattlesnake.