Page:Edward Thorpe — History of Chemistry, Volume I (1909).pdf/23

Rh working of metals are lost in the mists of antiquity; the chemistry of metals, indeed, has been said to be almost coeval with mankind. Diodorus Siculus found traditions in Egypt as to the first inventor of metallurgical processes identical with that of the son of Lamech and Zillah, Tubalcain, or Tuval-cain, of the Hebrews—the Vulcan of the Romans.

Gold was undoubtedly one of the earliest metals to be made use of by men, as it probably was one of the first to be discovered. It occurs free in nature, and is met with in many rocks and in the sands of rivers. Its colour, lustre, and density would early attract attention to it; and its malleability and ductility and the ease with which it could be fashioned, together with its unalterability, would render it valuable. Ethiopian and Nubian gold were known from the earliest times, and quartz crushing and gold washing were practised by the Egyptians. Representations of these processes have been found on Egyptian tombs dating from 2500 B.C. Gold-wire was used by the Egyptians for embroidery, and they practised plating, gilding, and inlaying as far back as 2000 B.C.

Silver also was employed by them, and appears, like gold, to have been coined into money. It was originally known as “white gold.” Some of the oldest coins in existence are alloys of silver and gold, obtained probably by the fusion of