I would suggest that this aurichalcum might also be the ‘Dowris bronze’ of Ireland, so called because first observed at Dowris, near Parsonstown, King’s County. Wilde (p. 360) supposes with others that the gold-coloured alloy depended upon the admixture of a certain proportion of lead, and compares it with the Cyprus copper termed by the Romans _Coronarium_ (used for theatrical crowns), which was coated with ox-gall.[304] Of this _or molu_ there are many articles in the Dublin Museum, preserving their fine golden-yellow lustre: they had probably been lacquered or varnished like modern brasses; and the patina might be some gum-resin. When much tarnished, they were cleaned by holding over the fire, and then by dipping in a weak solution of acid, as is done with modern castings. Two specimens, a Sword and a dagger-blade, were analysed (pp. 470, 483), and proved to contain copper 87·67 to 90·72, tin 8·52 to 8·25, lead 3·87 to 0·87, with a trace of sulphur in the Sword.[305] The specific gravities were 8·819 to 8·675. In a spear-head (p. 512), besides copper, tin, and lead, iron 0·31 and cobalt 0·09 were found. There were other alloys of which we read but know little; such were the _æs ægineticum_, _demonnesium_, and _nigrum_; the _æs deliacum_, whose secret was lost in Plutarch’s day, and the Ταρτήσσιος χαλκὸς[306] from Southern Spain, probably shipped at Gibraltar Bay. _Ollaria_ or pot-copper (brass) contained three pounds of _plumbum argentarium_ (equal parts of tin and lead) to one hundred pounds of copper. _Æs caldarium_ could only be fused. Finally, _græcanicum_ (Greek-colour) was mould or second-hand copper (_formalis seu collectaneus_) with ten per cent. of _plumbum nigrum_ (lead) and five per cent. of silver lead (argentiferous galena?). [Heading: _THE CELT AND THE SWORD._] Metal, when first introduced, must have been rare and dear; the large modern Sword, axe, or mall would hardly have been imitated in copper, bronze, or iron. The earliest attempts at developing the celt[307] would have produced nothing more artful than a cutting and piercing wedge of the precious substance (fig. 85). As smelting and moulding improved, the pointed end would develop into the knife, the dagger, and the Sword; and the broad end would expand to the axe. This composite weapon, uniting the club with the celt or hand-hatchet, and appearing in Europe with the beginning of the Neolithic period, plays a remarkable part in history, ancient, mediæval, and even modern; whilst its connection with the Sword is made evident by the ‘glaive.’[308] The expansion of the edge and of the flanges developed two principal forms. For cutting wood the long-narrow was found most serviceable: where brute force was less required, the weapon became a broad blade with a long crescent-shaped edge. [Illustration: FIG. 85.—OLDEST FORM (?).] [Illustration: FIG. 86.—METAL CELTS.] [Illustration: FIG. 87.—KNIFE FOUND AT RÉALON (HAUTES ALPES).