. But I shall say nothing further of this at
present, as the metals will furnish ample subject for another morning;
and they are the class of simple bodies that come next under
consideration.

CONVERSATION X.

ON METALS.

MRS. B.

The METALS, which we are now to examine, are bodies of a very different
nature from those which we have hitherto considered. They do not, like
the bases of gases, elude the immediate observation of our senses; for
they are the most brilliant, the most ponderous, and the most palpable
substances in nature.

CAROLINE.

I doubt, however, whether the metals will appear to us so interesting,
and give us so much entertainment as those mysterious elements which
conceal themselves from our view. Besides, they cannot afford so much
novelty; they are bodies with which we are already so well acquainted.

MRS. B.

You are not aware, my dear, of the interesting discoveries which were a
few years ago made by Sir H. Davy respecting this class of bodies. By
the aid of the Voltaic battery, he has obtained from a variety of
substances, metals before unknown, the properties of which are equally
new and curious. We shall begin, however, by noticing those metals with
which you profess to be so well acquainted. But the acquaintance, you
will soon perceive, is but very superficial; and I trust that you will
find both novelty and entertainment in considering the metals in a
chemical point of view. To treat of this subject fully, would require a
whole course of lectures; for metals form of themselves a most important
branch of practical chemistry. We must, therefore, confine ourselves to
a general view of them. These bodies are seldom found naturally in their
metallic form: they are generally more or less oxygenated or combined
with sulphur, earths, or acids, and are often blended with each other.
They are found buried in the bowels of the earth in most parts of the
world, but chiefly in mountainous districts, where the surface of the
globe has suffered from the earthquakes, volcanos, and other convulsions
of nature. They are spread in strata or beds, called veins, and these
veins are composed of a certain quantity of metal, combined with various
earthy substances, with which they form minerals of different nature and
appearance, which are called _ores_.

CAROLINE.

I now feel quite at home, for my father has a lead-mine in Yorkshire,
and I have heard a great deal about veins of ore, and of the _