Har. Yes; I know our footman is often obliged to clean our plate before it is used.
Tut. Plate, however, is not made of pure silver, any more than silver coin, and silver utensils of all kinds. Copper is mixed with it, as with gold, to harden it; and that makes it more liable to tarnish.
Geo. Bright silver, I think, is almost as beautiful as gold.
Tut. It is the most beautiful of the white metals, and is capable of a very fine polish; and this, together with its rarity, makes it used for a great variety of ornamental purposes. Then it is nearly as ductile and malleable as gold.
Geo. I have had silver-leaf, and it seemed as thin as gold-leaf.
Tut. It is nearly so. That is used for silvering, as gold-leaf is for gilding. It is common, too, to cover metals with a thin coating of silver which is called plating.
Har. The child’s saucepan is silvered over on the inside. What is that for?
Tut. To prevent the victuals from getting any taint from the metal of the saucepan; for silver is not capable of being corroded or dissolved by any of the liquids used for food, as iron and copper are.
Har. And that is the reason I suppose that fruit-knives are made of silver.
Tut. It is; but the softness of the metal makes them bear a very poor edge.