Hudson, M. T.
Why does it takes a hotter fire to melt pewter than lead?
J. B. L.
Answer.—Pewter is an alloy, composed of tin and lead, sometimes with a little copper or antimony or bismuth, combined in different proportions, according to the purposes it is to serve. Plateware, which has a bright, silvery luster when polished, is composed of 100 parts of tin, 8 parts of antimony, 2 parts of bismuth, and 2 of copper. Brittannia ware is said to be an alloy of equal parts of brass, tin, antimony, and bismuth. Now it is characteristic of alloys that they are always more easily fusible than the least fusible metal entering into their composition, and some of them, strange to say, are more fusible than the least fusible of their constituents. For instance, although bismuth alone requires a heat of 476 degrees Fahrenheit to fuse it, lead 600 degrees, and tin 442 degrees, an alloy of these metals composed of five or eight parts of bismuth, two or five parts of lead, and three of tin, melts at 198 to 200 degrees; and an alloy of sodium composed of sodium and potassium in certain proportions melts at 80 degrees, although sodium alone requires 194 degrees and potassium 124 degrees to fuse them. The explanation is not fully determined, but it is to be found in the laws of chemical affinity. Different metals expand at different rates in the same degree of heat, which tends to separate the atoms; and electrical currents are produced which magnify the heat applied externally.
AUTHOR OF SCHONBERG-COTTA FAMILY.
Lake City, Iowa.
Who is the author of “Schonberg-Cotta Family?” Give a short sketch of the same, and tell the correct pronunciation of Schonberg-Cotta.
Aggie.
Answer.—The authoress of “Schonberg-Cotta Family” is Mrs. Elizabeth Rundle Charles, only child of the late Hon. John Rundle, member of Parliament for Tavistock. She was born about 1826; received a liberal English education; was encouraged in literary work by her father; and has written a number of works of fiction of high moral tone, including the two historical fictions “Schonberg-Cotta Family” and the “Diary of Kitty Trevylyan,” intended to recall the early struggles of the two great reformers, Luther and Wesley. Among her other works are “The Martyrs of Spain and Liberators of Holland.” It is almost impossible to denote the German pronunciation of “o” in Schonberg without oral illustrations. Webster says that to utter this sound one must place the organs in the position for o long and then try to utter the sound of e in met. All the other syllables in the compound word, Schonberg-Cotta, are to be pronounced nearly as in English, except that the e in berg is almost like a long.