§ 65 The Composition of the Bronze
The artist prepares the metal as he thinks fit, and for every pound of wax he puts ten pounds of metal.179 Statuary metal is made of the combination of two thirds of copper and one third of brass according to the Italian rule. The Egyptians, from whom this art took its origin, put into the bronze two thirds of brass and one third of copper. In electron metal, which is the finest of all, two parts copper are put to one part silver. In bells, for every hundred parts of copper there are twenty of tin, in order that the sound of the bells may carry far and be more blended; and for artillery, in every hundred parts of copper, ten of tin.180