GERMAN SILVER, the name 'given to an alloy formed of copper, zinc, and nickel. It is variable in its composition according to the requirements.of the manufacturer, but may be stated, for general purposes, to consist of copper zinc 30.0, nickel 20.0; this composition is very malleable, susceptible of high polish, and nearly as white as silver. This is used to imitate silver in articles which are rolled and stamped, and consequently require considerable malleability. By taking 55 parts of copper, 24.4 of zinc, and 20.6 of nickel, we obtain a very beautiful alloy, scarcely inferior in beauty to silver itself. For wire-drawing and very thin rolling, a tougher alloy is formed of copper, 60 parts; zinc, 25 parts; nickel, 20 parts; and for castings the following proportions are used—cop per, 60 parts; zinc and copper, each 20 parts. Many other formhlm are in use arising from difference of opinion amongst the manufacturers as to the best proportions for their respective operations, usually, however, the aim is to obtain a silvery whiteness, and the largest. proportion of malleability.
This alloy must not be confounded with other white alloys, such as albata, Britannia metal, and nickel silver, which are used as substitutes for the true German silver. The first of these is composed of copper, zinc, nickel, and a little lead; the second of copper, zinc, tin, antimony, and sometimes bismuth; and the third of copper, 60.0, nickel 22.2, zinc, 17.8. This last differs only In its proportions from the German silver; it has the color of highly polished silver, and is very bard: The color of German silver being so near that of the precious metal, it is particularly well adapted for plating, either by the old process of rolling with silver, or in the newer and now generally used process of clectro-plating; the advantages are, that a thinner deposilo f silver can be used, and the :trades made not liable to the objection of the old process of plating on copper, which, as soon as the silver began to wear off, was rendered apparent by its red color.•
As alloys of the nature of German silver arc easily oxidized when brought in contact with free acids (as, for example, with the acetic acid contained in vinegar), and as the salts of lead, copper, and nickel that are thus formed are poisonous, it is nor expedient to use spoons, dishes, etc., composed of German silver.
The extent to which it is now used is very great indeed, and, combined with electro depositing, it has been the means of adding•immensely to the national industry, the manufacturers of Birmingham and Sheffield supplying every quarter of the globe with a profusion of articles of taste and utility in electroplate in beautiful designs, and ' lug genuine silver-plate in beauty of appearance.
German silveyjdcriwes iternameirom the fact that it was first made at Hildburgham sea, in Germany, where it was made by smelting the ores of the metals above-mentioned, and a small proportion of iron ore also; this last, however, is very rarely/used now, although it adds to the silvery whiteness of the alloy, but it renders it more brittle.