speculum metal

American  

noun

1. any of several bronze alloys with a high tin content, often containing other materials, as silver, brass, lead, zinc, or arsenic, used for making mirrors and reflectors.

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speculum metal British  

noun

1. a white hard brittle corrosion-resistant alloy of copper (55–70 per cent) and tin with smaller amounts of other metals. It takes a high polish and is used for mirrors, lamp reflectors, ornamental ware, etc

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Etymology

Origin of speculum metal

First recorded in 1790–1800

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

speculum metal

The above process may be employed for speculum metal, or pitch may be used.

From On Laboratory Arts by Richard Threlfall

Even glass, brittle though it be, is strong in comparison with speculum metal of the above proportions, though, as I have said, it yields the most brilliant composition.

From James Nasmyth: Engineer; an autobiography by Samuel Smiles

But speculum metal is a material of a very intractable description.

From Great Astronomers by Sir Robert S. (Robert Stawell) Ball

When completed, the disc of speculum metal was about six feet across and four inches thick.

From Great Astronomers by Sir Robert S. (Robert Stawell) Ball

The same precipitate heated to a lower temperature is said to furnish a softer variety of rouge; at all events, it gives one more suitable for polishing speculum metal.

From On Laboratory Arts by Richard Threlfall

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