Note 300 — Chapter V · THE SECOND CHALCITIC AGE OF ALLOYS[242]—BRONZE, BRASS, ETC.: THE AXE AND THE SWORD.

Masc. and fem.; the neut. ἤλεκτρον is the purest form. Dr. Schliemann, noticing that it also means ‘amber’ (Mycenæ, p. 204), derives it from ‘elek, signifying resin in Arabic (?), and probably also in Phœnician (?).’ He found earrings of electrum in the so-called ‘Trojan Stratum,’ 30½ feet below the surface (Troy, p. 164). The guanin or gianin of the Chiriquis was an aururet (electrum) of 19·3 per cent. of pure gold, with specific gravity 11·55. The tombac or tombag of New Granada, used for statuettes, was also a gold of low standard: 63 gold, 24 silver, 9 copper. Usually ‘tombac’ applies to an alloy like Mannheim gold; the manufacture was introduced into Birmingham, still its chief seat, by the Turner family, a.d. 1740.