Silver

SILVER the whitest of all metals, has been used for thousands of years. Students of antiquity agree that silver, gold, copper, and their alloys were the first metals discovered by man and they have all played an important part throughout the advance of civilization. Native silver has been found in different parts of the world in varying form and size, such as clusters of fine wires in rock cavities, thin sheets along cleavage planes in veins of rocks, and pieces of irregular shape that vary in size from extremely small particles to masses weighing many pounds. Nearly pure silver is found in, the native state but the native metal is more likely to contain copper or gold. Some of the natural alloys closely approximate the compositions of synthetic alloys that are used in the arts at the present time. As these native silver alloys usually are malleable and ductile, it is evident that prehistoric man was provided by nature with metals that he could work, with the crude tools at his command, into simple ornaments or other articles. The relative scarcity of silver combined with its resistance to attack under ordinary atmospheric conditions have been important factors in determining the purposes for which man has used it. Its scarcity and indestructible character have made its possession particularly desirable, and from the earliest times its principal use has been as a measure of wealth and a medium of exchange. The comparatively high value of silver in relation to other commodities makes it possible to transport a large amount of wealth in small bulk, and silver has traveled back and forth over all parts of the world. Even when made into ornamental pieces, such as bracelets,