and tanks. It is also used to coat sheet iron for similar uses and as an
important part of ordinary solder.

Lead is the softest and weakest of all the commercial metals, being very
pliable and inelastic. It should be remembered that lead and all its
compounds are poisonous when received into the system. Lead is more than
one-third heavier than steel, has a tensile strength of only about 2,000
pounds per square inch, and is only about one-tenth as good a conductor of
electricity as copper.

_Zinc._--This is a bluish-white metal of crystalline form. It is
brittle at ordinary temperatures and becomes malleable at about 250 to 300
degrees Fahrenheit, but beyond this point becomes even more brittle than at
ordinary temperatures. Zinc is practically unaffected by air or moisture
through becoming covered with one of its own compounds which immediately
resists further action. Zinc melts at low temperatures, and when heated
beyond the melting point gives off very poisonous fumes.

The principal use of zinc is as an alloy with other metals to form brass,
bronze, german silver and bearing metals. It is also used to cover the
surface of steel and iron plates, the plates being then called galvanized.

Zinc weighs slightly less than steel, has a tensile strength of 5,000
pounds per square inch, and is not quite half as good as copper in
conducting electricity.

_Tin_ resembles silver in color and luster. Tin is ductile and
malleable and slightly crystalline in form, almost as heavy as steel, and
has a tensile strength of 4,500 pounds per square inch.