What is "dutch metal"

Tombac \Tom"bac\, n. [Pg. tambaca,tambaque, fr. Malay tamb[=a]ga copper; cf. Skr. t[=a]mraka; cf. F. tombac.] (Metal.) An alloy of copper and zinc, resembling brass, and containing about 84 per cent of copper; -- called also German brass or Dutch brass. It is very malleable and ductile, and when beaten into thin leaves is sometimes called Dutch metal. The addition of arsenic makes white tombac. [Written also tombak, and tambac.]

Dutch \Dutch\, a. [D. duitsch German; or G. deutsch, orig., popular, national, OD. dietsc, MHG. diutsch, tiutsch, OHG. diutisk, fr. diot, diota, a people, a nation; akin to AS. pe['o]d, OS. thiod, thioda, Goth. piuda; cf. Lith. tauta land, OIr. tuath people, Oscan touto. The English have applied the name especially to the Germanic people living nearest them, the Hollanders. Cf. Derrick, Teutonic.] Pertaining to Holland, or to its inhabitants.

Dutch auction. See under Auction.

Dutch cheese, a small, pound, hard cheese, made from skim milk.

Dutch clinker, a kind of brick made in Holland. It is yellowish, very hard, and long and narrow in shape.

Dutch clover (Bot.), common white clover ( Trifolium repens), the seed of which was largely imported into England from Holland.

Dutch concert, a so-called concert in which all the singers sing at the same time different songs. [Slang]

Dutch courage, the courage of partial intoxication. [Slang]
--Marryat.

Dutch door, a door divided into two parts, horizontally, so arranged that the lower part can be shut and fastened, while the upper part remains open.

Dutch foil, Dutch leaf, or Dutch gold, a kind of brass rich in copper, rolled or beaten into thin sheets, used in Holland to ornament toys and paper; -- called also Dutch mineral, Dutch metal, brass foil, and bronze leaf.

Dutch liquid (Chem.), a thin, colorless, volatile liquid, C2H4Cl2, of a sweetish taste and a pleasant ethereal odor, produced by the union of chlorine and ethylene or olefiant gas; -- called also Dutch oil. It is so called because discovered (in 1795) by an association of four Hollandish chemists. See Ethylene, and Olefiant.

Dutch oven, a tin screen for baking before an open fire or kitchen range; also, in the United States, a shallow iron kettle for baking, with a cover to hold burning coals.

Dutch pink, chalk, or whiting dyed yellow, and used in distemper, and for paper staining. etc.
--Weale.

Dutch rush (Bot.), a species of horsetail rush or Equisetum ( Equisetum hyemale) having a rough, siliceous surface, and used for scouring and polishing; -- called also scouring rush, and shave grass. See Equisetum.

Dutch tile, a glazed and painted ornamental tile, formerly much exported, and used in the jambs of chimneys and the like.

Note: Dutch was formerly used for German.

Germany is slandered to have sent none to this war [the Crusades] at this first voyage; and that other pilgrims, passing through that country, were mocked by the Dutch, and called fools for their pains.
--Fuller.

Dutch metal is a form of brass being an alloy of copper, 84% and zinc 16%.

It is very malleable and ductile and can be beaten into very thin sheets. It is these sheets that are sold as Dutch Metal, for use as metal leaf or imitation gold leaf.

The addition of arsenic produces an alloy with similar properties but coloured white.

Category:Copper alloys