This section is from the book "The Home Cyclopedia Of General Information", by Charles Morris. Also available from Amazon: Home Cyclopedia of Necessary Knowledge.
[Fr., from Gk. malagma, a plaster.] An alloy of mercury with another metal or metals. Amalgams are largely made use of in the arts. Metals are sometimes gilded by washing them with an amalgam of gold and mercury; the mercury is then driven off by heat, leaving the gold on the metal.
 
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