MALLEABILITY

(Lat. malleus, a hammer.) The property of being susceptible of extension imder the blows of a hammer. It is especially characteristic of some of the metals, and in this quality gold exceeds all the others: common gold leaf is not more than a two hundred thousandth part of an inch in thickne ; five grains may be thus extended so as to cover a surface of more than 270 square inches. See Ductility. [s. 720]