Low temperature alloys
From cornish semiconductor corporation
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Mounting natural crystals to form an 'ohmic' (normal) connection while holding them securely to allow a cat's whisker to be positioned is a tricky problem. In the 1920s they were either held by a metal ring with screws (which can be problematic as it can break the fragile crystals) or using a conductive low temperature alloy.
The reason it needs to be low temperature is because heating them too high - e.g. soldering them normally, can cause changes to the crystals. I tried dipping pyrite in molten solder to mount it in the past to see what happens (in a well ventilated place!), and seemed to work at first, but slowly crumbled away over time.