EXPERIMENTS ON WOOTZ, ^(73 



was fmoolh and free from depreffions, or lioney-comb on 

 bolh furfaces. The feeder, inftead of being an excrefcence, 

 prcfented a deep concave beautifully cryftalliz^'d. 



In breaking, ihe fradure tore out confiderabiy, but pre- 

 fented a very irregular quality of grain. Tiiat towards the 

 under furface w»s fmall and uniform, but towards tlie fiat or 

 upper furface It increafed in flze, and in the bluenefs of its 

 colour, till it paffed into the ftate of malleable iron. 

 . The break of this lieel, though apparently foft, was the 

 leaft homogeneous of the whole, and throughout it prefented 

 a very brilliant arrangement of cryfia!, which in other fteel is 

 ^lways viewed with fufpicion. 



General Remark. 



Uniformly the grain and denfity of the wootz are homoge- 

 neous, and free from malleable iron towards the under or 

 round furface; but always the reverfe towards the feeder or 

 upper fide. 



Bemarhs in Forcrincr, 



o o 



No. 1. One-half of the cake was heated (lowly by an anneal^ Theappear- 

 Tng heat to a deep red, and put under a fliarp broad-mouthed ^""^ ^'^ i"orgme- 

 chiflel with a frnall degree oF taper. It cut with difficulty, was wootz, No. i. 

 reheated, and cracked a little towards one end of the flit or 

 cat originally in the cake. 



. The heat in this trial was fo moderate, that I was afraid that 

 the crack had arifen from a want of tenacity, occafioned by 

 the heat being too low. 



. The other half was heated a few fliades higher, and fub* 

 jected to the fame mode of cutting ; before the chiflel had 

 halfway reached the bottom, the piece parted in two in the 

 direction of the depreffion made by the cutting inftrument. 

 The additional heat in this inftance proved an injury, while 

 the cracking of the fleel in both cafes, particularly the former, 

 was a certain proof of the abundance, or rather of the excefs 

 of the finely principle. 



The fradures of both half cakes, now obtained for a fecond 

 time, were materially different from that obtained by the fimple 

 divifion of the cake. The grain was nearly uniform, diflindly 

 marked, but of too gray a colour for ferviceable fteeJ. Two 

 of the quarters bein^ drawn into n^jat bars under hand ham- 

 mers 



