RUSTLESS IRON. 393 



little or no aptitude. All minds ean not be compressed into an identi- 

 cal mold without doing serious injury to some individual brains. A 

 child with keen perceptive faculties and good reasoning powers is 

 capable of growth in some directions, much more rapidly and with far 

 greater pleasure to itself than in others. 



Finally, I would suggest that parents study with care and anxiety 

 the mental and physical traits of their offspring. Allow neither to 

 detract from the other. Pick out for each child the line of develop- 

 ment for which Nature seems to have furnished the best material, and 

 the result will conduce to the future success of the child and the ulti- 

 mate happiness of the parents. 







EUSTLESS IKOK 



By JAMES S. C. WELLS, Ph. D. 



OF the many methods in use for the protection of iron from rust, 

 the one of most scientific interest is the so-called Bower-Barff 

 process. By this treatment the iron is coated with a layer of the black 

 or magnetic oxide of iron (Fe 3 4 ), and, as is well known, this oxide 

 does not undergo any further oxidation on exposure to air or water 

 proved by the magnetic iron-ores and sands, which withstand any 

 amount of weathering. The liability of iron to rust is a great draw- 

 back to its use for many purposes, and the practical value of a process 

 which will protect it, at a slight expense, is self-evident. That the 

 process is successful in accomplishing this object seems no longer a 

 matter of doubt, and at less cost than galvanizing or tinning. The 

 color on cast and wrought iron is a bluish-gray, which to some may be 

 objectionable, but, as the coating takes paint far better than untreated 

 iron, this objection is easily overcome, and with the assurance that the 

 paint will remain, and not soon be thrown off as it is generally. For 

 polished work the color is a lustrous blue-black, adding greatly to the 

 beauty of the article treated. This process seems peculiarly well 

 adapted for gas and water pipes. Any one who has had occasion to 

 use water which has passed through a new iron pipe, or one that has 

 not been used for some time, knows how full of rust it is, and that 

 only after months of constant use does it become clear again. With 

 pipe coated with the magnetic oxide by the Bower-Barff process, no 

 trouble of the kind can occur. The water runs pure from the first day, 

 and if for any reason the pipes are emptied, and left so, there is no 

 danger of their becoming coated with rust. Another important fact 

 is, that the water coming through one of these rustless pipes is just as 

 pure as when it entered, for the water can dissolve none of the coat- 

 ing of oxide, as it always does with lead or galvanized pipes. It is a 

 well-known fact that water running through lead pipes is very apt to 



