CHEMISTRY. 265 



oxygenized materials, and subjected to a cementing heat for a given time, 

 would yield up a portion of its carbon, which would combine with the oxygen 

 driven off from the surrounding materials, forming carbonic oxide or carbonic 

 acid gas. If this process were interrupted before completion, a partially 

 decarbonized iron would result, the surface of which would have been con- 

 verted into a pure iron, while the inner parts remained unchanged ; or in 

 other words, the progress of decarbonizing action would depend on the 

 amount of metallic surface brought into contact with the oxygen-yielding 

 material with which the iron was surrounded. In order, therefore, to expe- 

 dite this operation, the pig iron was first reduced to a granulated state, which 

 was accomplished by simply running the molten iron from the cupola (a blast 

 furnace in some cases) into cold water, agitated by mechanical means. This 

 granulated iron was mixed with a proper proportion of pulverized oxygen- 

 yielding materials of a very cheap description, such as sparry iron ore (spathose 

 ore), and adding, if requisite, a small quantity of manganese, which mixture 

 was put into common crucibles, and subjected to heat in a cast steel blast 

 furnace of ordinary construction. By thus subjecting the granules of iron in 

 presence of the sparry iron ore to a melting heat, the surrounding oxides 

 would first effect a partial decarbonization of the granulated iron, which 

 decarbonization would be limited in amount according to the size of the 

 granules operated upon, and by reason of the continued application of heat, 

 the iron would melt and separate (with the assistance of the melting residue 

 of sparry iron ore) from the impurities with wlu'ch it was mixed, and also 

 bring down with it a portion of the iron contained hi the sparry iron ore, 

 thereby increasing the yield of cast steel by 6 per cent. The manipulations 

 of melting and casting were the same as those commonly employed by cast 

 steel manufacturers. The quality of steel made by this process could be con- 

 siderably modified. Thus, the finer the pig iron was granulated, the softer 

 would be the steel made therefrom. The softer sorts of welding cast steel 

 might be obtained by an addition of good wrought iron in small pieces, and 

 the harder qualities by adding charcoal in various proportions to the abo?e- 

 mentioned mixture. Thus crude iron might be converted into steel ingots in 

 the incredibly short space of about two hours. 



Mr. Lenz then proceeded to exhibit the preliminary process of granulating, 

 by running a crucible of melted pig iron into a vessel of water, when it was 

 instantaneously converted into shot-like particles. A weight of twenty -four 

 pounds of crushed ore and peroxide of manganese, in the proportion of about 

 four pounds of ore and two pounds of peroxide of manganese, to which was 

 added a small quantity of fire clay, was filled into the crucible in the tern- 

 porary furnace, and allowed to melt in the usual manner. In the meantime 

 the company proceeded to witness the operation of hammering down into a 

 bar of an ingot of this new steel, which had been made a few days since ; and 

 although the steam hammer used was not at all adapted for steel, nevertheless, 

 the bar steel produced from the ingot then hammered, was pronounced to be 

 of excellent quality, and tools made from a fellow ingot were tried, and found 

 to possess the qualities of fine English cast steel. About two hours and 

 three-quarters had elapsed since the filling some defect in the blast a little 



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