CHEMISTRY. 267 



has taken out a patent for the employment of copperas or sulphate of iron 

 by adding to it cast iron while in a molten state, which he states acts as a rea- 

 gent uniting with the silicon, phosphorus, arsenic, and other impurities in the 

 iron, and carrying them off in the form of a scoria, thereby producing iron 

 castings of far greater strength and purity. 



Improvement in the Manufacture of Pig Iron and Steel. The following im- 

 provement in the preparation of pig iron is highly spoken of in England : 



A small quantity of common salt (say !- or 2 per cent.) is introduced into 

 the coke ovens, along with the small coals. The salt removes the sulphur 

 from the coke, and hence the iron made with this coke hi the blast furnace is 

 materially improved. Bars made from this iron have broken like crown iron, 

 and it makes capital rails. It is very likely that the process will be generally 

 adopted with coals of an inferior description. An invention which has lately 

 been patented in England by Mr. J. B. Howell consists in the manufacture of 

 ingots or blocks of cast steel, for ordnance and other purposes, with an iron 

 centre. The inventor places a bar of hot iron covered with a deoxydizing agent, 

 in the centre of the mould, previous to pouring in the melted steel, and, by the 

 use of this oxydizing agent, removes or dissolves the oxide from the iron, and by 

 thus removing the oxide, the steel, while in a fluid state, comes in direct con- 

 tact with the iron, insuring perfect cementation between the steel and the iron. 



The correspondent of the London Mining Journal in Rhenish Prussia, 

 expresses surprise that some of the capitalists in England do not turn then- 

 attention to puddling pig steel, which in Prussia is making rapid strides. 

 Puddling both iron and steel with gas is very general in Prussia. In some 

 instances the gas is obtained from the blast furnace, but in most cases it is 

 generated hi small ovens, attached to each furnace. Dry wood, charcoal, 

 lignite, and turf are employed as fuel. At one of the iron works where wood 

 is used for gas the charges are 8 cwt. of white mottled iron each furnace, 

 bringing out 20 to 21 tons of puddled bars per week at a loss of only 4 or 5 

 per cent, and with a consumption of 4 cubic feet of timber per cwt. of puddled 

 bars. At another works they charge with 10 cwt. of grey pig, and bring 

 out the charge irT2 hours with 8 -70 cubic feet of wood per cwt. of puddled 

 bars. A large rolling-mill is arranged to puddle steel with gas from iron lignite, 

 to be converted into railway wheels and tires, for which there is an increasing 

 demand. These are forged under the hammer to nearly the required form, 

 and then passed through a pah 1 of rolls to finish them. 



The following is the description of a method of making cast steel, for which 

 a patent has been recently granted to G. Brown of Swinton, England. 



" The patentee puts into a common melting pot charcoal bar iron, clipped 

 in pieces, of about one and a half inches long, and adds thereto good charcoal 

 pig iron, in the proportion of one part, more or less, by weight of pig iron, to 

 three parts more or less, of the clipped bar iron. This combination of metals 

 is melted in the usual manner, and then run into ingot moulds. By this 

 process cast steel is obtained suitable for any purpose to which cast steel made 

 on the old plan can be applied, the various qualities of steel required being 

 obtained by slightly varying the proportions of bar and pig iron. Taking 40 

 pounds weight as the standard of an ingot, from seven to twelve pounds of 



