AMERICAN INDUSTRIES SINCE COLUMBUS. 159 



sand ; e e are molds being dried. At the left is seen a small porta- 

 ble furnace on wheels, to which blast is supplied by the bellows h, 

 of a forge. When this is used as a forge, the bellows h are re- 

 arranged so as to blow through an opening at the top. In the 

 figure, 2 is a workman filling a mold with fluid metal which has 

 been melted in the furnace. At m are seen the screw-clamps that 

 confine the three molds n. Near the middle of the picture are 

 two parts of a mold separated ; at the right, in the foreground, is 

 a pile of charcoal, and at q is a furnace (similar to a baker's oven) 

 for drying the cores for the molds." 



Fig. 8. Melting Iron fob Casting in Small Furnaces. 



In Fig. 8 (also taken from Reaumur's treatise) "is shown 

 two common furnaces in which the iron to be melted is thrown 

 among the charcoal without being placed by itself in a crucible ; 

 one of these furnaces is represented as erected, and actually 

 melting the iron ; while the other is dismounted, and the melted 

 iron is being poured into molds. " The workmen (1 and 2) oper- 

 ate the bellows ; a b is the upper part of the furnace, whose base 

 is buried in charcoal dust ; b is the opening into which is thrown 

 the charcoal and pieces of iron ; c c, the powdered charcoal which 

 surrounds the base of the furnace ; d is the tuyere which receives 

 the noses of the bellows ; e is a heap of charcoal ; e 2 is a pile of 

 fragments of cast iron ; / is a post which supports the lever g, 

 by means of which the ladle which forms the bottom of the fur- 

 nace is easily raised." The workmen (3 and 4) are occupied in 

 pouring into molds the iron which has been melted in the sec- 



