Dr Colquhoun on the Argillaceous Ore of Iroti. 217 



is the subject of this communication That in the plate, in- 

 deed, appears to be somewhat smaller than the antique found 

 among the sand hills of Culbin ; but this is not to be wondered 

 at when we consider the probably rude and ill-defined copy 

 from which the plate was taken. iWOT 



The antique seems to be in itself perfectly unique. Since 

 I have been engaged in drawing it, it has occurred to me that 

 some of the ornaments have reference to the form of the mis* 

 letoe. 



Relugas, ^\st January 1827. 



Art. IV. — A Metallurgic Memoir on the Nature and History 

 of the Argillaceous Carbonate of Iron. By Hugh Gol« 

 QUHOUN, M. D. Communicated by the Author. 



Upon commencing the metallurgic investigation of the argil- 

 laceous carbonate of iron, it was natural to expect that in an 

 age in which science is so generally diffused, and a spirit 

 of investigation is so actively exerted, there would remain 

 little to be done, except the digesting and compiling of the 

 most approved works on so important a subject. This might 

 seem especially probable in a country like Britain, whose 

 greatness and prosperity are so intimately dependent upon the 

 ore which furnishes the most essential material for all those 

 engines and machinery, by which she is enabled to cover the 

 seas with the vessels that bear her manufactures abroad, and 

 to enrich her merchants at home with the products which they 

 import from all the quarters of the globe in exchange. But 

 the fact is far otherwise. Paradoxical as it may appear, the 

 truth is, that in Britain, a complete chemical history of this 

 ore has not hitherto been attempted ; and it is in France, 

 where practical metallurgy is yet in its infancy, that the most 

 scientific treatises are to be found. 



It would be perhaps difficult to account for this, were it not 

 that daily experience informs us, how often the most useful 

 and familiar of all processes are those, whose nature and his- 

 tory excite the smallest reflection. Yet, even with all the al- 

 lowance which can be made for this well-known fact, it is not 



VOL. Vlt. NO. U. OCT. 1827. p 



