MECHANICS AND USEFL'L AUTS. 25 



to $60 per ton ; and the iron-masters affect much secrecy, especially 

 with each other, regarding the prices at which they dispose of their 

 iron. In this connection it may be also stated that Sheffield no 

 longer maintains her boasted preeminence in the manufacture of 

 cutlery, it being generally -acknowledged that the French common 

 cutlery, such as table-knives, and also the French surgical instru- 

 ments, are far superior in general to those of English workmanship. 



3. A third process of putting carbon into iron consists essentially in 

 exposing rich iron ore to the action of reducing gases, whereby the 

 metal is obtained in a metallic and more or less spongy state, and 

 then melting this metallic sponge, previously impregnated with car- 

 bonaceous matters. Cast steel is thus produced, and the process is 

 known as Chenot's, from its inventor. At the time of the French. 

 Exhibition of 1855 great things were predicted of this process, and 

 the " grande medaille " of honor was awarded for it ; but since then 

 it has not proved successful in a pecuniary point of view. In the 

 Exhibition, the eponges metalliques were exhibited in great variety 

 by the Brothers Chenot, of France. 



Carbon is taken out of iron, 1. By exposing pig iron to the action 

 of a blast of atmospheric air at a high temperature in a charcoal 

 hearth. " Natural steel," as the material thus formed is termed, is 

 largely manufactured in central Europe ; the most renowned estab- 

 lishment being the " Imperial Works " of Styria, Austria. 2. Another 

 method of extracting carbon from iron for the production of steel is 

 by the process termed "puddling" which is so conducted as to leave 

 sufficient carbon in the iron to produce steel. Wrought iron is ob- 

 tained from pig iron by puddling, that is, heating the metal in 

 a reverberatory furnace with free access of air, and working it about 

 until the carbon is burnt out, or nearly so. Now, if steel be only 

 iron containing more carbon than wrought iron and less than cast 

 iron, it is obvious that in puddling the intermediate state of steel 

 must be passed through. But it is only recently that steel has been 

 made by puddling, yet " puddled steel" is now very extensively man- 

 ufactured on the continent of Europe. In Great Britian, however, 

 it has not as yet been largely developed. Considerable skill is 

 required in the management of the process, and under any circum- 

 stances it is difficult, not to say impossible, to produce steel of uni- 

 form quality, even in the same operation. In the Exhibition, speci- 

 mens of " puddled steel " were exhibited by the Krems Ironworks, of 

 Styria, which were produced with raw lignite as fuel, which contains 

 twenty-five per cent, of water, and much ash. Railroad bars of 

 puddled steel were shown from Prussia, and from Sweden puddled 

 steel produced with wood as fuel. 



3. A third process of producing steel by extracting carbon from 

 iron is by " blowing air through melted pig iron." This is the pro- 

 cess of Bessemer, which has excited so much attention of late, and 

 deservedly so. The carbon and silicon are readily burnt out, and a 

 considerable quantity of iron is also oxidized, as is the case in every 

 process in which pig iron is converted into wrought iron. What 

 could, at first sight, appear easier than blowing air through melted 

 iron V An idea is one thing, and its realization in practice is another. 

 Bessemer has had to contend with many practical difficulties, and is 

 3 



