10 Field Museum of Natural History 



to the charcoal and metallic iron appears in the form 

 of small granules. The heat of the forge is not suffi- 

 cient to melt the iron but does cause it to become pasty. 

 These pasty grains of iron settle to the bottom where 

 they cohere and form a spongy mass of iron called the 

 LOUPE. The pores of this iron sponge are filled with 

 CINDER, a liquid or pasty mass in which the im- 

 purities of the ore and the ash of the charcoal are 

 combined with unreduced oxides of iron from the ore. 

 After the hearth has been in operation for some six 

 hours the- loupe has grown to the proper size for the 

 next treatment. The smelting is then interrupted and 

 the loupe removed. A new fire is built and smelting 

 is resumed. 



THE HAMMER. This large hammer shown at 

 the left of the model is driven by a water wheel con- 

 cealed by the rear wall of the building. The shaft 

 of the water wheel passes through the wall and is 

 armed with teeth or cams which act on the haft of the 

 hammer lifting it and letting it fall. The hot loupe is 

 placed under this hammer, which squeezes out the 

 cinder and compacts the iron into a solid BLOOM 

 which is merchantable. This forge can produce either 

 wrought iron or steel as the details of the operation 

 are varied. Cast iron never forms except by accident. 

 The output of the forge is of excellent quality but the 

 quantity is very small say three hundred pounds of 

 iron each six hours. 



Henry W. Nichols. 



These models are exhibited on the second floor of the 

 Museum in an alcove in Frederick J. V. Skiflf Hall. 



[22] 



