30 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERT. 



the siliciiun in any given sample of cast iron, depends, in a very 

 great deo:ree, the practicability of converting that iron into steel 

 by the Bessemer j^rocess. He regards diffused or uncoml^ined 

 silieiiim as the least injurious, stating that while iron containing 

 as much as 3 or 4 per cent, oi free silicium can be converted 

 into excellent steel by the Bessemer method, the presence of a 

 ver}^ much smaller quantity of combined silicium will either ren- 

 der the iron containing it incapable of being converted into steel 

 by that method at all, or will cause the steel produced from such 

 iron to be so hard and bad as to be quite incapable of being 

 worked. He promises to publish shortly a full account of his 

 method of determining the condition in which silicium exists in 

 iron, with details of his experiments npo.n the influence of that 

 condition upon the results of the iron by the process referred to. 



RECIPES FOR STEEL HAVING VARIOUS QUALITIES. 



James R. Bradley and Moses D. Brown, of Chicago, 111., have 

 lately patented the following : — 



" For treating scrap iron or malleable iron of good quality, pro- 

 duced by the ordinary processes, and producing therefrom differ- 

 ent kinds of steel, we melt the scrap or malleable iron in crucibles, 

 adding thereto chemical ingredients of different properties, and 

 in different proportions, as follows, to wit : To make shear 

 steel, to a pot of 50 pounds, add f)otash, I5 ounce ; sal-ammoniac, 

 li ounce ; manganese, 4J ounces ; charcoal, 7 ounces ; sodium, 3 

 ounces. To make cast steel, to a pot of 50 pounds, add potash, 

 1^ ounce ; sal-ammoniac, 1^ ounce ; manganese, 4^ ounces ; rock 

 salt, 3i ounces; charcoal, 7 ounces. To make German steel, to a 

 pot of 50 pounds, add potash, 1^ ounce ; sal-ammoniac, 1^ ounce ; 

 manganese, 4^ ounces ; charcoal, 7 ounces. To make Damascus 

 steel, to a pot of 50 pounds, add potash, 1| ounce ; sal-ammoniac, 

 1| ounce ; manganese, 5 ounces ; saltpetre, 4 ounces ; charcoal, 

 7 ounces. To make saw steel, to a pot of 50 pounds, add potash^ 

 1| ounce ; sal-ammoniac, 1^ ounce ; manganese, 4^ ounces ; char- 

 coal, 8i ounces; common salt, 3^ ounces; saltpetre, 1 ounce. To 

 make silver steel, to a pot of 50 pounds, add potash, 1^ ounce; 

 sal-ammoniac, 1| ounce; manganese, ^| ounces; charcoal, 8 

 ounces ; salt, 3^ ounces ; alum, 1 ounce. To make file steel, to a 

 pot of 50 pounds, add potash, 1 ounce ; sal-ammoniac, | ounce ; 

 manganese, 4 ounces; charcoal, 9 ounces; salt 3^ ounces; alum, 

 I ounce. To make rifle steel, to a pot of 50 pounds, add potash, 

 I ounce ; manganese, 4 ounces ; charcoal, 3^ ounces ; salt, 3 

 ounces ; alum. — Scientific American. 



HARDENING OF STEEL. 



According to M. Landrin, notwithstanding what has been said, 

 and the so-called experience of some i)ractical metallurgists, pure 

 water is the best liquid for hardening steel. It is a mistake to 



