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only a 2 inch water space, and not a single brick of any description. 

 The well is a circular, cast iron water jacketed vessel, mounted on four 

 strong wheels for convenience of moving it when repairs are necessary, 

 and so made that the hole in one side connects with the outlet hole of the 

 furnace, which is also thoroughly protected by water and it is through this 

 that the matte and slag flow out of the furnace as rapidly as form- 

 ed. They thus escape the influence of the blast, and prevent what 

 Vivian calls " the sole objection to blast furnaces " the so-called 

 " sows " or " salamanders " as great masses of metallic iron which choke 

 up the furnace and tie up large quantities of copper and other metals. 

 The charging door is situated on the upper floor, as also the bins for 

 roast ore and coke. The coke used is from Connellsville, Pa., and is 

 brought by way of the Great Lakes and the Sault Branch of the C.P.R. 

 The charge for the furnace consists of 1,800 or 2,000 lbs. of ore and 

 coke mixed, one ton of coke usually sufficing for eight tons of ore. The 

 mass as it melts gathers at the bottom of the furnace, and flows through 

 the outlet into the well or reservoir, where the heavier and metallic 

 portions sink to the bottom while the lighter slag remains on the sur- 

 face, running in a continuous stream over the jacketed spout into pots 

 on wheels, which are removed when filled, an empty one always being 

 ready to take the vacant place. The matte is drawn off at intervals of 

 15 or 20 minutes through a separated bronze water-cooled tap-hole 

 casting, near the bottom of the well, and which is filled as usual with a 

 clay plug that can readily be removed with a few blows from a steel 

 bar. The smelting ot the ores is greatly facilitated by the basic char- 

 acter of the accompanying gangue rock, for instead of quartz and acid 

 silicates there is chiefly hornblende and very fusible felspars. This 

 circumstance, as well as a judicious mixture of the different qualities of 

 ore obviates the necessity of any flux, which is a very fortunate circum- 

 stance, as limestone is somewhat distant and suitable iron ore difficult 

 to procure. The slag buggies or pots are made as strongly and lightly 

 as possible, are case-hardened and shaped like inverted hollow cones, 

 and before each tap are thickly washed with clay water to prevent the 

 matte from welding to the iron mould. This matte is sampled and 

 weighed and allowed to cool before being dumped from the pots and 

 the slag also is sampled and assayed once every 24 hours, so that an 



