December loth, igoi.] PROCEEDINGS. 



.^^^ 



cJames Prescott Joule. 



(From a photograph by Lady Roscoe. ) 



he only enjoyed for fifteen months. He died in 185 i, aged 67, 

 and was buried in Prestwich Churchyard. 



Great improvement in the quaUty of manufactured iron was 

 effected by the invention of the puddling furnace by Henry Cort, 

 of Lancaster, in 1784. Its object was to remove the impurities 

 in English iron, and its success was immediate and remarkable. 

 Cort also made rolling mills with grooved rollers, and his 

 inventions gave a great impetus to the production of iron, which 

 rose in two or three years from 90,000 tons to 5,000,000 tons 

 per annum. He died poor, chiefly through unfortunate 

 partnerships. 



James Nasmyth was a native of Edinburgh, and came to 



