PROCEEDINGS. Isiii 



ensued, we think it not too much to assume that the chemistry of the subject 

 became a matter of consideration and study. It will of course be borne in mind 

 that many impurities exist in the ore, and are to be got rid of besides the 

 oxygen which seems to be its most intimate friend, but it was not our wish ta 

 take the chemistry of the process into consideration, and we propose only to speak 

 of the principal causes of the difference in the constitution of the metal in the 

 three principal characters under which it is known, viz. : as wrought iron, cast 

 iron, and steel. Now, barring the different qualities of ore— that is, the different 

 combinations of the metal with other matters than oxygen as found in different 

 ores — and hence the different qualities of metal obtainable ; the only difference 

 in the three phases of the metal named consists in the different proportions of 

 carbon with which it becomes impregnated either designedly or by accident. 

 It is proper to remark that the fuel used by the ancients, and indeed down to the 

 close of the 16th or commencement of the 17th century was wood charcoal. This 

 gave the early producers a great advantage, as the use of so pure a carbon pre- 

 vented in a great measure the introduction of other impurities, except as they 

 might exist in the ore itself, to some of which, notably sulphur and phosphorous, 

 the metal exhibits great affinity and great reluctance to separate from. We are 

 here met by the reflection that if no other means of obtaining iron had been 

 discovered except the old method, and the employment exclusively of wood char- 

 coal as fuel, the advance of the world in the magnilicent strides of the present 

 century would have been simply impossible, for the forests would not have suf- 

 ficed to supply the amount of charcoal needed for the purpose. 



In consequence of the lack of knowledge of the uses of mineral coal the demand 

 upon the forests of England for the supply of wood charcoal for iron making was 

 so great that in Queen Elizabeth's reign a law was passed prohibiting the exten- 

 sion of the iron manufacture in certain districts. 



In consequence of which law efforts were made to use the mine coal, which 

 was then coming into use as a fuel. These efforts were however strenuously 

 resisted by the manufacturers operating with the wood charcoal, and it was only 

 in the early par.t of the 18th century that full success in the use of mineral fue*- 

 in the production of iron was realized. 



We must now again revert to the statement already made that the ancients 

 only practised the production of iron by the direct process, but they also at a 

 very early period learned to produce steel, as Aristotle is said to have described 

 the process of making steel in India, and it was without doubt known that ores 

 found in certain localities were adapted to the more ductile requirements of the 

 producers, and other ores to the requirements of the steel makers. However, 

 from the very long time which seems to have elapsed before the production of 

 steel from iron itself, after its reduction from the ore, it would seem to be a fair 

 inference that the rationale of the process was not at all comprehended. The 

 production of steel by the process known as cementation is based upon the 

 readiness with which the metal in a heated state combines with carbon. Now, 

 while it would have been known that certain different conditions of the metal 

 were produced by different manipulations of the fire in which it was produced, 

 yet ignorance of the chemical constituents of fuel and air prevented the compre- 



