336 On the Cutting of Steel by Soft Iron. 
though they seem not to be RE eriiiysek The —s 
is described, Vol. V. p. 249 of this Journal. They 
sometimes palit with a very fine grained and close browih 
ish steatiie, in which, as in the asbestus, the crystals leave 
their form. The specific gravity of the crystals is less than 
that given to steatite. In the cnereay specimens I have 
tried, it has been found very nearly 2, sometimes a little 
more or a little less. ‘Their spite gravity — be taken 
at 2, water being unity. 
Arr. XVIII.—On the Cutting of Steel by Soft Iron. — 
Extract of 2 a auc to the Editor, from the Rev. Herman Dac- 
— Gert, Principal of the Foragn Mission School at Corn- 
wall, Conn. 
Cornwall, Feb. 3, 1823. 
Dear Sir, 
I take the liberty to communicate to you a fact, which has 
lately come to my knowledge, and which, I judge, may be 
of considerable use in canahnieie, and pethaps in philosophy. 
may not, eb be new to you 
r. Bai inet-maker of this place) had occasion 
to ropa Sets cdb saw, (a saw to be used by two persons) 
of a very hard plate, which would require considerable la- 
bor, in the usual way of filing. He recollected having heard 
that the Shakers sometimes made use of what he called, a 
buzz, to cut iron. He therefore made a circular plate ‘of 
soft sheet iron, (a piece of stove pipe,) fixed an axis to it, 
-and put it in his lathe, which gave ita very powerful rotary 
motion. While in motion, he applied to it a common file 
to make it perfectly round and smooth; but the file was cut in 
two by it, while it received itself no impression. He then 
applied a piece of rock-crystal, (a piece of which, he in- 
forms me, he once presented to you,*) which had the desir- 
ed effect. He then brought under it, the saw-plate, which, 
in a few minutes, was neatly and one cut through 
longitudinally. When he stopped the buzz, he found it had 
received no wear from the o operation, and that he could im- 
mediately ph his fingers to it, without perceiving much 
*It was a peice of a very fine and large crystal of smoky quartz. Editor. 
