SOME MIXTURES OF CAST IRON AND NICKEL. 105 
This was done with great care, and the results which 
follow give unmistakeable evidence of the effects produced 
upon cast iron by an admixture of nickel, however small 
the quantity of the latter that may be introduced. Me- 
teoric iron is, above all others, the most ductile, and it 
is recorded by travellers that the Esquimaux have instru- 
ments made from this description of iron so ductile that 
they may be made to bend round the arm. ‘The ingots 
prepared on the occasion of these experiments were, how- 
ever, widely different, as their power to resist impact was 
nearly one half less than in those composed of pure iron. 
It is uncertain what might have been the results had 
the castings produced been treated as cast steel, and 
hammered out until they were rendered malleable and 
magnetic. This process was not, however, attempted, as, 
judging from the appearance of the fracture, they were 
more likely to crumble under the hammer than attain 
malleability. 
The nickel for these experiments was prepared from the 
ore, by fusing at a very high temperature in a crucible or 
steel pot, 
30/ds. of roasted ore, 
5/bs. of fine sand, 
2lbs. of charcoal, 
2lbs. of lime. 
This mixture was kept in the furnace six hours, and then 
taken out and allowed to cool. The metal was then sepa- 
rated from the slag, and again melted with half its weight 
of roasted ore and one quarter its weight of green bottle 
glass ground to powder. 
As before, the mixture was kept for six hours, at the 
temperature of a cast steel furnace. The metal had by 
the end of that time collected at the bottom of the cru- 
cible. It contained about 25 per cent of nickel, and was 
VOL, XV. P 
