1864. | Mining, Mineralogy, and Metallurgy. 493 
and silicon, and, it is said, the stream on the phosphorus and sulphur, 
so that refined iron is produced very rapidly. 
In the third stage of the process, the carbon of the cast-iron acts 
on the bed, which is composed of rich slags and sheets of wrought- 
iron, and after “rabbling,’ the puddled ball is ready for shingling. 
When it is required to make stecl, the coverings of the sole (rich 
slags, &c.) are omitted—the rotation of the turbine is accelerated, and 
the blast in the twyers increased. 
We are not aware of any experiments, on a large scale, having 
been tried, except by M. Lamy himself, but there is so much ingenuity 
in the arrangements, and each stage of the process has been so care- 
fully studied that, except there are mechanical difficulties in the way, 
it appears to promise a successful issue, and much economy. 
The most severe labour to which man is subjected is, that of 
puddling iron—the process by which pig-iron is converted into malle- 
able iron. The “puddler’’ has to manipulate balls of iron, weighing 
from 2 ewt. to 3 ewt., in front of an intensely heated reverberatory 
furnace. Many schemes have been devised for performing this oper- 
ation by machinery, but hitherto it does not appear that any of them 
have been successful. In 1861 a patent was secured by Mr. W. H. 
Tooth. Dr. Percy, in his “ Metallurgy,” notices the fact, but he 
gives no indication of the character of the machinery employed, or of 
the results of its application. It may, therefore, be concluded that it 
did not answer the desired end. Mr. James Nasmyth sought to 
facilitate the process of puddling, by the introduction of steam “to 
mechanically agitate the molton iron, and thereby keep exposing fresh 
surfaces of the iron to the oxygen of the iron contained in the atmo- 
sphere passing through the furnace.” This process has not, as far as 
we know, been successfully applied in any of our iron works. 
The latest attempt to apply machinery for puddling iron is, that of 
Mr. John Griffiths. This application is more promising than any 
which have preceded it, and is now, we are told, on trial in several 
works. 
The puddling process consists in stirring the melted cast-iron on 
the bed of a reverberatory furnace, so as to expose it to the action of 
the air. This is usually performed by means of a stirring tool, called 
a rabble, by which the workman stirs the melted iron. Mr. Griffiths, 
by means of machinery, gives nearly the same motion to a rabble as is 
given to it by the puddler, and the puddling is effected without manual 
labour, or nearly so. 
The construction of the machinery will be easily understood by 
reference to the accompanying woodcuts (pages 494 and 495). 
a @ are two cross bars fixed on the furnace b, on which rests a circular 
bed-plate c, above which is another circular plate d, which has a 
reciprocatory motion through about a quadrant. This upper plate d 
is supported on the bed-plate c, by spheres or balls e, which move in 
a groove. <A vertical shaft f, working in the bearing g, in the bed- 
plate, passes through and works loosely in the movable plate d. 
This shaft below the bed-plate ¢ carries a bevil-toothed wheel 2, which 
gears with another bevil-toothed wheel k, on the horizontal shaft J, 
2u 2 
