Observations on Iron and Steel. 1it 
I shall, at present, confine my remarks to the ope- 
rations performed on ironin Sheffield and its neigh- 
bourhood: from whence various communications 
have been transmitted to me by resident friends, 
and where I have myself seen the operations re- 
peatedly performed. 
The iron made in that part of Yorkshire is pro- 
cured from ores found in the neighbourhood, which 
are of the argillaceous kind, but intermixed with a 
large proportion of foreign matter. These however 
are frequently combined with richer ores from 
Cumberland and other places. The ore is first 
roasted with cinders for three days in the open air, 
in order to expel the sulphureous or arsenical parts, 
and afterwards taken to the furnaces: some of which 
are constructed so that their internal cavity has 
the form of two four-sided pyramids joined base to 
base; but those most commonly used are of a coni- 
cal form, from forty to fifty feet high. The fur- 
nace is charged at the top with equal parts of coal- 
cinder and lime-stone. The lime-stone acts asa 
flux, at the same time that it supplies a sufficient 
quantity of earthy matter to be converted into 
scoria, which are necessary to defend the reduced 
metal from calcination, when it comes near the low- 
er part of the furnace. The fire is lighted at the 
bottom ; and the heat is excited by means of two pair 
of large bellows blowing alternately. The quantity 
of air generally thrown into the furnace is from a 
