Expenmeiiti on If'oot'z. 45 



ner-s beyond what was experienced in any of the former 

 cakes. Two quarters of this cake were drawn under the 

 tilt hammer, and one bv hand. The resulting bars wert 

 nearly perfect. A slight scale was observable upon the har 

 from tliat quarter whicl) contained the figure. The fracture 

 was solid, tl)ough not homogeneous as to quality and co- 

 lour, and it appeared prettv evident that a considerable por- 

 tion of one side through the whole bar was in the state of 

 malleable iron, and of course not capable of being hardened. 

 It was a subject of considerable regret that the cake the most 

 jjerf^xt and the most tenacious of the whole, in the process 

 of forging, should get an imperfection which rendered it 

 useless for the perfect purposes of steel. 



Forging 5th Cake. 



The first half of this cnke cut uncommonly soft for wootz, 

 but by cracking before the chisel still exhibited a want of 

 proptT tenacity. The next half cut equally soft, but with 

 more tenacity. Two quarters of this cake drew readily out 

 under the tilt hammer, and a third was drawn by hand at a 

 bright red, sometimes approaching to a faint white heat. 

 None of the bars thus obtained were uniformly free from 

 cracks and scale, although the fracture exhibited a fair break 

 of a light blue colour, and the grain was distinctly marked, 

 and free from yolks. 



GirKcral Remarks. 



The formation of wootz appears to mc to be in conse- 

 quence of the fusion of a peculiar ore, perhaps calcareous, 

 or rendered highly so by mixture of calcareous earth aion<T 

 with a portion of carbonaceous matter. That this is per- 

 formed in a clay or other vessel or crucible, is equally pre- 

 sumable, in which llie separated melal is allov.ed to cool ; 

 hence the crystallization that occupies the pits and celU 

 found in and upon the under or rounded surface of the 

 wootz cakes. 



The want of homogeneity and of real solidity in almost 

 every cake of wootz, appears to me to be a du'ect conse- 

 quence of the want of heat sufLcienlly powerful to efllct a 

 perfect reduction ; what strengthens this supposition much 

 i.s, that tho.-,e cakes thnt are the hardest, /. e. that contain 

 the greatest quantity of caihonaccous matter, and of course 

 form the most fusible steel, are always the most solid and 

 homogeneous. On the: contrary, those cakes into which 

 the cutting chitel must eas-ily finde ns way, are in genera! 



celju'ar, 



