c 178 i 



XL On the AJfay'tng of Iron Ores and Iron SlOnes hy Ftijion. 

 By Mr. D A V I D Mu s H ET o/" /^e Clyde Iron IVorks. CoTti- 

 municated hy the Atithor, 



XA.MONGST the numerous and varied attainments of 

 human genius, the rcfults obtained in the praftice of the 

 art of fufion are not the leaft to ftamp the induftry of man 

 with that full approbation to which the moft ardent perfe- 

 verance has entitled him. Deftitute of the knowledge of 

 principle, and labouring under the moft violent prejudices, 

 the artift has in all ages marked, at lengthened intervals, the 

 coincidence of caufe with effeft : upon precedent alone he 

 has ventured to enlarge his operations, and ftake his fame 

 and fortune. To this chiefly may be attributed his partial 

 fuccefs ; and by this alone can we account for the exiftence 

 of manufadlures, at an early period of civilifation, in this 

 and in other countries. Although we cannot withhold our 

 applaufe from fuch unremitting induftrj^, yet the deep-rooted 

 prejudices which this implicit reverence for cuftom has fof- 

 tcred are much to be regretted. In periods remote from our 

 time, allowance will be readily granted for perfevering in a 

 mode of praftice in which others had been comparatively 

 fuccefsful ; now, how ever, when inveftigation is abroad, the 

 foundation of thefe principles ought to be tried by experi- 

 ment, as the only flandard whereby we are enabled to afcer- 

 tain truth or detetl: error. At this impartial tribunal, errors 

 may be detcfted 'vhich corrode the vitals of our manufafto- 

 ries; and truths which have hitherto flept, mingled in the 

 rubbifli of unenlightened tradition, be brought to full view. 



In our manufailories, the juft combination of art w^th 

 fcience is what we can feldom boaft ; in authors the fame 

 happy union of theory and praftice is alfo markedly defi- 

 cient ; and we have conftantlv to regret, that the want of 

 liberality in the individuals of the one clafs, and opportunity 

 in that of the other, prevent us from feeling the happy ef- 

 fefts of this fo much dcfired unioiu 



The 



