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Il. Hiflorical Remarks relative to the Manufa€tures of Tron” 
and Steel in Great Britain. By Mr. Davip MusueET, 
of the Clyde Iron Works. Communicated by the Author. 
L is uncertain at what period the manufacture of iron 
commenced in Britain. It is probable that the working of 
the iron mines of Cornwall by the Phoenicians, ‘would 
introduce into the country a clafs of men {killed in all the 
then known metallic ores; capable of appreciating their 
true value, by converting the riches of an unexplored 
country, either to their own immediate wants, or to the 
conveniencies of the unfkilful inhabitants.. The invafion of 
England by the Danes, and'their confequent eftablifhment, 
would, moft likely, add to the former ftock of knowledge in 
the art of mining and fufing ores. Large heaps of feorta 
are to this day met with in many places in England, with fo 
eteat an accumulation of foil as to grow trees of a large 
fize *; thefe heaps are called Danes cinders, and are in our 
times {melted to advantage for the produétion of crude iron. 
Vyvom whatever period the iron trade may date its origin ; 
certain it is, that towards the end of the 16th and early in 
the 17th centuries we find it had attained a pitch of mag- 
nitude almoft incredible, at a time fo hoftile to the peaceable 
views and indu(ftry of the manufacturer. Hence we find 
that cannon and mortars, of various calibres and conftruc- 
tions, were fabricated from caft-iron at fome of the Englifh 
works; and that this fpecies of manufacture was in con- 
fiderable requeft on the continent. The calibre of the gun 
was in thofe days, and within. thefe forty years, formed by a 
loam core of the exaét diameter placed vertically in the middle 
of the mould. The*boring and turning mills were quite un- 
known, together with all that, ferupulous exactitude which 
* Dudley mentions that as early as: 1620, oaks were found of a large 
fize decayed on the tops of large hills. of cinder. 
diftmguifhes 
