202% Converfion of Iron into Steel. 
had in their defcent conveyed a blackifh-blue celour to the 
fand, and the fufion of the whole had glazed the bottom and 
fides of the inverted crucible, unoccupied by the fand, with 
the fame colour. The principle button, and fmall pieces, 
weighed 1229 grains: lof, 21 grains, =, of the original 
weight of the iron. 
“¢ The quality of this fteel was s uncommonly red- sbi and 
it was with difficulty it would take a form under the hammer, 
When cold it was much tougher than good fteel is ever found 
to be, and diftended in this ftate afionifhingly under the ham- 
mer. The fufion, however, had been moft complete; every 
part of the refult poffeffed a cryftallifed furface more or lefs 
accurate. Upon the whole, the quality of this fleel is, I 
think, fimilar to fome defcribed lately by C. Clouet. Its 
uncommon fortnefs, while it poffefled not the property of 
drawing into fhape with a fmooth uncracked furface, led me 
_ to conceive that the fufion was urged too {peedily, and before 
the fufficient quantity of carbon had been taken up which 
conftitutes good fteel. This induced me to repeat the experi- 
ment in the following manner :— 
II. * Having finerpete in an eer es three 
crucibles, made from Sturbridge clay, of various fizes; into 
the fmallcft one I put five pieces of malleable iron weighing 
1875 grains; upon the top of which I wedged a high-baked 
cover of fire-clay: upon the top of this cover, and to a level 
-with the edges of the crucible, I introduced infufible fand. 
This operation was performed upon a plate of red-hot iron, 
Jeft the fudden. contact of the cold air fhould endanger the 
foundnefs of the pots. The fmall crucible was next intro- 
duced into the fecond fize, and a cover fitted over the two. 
Lafily, this double crucible was placed into one fo much 
larger as to admit of a ftratum of fand, nearly half an 
inch thick, in fuch a manner as to infulate the former moft 
completely. This operation finifhed by covering the outfide 
crucible with a large fire-clay cover. My reafon for leaving 
the vacant fpace betwixt the two innermoft crucibles not 
filled up was, to guard againft any error in the refult, which 
might probably be occafioned by the aétion of the interior 
fire-clay caver, and the fand, in their refpective degrees of 
9 : fhrinkage 
