$0 Obfervations on Iron and Steel 



into another fire called the chafery, and again fubjecling 

 them to the action of the forge-hammer. 



The above method is now moft in ufe, and is called flou- 

 rifhing ; but the iron made by this procefs is in no refpecl. 

 fuperior to that which I am going to defcribe. It is hew- 

 ever not fo expenfive, and requires lefs labour. 



The procefs for refining crude iron, which was moll: 

 common previous to the introduction of flourifhing, is as 

 follows : 



7 he pigs of caft iron are put into the refinery, as above, 

 where they remain until they have acquired a confidence 

 refembling p'afte, which happens in about two hours and a 

 half. The iron is then taken out of the refinery, and laid 

 upon a caft iron plate on the floor, and beaten by the work- 

 men with hand-hammers, to knock off the cinders and other 

 extraneous matters which adhere to the metal. It is after- 

 wards taken- to the forge-hammer, and beaten firft gently, till 

 it has obtained a little tenacity ; then the middle part of 

 the piece is drawn into a bar about half an inch thick, 

 three inches broad, and four feet long, leaving at each end 

 a thick fquare lump of imperfect iron. In this form it is 

 called ancony. It is now taken to the fire called the chafery, 

 made of common coal; after which the two ends are drawn 

 out into the form of the middle, and the operation is 

 finiflied. 



There is alfo a third method of rendering crude iron mal- 

 leable, which, I think, promifes to be abundantly more advan- 

 tageous than either of the two former, as it will difpenfc 

 both with the refinery and chafery ; and nothing more will 

 be neceffary than a reverberating furnace, and a furnace to 

 give the metal a malleable heat, about the middle of the 

 operation. The large forge-hammer will alfo fall intodifre- 

 pute, but in its place muft be fubftituted metal rollers of 

 different capacities, which, like the forge-hammer, muft be 

 worked either by a water-wheel or a fleam-engine. 



It is by the operation of the forge-hammer or metal 



rollers, 



