THE 



PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE 

 AND JOURNAL. 



30'^ SEPTEMBER 1822. 



XXVI. On the Origin and Discovery of Iron. By 

 David Mushet, Esq.* 



X KADiTioN informs us that the discovery of iron was made 

 in consequence of the accidental burning of a w^ood in Greece. 

 This is possible, and might be rendered probable, if on exami- 

 nation the remains of iron-mines were now to be found on the 

 sites of some of the ancient forests. But I think the disco- 

 very more likely to have been made in the conversion of wood 

 into charcoal, which undoubtedly the Greeks used for culinary 

 if not for chamber purposes. 



If the operation of " coaling," as it is called, was in former 

 times at all similar to that now practised, and it could not well 

 be more simple, the discovery was imavoidable, where iron ore 

 was found in quantity, as in this neighbourhood, on the surface 

 of the ground. The wood collier covers his pit or wood heap 

 with a coating of the moistened soil. If this contamed frag- 

 ments of iron ore, many would occasionally be exposed to the 

 contact of heated charcoal, during the combustion necessary to 

 its conversion, and undergo de-oxidation so as to reflect a 

 bright surface, on being struck with a flint or stone. If a 

 mass of ore accidentiilly dropped into the middle of the burn- 

 ing pile during a period of neglect, or during the existence of 

 a thorough draft, a mixed mass partly earthy and partly me- 

 tallic would be obtained, possessing ductility, and extension 

 under pressure. But if the conjecture is pushed still further, 

 and we suppose tliat the ore was not an oxide, but rich in iron 

 magnetic or specular, the result in all probability would be a 

 mass of perfectly malleable iron. I have seen this fact illus- 

 trated in the roasting of a species of ironstone, which was 

 united with a considerable quantity of bituminous matter: after 

 a high temperature had been excited in the interior of the pile, 

 plates of malleable iron of a tough and flexible nature were 

 found, and under circumstances where there was no fuel but 

 that furnished by the ore itself. But to return. 



Iron being once discovered, many attempts would be made to 

 * Comnmnicated bv the Author. 



Vol. 60. No. 293, 6V/?/. 1822. ' X give 



