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LXXVL— 0/i the Alloys of Steel. Bij J. Stodart,£5^. F.R.S. 

 and Mr. M. Faraday, Chemical Assistant in the Royal In- 

 stitution *. 



JL HE alloys of steel made on a small scale in the laboratory of 

 the Royal Institution proving to be good, and the experiments 

 having excited a very considerable degree of interest both at 

 home and abroad, gave encouragement to attempt the work 

 on a more extended scale; and we have now the pleasure of 

 stating, that alloys similar to those made in the Royal Insti- 

 tution, have been made for the purpose of manufacture ; and 

 that they prove to be, in point of excellence, in every resjiect 

 equal, if not superior, to the smaller productions of the labo- 

 ratory. Previous, however, to extending the work, the former 

 experiments were carefully repeated, and to the results were 

 added some new combinations, namely, steel with palladium, 

 steel with iridium and osmium, and latterly, steel with chro- 

 mium. In this last series of experiments we were particularly 

 fortunate, having by practice acquired considerable address in 

 the management of the furnaces, and succeeded in procuring 

 the best fuel for the purpose. Notwithstanding the many ad- 

 vantages met with in the laboratory of the Royal Institution, 

 the experiments were frequently rendered tedious from causes 

 often unexpected, and sometimes difficult to overcome ; among 

 these, the failure of crucibles was perhaps the most perplexing. 

 We have never yet found a crucible capable of bearing the 

 high degree of temperature required to produce the perfect 

 reduction of titanium ; indeed we are rather disposed to ques- 

 tion whether this metal has ever been so reduced : our furnaces 

 are equal f (if any are) to produce this effect, but hitherto we 

 have tailed in procuring a crucible. 



The metals that form the most valuable alloys with steel are 

 silver, platina, rhodium, iridium and osmium, and palladium ; 

 all of these liave now been made in the large way, except in- 

 deetl the last named. Palladium has, for very obvious reasons, 

 l)een used t)ut sparingly; four j)ounds of steel with ji^y part of 

 palladium, has however been I'used at once, and the compound 

 is truly valuable, more especially for making instruments that 

 require perfect smoothness of edge. 



"We are ha])py to acknowledge the obligations due from us 

 to Dr. Wollaston, whose assistance we exj)erienced in every 

 stjige of our progress, and by whom we were I'urnislicd with 

 all the scarce and valuable metals; and that with a liberality 



* From the Philosophical Transactions, Part II. for 1822. 

 f We have succfc-ded in fusing in these furnaces rhoilinm, niid also, 

 though iniperHctly, [jlatininii in criiiihle«. 



Z / 2 which 



