270 M. Breant on Damasked Steel. [Oct. 



It may be treated at once with lamp-black, which will very much 

 lessen the expense of the manufacture. 



" One hundred parts of very grey cast iron filings, and 100 

 parts of the same filings previously oxidated, gave a steel of a 

 fine damask, and calculated for sword blades, &c. It is 

 remarkable for its elasticity, an important quality in which the 

 Indian steel is deficient. I have always operated on three or 

 four pounds at a time. The larger the proportion of the oxi- 

 dated ingredient, the tougher (nerveux) is the steel. The 

 oxygen combining with the metals of the earths, and part of the 

 carbon, it is obvious that the more oxide there is, the more duc- 

 tile will be the result; but it will also be softer. The blackest 

 cast iron answers best. I am convinced that with that sub- 

 stance we may make cast steel in reverberatory furnaces on a 

 very large scale, by adopting a process analogous to that used in 

 refining bell metal, namely, by adding to the fused metal a por- 

 tion of the same metal oxidated ; or, still better, native oxide of 

 iron. 



" It seems to me to be equally practicable to convert the 

 whole of the product of the Catalonian forges {forges a la Cata- 

 lane) into cast steel, by altering the construction of the furnaces 

 so as completely to fuse the metal. I think if I had the direc- 

 tion of one of those forges, I could find means to manufacture 

 steel of the most desirable quality with great saving of expense. 



" I have always been careful to stir the fused metal thoroughly 

 before I suffered it to cool ; this is indispensable in making 

 metallic alloys, for without it the damask is not homogeneous. 



" It was after 1 had attempted to combine steel with aluminum 

 and silicium, that I observed the influence of carbon in produc- 

 ing the damask: from that time 1 always used the carbon of 

 lamp-black. 



" If some earths be found on analyzing my cast steel, they 

 must probably be attributed to the cast iron employed, or to 

 the iron, the plumbago, or the crucibles. 



" The more carbon a steel contains, the more difficult it is to 

 forge. The greater number of those that I have prepared can 

 be tilted at only very limited temperatures. At a white heat 

 they crumble under the hammer; at a cherry-red they become 

 hard and brittle, and this quality increases in proportion as the 

 temperature diminishes ; so that when once it has fallen below 

 cherry-red, if we endeavour to cut it with the graver, or the file, 

 we find it much harder and more brittle than after it is com- 

 pletely cold. 



" It is evident that the Indian steel, which most of our work- 

 men are unable to forge, is similarly circumstanced; and if the 

 Indians work it without difficulty, it is because they know the 

 limits of temperature within which it is manageable. 



" I am convinced from experience that the orbicular veins, 



