WILLIAM SIEMENS, F.R.S. 337 



dead melting was, that it was chiefly a question of temperature, 

 and tin- ivsuli of maintaining the steel for a considerable time in 

 a fluid condition at a comparatively low temperature, at which the 

 which was chemically combined with iron would leave the 

 and go to the carbon, and escape as carbonic oxide, gradually 

 re the metal was poured. If Mr. Snelus had any other decided 

 view on that subject, it would be important, he thought, that it 

 should be brought forward. 



Mr. Snelux finished his reply with the words : If they put 

 plenty of manganese into the steel, he believed the temperature at 

 which the metal could occlude the gas was raised, and therefore 

 the whole of the gas came off. The alloy with manganese appeared 

 to have a less power of holding those gases in solution than the 

 alloy without it. That was his idea upon the subject. 



Dr. Siemens said he should like to be allowed to express his 

 views on that point. They all knew Mr. Snelus had great ability 

 as a chemist, and his view on such a subject was entitled to the 

 utmost consideration ; at the same time, on a purely scientific 

 point, each man was entitled to his own opinion until he saw 

 sufficient reason to change it, and his view was in effect that the 

 amount of gas held by liquids in solution decreased generally with 

 the increase of temperature for instance, they drove carbonic acid 

 out of soda water when they heated it, and their champagne got 

 flat when it had not been kept cool before it was poured out. In 

 the same way he should argue that if it was simply a question of 

 occlusion of carbonic oxide gas in the fluid steel, that the gas would 

 be driven out in a greater measure at the high temperature in the 

 Bessemer converter than it was at a much lower temperature just 

 before the metal was going to congeal in the mould ; and a further 

 point which he would mention in favour of his view was, that in 

 Sheffield it was the practice to lower the temperature of the pot 

 furnace during the latter portion of the operation of melting, and 

 that that lowering of the temperature produced the effect of dead 

 melting. After all, the effect would be similar if Mr. Snelns's 

 view could be proved by absolute chemical test. It would simply 

 show that occlusion in steel took place to a greater extent at a 

 higher temperature than at the lower ; whereas, according to his 

 (Dr. Siemens's) view, the oxygen at the high temperature was 

 combined with iron, and its combination with carbon was due to 



VOL. r. z 



