.svA- WILLIAM >//;.!//:. v.v, I-.R.S. 



379 



Rich ferruginous ores were placed upon ignited charcoal in a 

 cavity formed in the side of a hill, and as the result of a day's 

 hard labour in activating goat-skin bellows, a lump of metal mixed 

 with charcoal and slag was produced, which after being subse- 

 quently forged, would prove sometimes of a comparatively soft 

 nature, when it was called iron, and at other times harder, when it 

 was denominated steel. This shows that the two metals iron and 

 steel are substantially the same, and that they are distinguishable 

 only by difference of physical qualities which are the result of very 

 small chemical admixtures. 



The steel produced by the ancients was of very high quality, 

 remarkable for its great hardness, and for its, power to resist 

 abrasion. Who has not heard of the blades of Damascus, and at a 

 somewhat later period of those of Toledo, and of the remarkable 

 swords that were made by the Norsemen ? So much value indeed 

 did the Norsemen place upon the production of cutting edges of 

 great hardness coupled with tenacity to resist chipping, that those 

 who could produce a blade of unequalled edge were highly esteemed 

 and in one or two instances even rewarded with the purple of 

 royalty in being elected sea-kings. 



Notwithstanding the antiquity of the metal called steel, its pro- 

 duction and its application have taken a new and very remarkable 

 stride within our recollection. It was, however, as early as the 

 year 1722, that Reaumur, the distinguished French philosopher, 

 proposed to produce steel on a large scale by fusing cast or pig 

 metal with wrought metal or scrap. He put these ingredients into 

 a crucible, and melting them together produced a metal partaking 

 of the nature of steel. The difficulty he encountered, however, 

 was insufficiency of heat. As far as we can make out, Reaumur's 

 suggestion amounted to little more than a proposal, and it was not 

 until 1820 that steel melting was introduced into commerce in a 

 successful manner by Huntsman of Sheffield, using coke in a 

 furnace actuated by intense draught, such as we know at present 

 as an air furnace. Huntsman succeeded in melting steel in con- 

 siderable quantity in pots, and from that date steel has become of 

 great value in commerce for various applications. 



Steel has variable properties depending upon very slight 

 differences in chemical composition. Thus one steel when hardened 

 will be next to diamond in its power to resist abrasion, and in its 



