506 



METALLURGY. (!RON, STEEL.) 



mitted that the same cause underlies both poly- 

 merization and allotropy. The phenomenon of 

 allotropy is dependent upon the number of the 

 atoms in each molecule ; but we are at present far 

 from being able to say what degree of impor- 

 tance is to be attached to the relative distance 

 between the atoms of a metal or to the " position 

 of one and the same atom " in a metallic molecule, 

 whether the metal be alloyed or free, and it 

 must be admitted that in this respect organic 

 chemistry is far in advance of metallurgic chem- 

 istry. It is probable that minute quantities of 

 foreign matter, which profoundly modify the 

 structure of masses of metal, also induce allo- 

 tropic changes. In the case of the remarkable 

 action of impurities on pure gold, the author has 

 suggested that the modifications which are pro- 

 duced may have direct connection with the peri 

 odic law, and that the causes of the specific 

 variations in the properties of iron and steel 

 may be thus explained. The recent use of 

 nickel-steel for armor plate and the advocacy 

 of the use of copper-steel for certain pur- 

 poses are the industrial justification of the au- 

 thor's views as to the influence of the atomic 

 volume of an added element on the mechanical 

 properties of iron, and it is remarkable that the 

 two bodies silicon and aluminum, the properties 

 of which in the free state are so different, should 

 nevertheless when alloyed with iron affect it in 

 the same way. Silicon and aluminum have al- 

 most the same atomic volume. The conse- 

 quences of allotropic changes which result in al- 

 teration of structure are very great. The case 

 of the tin regimental buttons which fell into a 

 shapeless heap when exposed to the rigorous 

 winter at St. Petersburg is well known. The 

 recent discovery by Hopkinson of the changes in 

 the density- of nickel-steel (containing 22 per 

 cent, of nickel) which are produced by cooling to 

 30 affords another instance. This variety of 

 steel after being frozen is readily magnetizable, 

 although it was not so before ; but its density is 

 reduced by no less than 2 per cent, by the ex- 

 posure to the cold. 



Iron and Steel. The year 1890 is declared by 

 Mr. John Birkinbine, President of the American 

 Institute of Mining Engineers, memorable as plac- 

 ing the United States in the lead of the nations 

 in the production of pig iron. The total produc- 

 tion in that year in the several countries from 

 which reports had been received was : United 

 States, 9,202,703 gross tons ; Great Britain, 7,904.- 

 214 gross tons; Germany, 4,563,025 metric tons; 

 France, 1,970,160 metric tons ; and Sweden. 781.- 

 958 metric tons. Of the other pig-iron-produc- 

 ing countries, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Italy, 

 Spain. Canada, and Russia, none have produced in 

 any one year 1,000,000 gross tons. The produc- 

 tion of the United States for 1890 exceeded that of 

 Great Britain by 16 per cent., and that of other 

 countries by much more. Among the factors 

 named by the author as aiding in securing its 

 very large output to the United States is the 

 fact that 7 per cent, of the amount never took 

 the form of pig iron, but was taken in la- 

 dle directly from the blast furnace to the con- 

 verters. Another factor Vas the association of 

 the blast furnace and the chemical laboratory; 

 another, the study which the consumers have 

 given to the character and qualities of the pig 



iron they use. During the last thirty years the 

 United States has increased its relative produc- 

 tion from 1 ton of pig iron for every 32 inhab- 

 itants to 1 ton for every 7 inhabitants. The 

 Middle States have advanced from 1 ton to 

 every 11 inhabitants to 1 ton for every 2 in- 

 habitants. In Pennsylvania, in 1860 1 ton was 

 produced for every 5 inhabitants ; in 1870, 1 ton 

 for every 3f ; and in 1890, 1 ton for every \\ in- 

 habitant. A marked increase is shown in the 

 Southern States, which in 1860 produced 1 ton 

 for every 99 inhabitants ; in 1870, 1 ton for every 

 66 inhabitants ; and in 1890, 1 ton for every 10|- 

 inhabitants. In the Western States the produc- 

 tion in 1860 was 1 ton for every 70 inhabitants ; 

 in 1870, 1 ton for every 32f inhabitants ; in 

 1880,'! ton for every 24 inhabitants; and in 

 1890, 1 ton for every i2f inhabitants. 



Mr. Berkeley, President of the English Institu- 

 tion of Civil Engineers, specifies as the most con- 

 spicuous difference between English and Ameri- 

 can practice in the production of iron, the outr 

 put from one blast furnace. The largest pro- 

 duction in Great Britain seems not to exceed 750 

 tons in the week, while in America it has reached 

 2,000 tons. It might be questioned whether this 

 large output from a single furnace was not ob- 

 tained at some sacrifice of economy in material 

 used and of wear and tear of furnaces. The pro- 

 duction of pig iron in the United States amount- 

 ed to 10,000,000 tons, or 2.000,000 tons more than 

 that of the United Kingdom. This amount was 

 wholly used within the country, showing a 

 larger quantity of iron used per head of the pop- 

 ulation (300 pounds) than in any other part of 

 the world. In Great Britain, after deducting 

 from its production the quantity exported, the 

 production equaled only 250 pounds per head of 

 the population. 



Describing the results which had been obtained 

 from a plant erected at the Iloerde works for the 

 elimination of sulphur from pig iron, Herr J. 

 Massenez claimed that a saving of lime and coal 

 was realized and a certainty that no red-short 

 charges were obtained in the treatment in the 

 converter, while the pig iron passed to the con- 

 verter at a suitable temperature. There was also 

 the further advantage that it rendered the Bes- 

 semer works independent of the time at which 

 the individual blast furnaces were tapped, as the 



Eig iron required for the Bessemer process could 

 e taken at any time from the desulphurizing 

 plant, Sir I. Lowthian Bell said that their ex- 

 periences at Barrow with the mixer showed that 

 it obviated the difficulties arising from the very 

 great variation in the composition of the pig 

 iron, which necessarily affected all future opera- 

 tions. If they had too much silicon they had 

 far too high a temperature in the converter, and 

 if they had too little silicon they had far too 

 low a temperature, and the consequence was a 

 variation in the product which was a great in- 

 convenience and a cause of great waste. Since 

 they had applied the mixer they got really an 

 average, and thus avoided the variation. Mr. J. 

 B. Stead, of Middlesborough, said that he had 

 tried an interesting experiment in mixing ferro- 

 manganese with sulphide of iron and smelting 

 them together in a crucible, the results of which 

 bore out the conclusions arrived at by the author 

 of the paper. 



