BOOK ir. CHAP. Xr. 245 



he could not relax and loofen the component parts to fuch a degree, 

 as to make the reparation and redu£tion of the metal more eafy, 

 when he Ihould bring it to the furnace. He then mixed it up with 

 a flux of a very peculiar, but gentle nature, which he had befor? 

 made ufe of for other purpoies with great fuccefs [/('], and com- 

 mitted it to the furnace, where he urged it, by a very flrong fire, 

 for about three hours, and upon taking it out found the event an- 

 fwerable to his moft languine expedlations ; for in the bottom of 

 the crucible he found rather more than half of the fand he had put 

 in reduced to a very fine, malleable metal. Being now convinced 

 that the fand was a very rich iron ore, he acquainted fome of his 

 friends with the difcovery ; who being largely engaged in trade 

 with the part of the American continent from whence it was 

 brought, he hoped the gentlemen in that part of the world would, 

 in confequence, purfue experiments with it on a more extenfive 

 plan. And he informs us, that Mr. G. Elliot having fmce made 

 trial of it, the event proved encouraging much beyond his expec- 

 tation ; inlbmuch that eighty-three pounds of the fand were found 

 to produce a bar of excellent iron, weighing fifty pounds. Mr. 

 Elliot fmelted this iron, in a common bloomary, in the fame 

 manner as other iron ore is fmelted ; excepting this difi^erence, that 

 the iron fand is fo pure, and fo clean wa(hed, that there is not a 

 fufficient quantity of cinder, or flagg, to perform the fmelting ; and 

 be was therefore obliged to add either the flagg which ilfues from 

 other iron ore, or elfe fome bog-mine ore, which abounds with 

 cinder. In this way, he fays, it is capable of being wrought 

 as bog-ore, or bog-mine. There is fo much of this fand in America, 

 that he thinks there is more iron-ore in this form than any other.. 

 The fpecimens of iron, lent by Mr. Elliot from America, were 

 tried by Mr. Horne, and found to poflefs all that agreeable tough- 

 uefs and dudility for which the Spanifh iron is lo defervedly fa- 

 mous. And he concludes with giving his opinion, that, by this 

 difcovery, we may obtain a more pure and better kind of iron than 

 any w^e have hitherto been pofTefl'ed of [/]. 



Jf the experiments of thefe gentlemen are to be relied upon, tiie 

 American fand yields more in value than the richeft and beft ore 



[i\ This preparation he has not comnaunicateii. [^ Home's Eflays on Iron and Steel. 



^2 hitherto 



