H M E M O I R S of the 
thereof, this way of making fleel is by lurcher faid to be now 
in ufe in the ifland of Iha^ a place famous from all ages, even 
from the times of the Romans for that metal alone, down to our 
days: Make choice of iron, v^hich is apt to melt, and yet hard, 
and which may eafily be wrought with the hammer 5 for altho' 
iron, which is made of vitriolic ore, may melt, yet it is foft, or 
brittle, or eager: Heat a parcel of luch iron red hot, and cut it 
into fmall pieces, and then mix it with a lort of ftone which cafily 
melts ; then fet in the fmith's forge or hearth a crucible or difh 
of crucible metal, a foot and a half broad, and a foot deep ; fill 
the diOi with good charcoal, and fet loole ilone about it, to keep 
in the mixture of ftone and pieces of iron 5 as foon as the coal is 
thoroughly kindled, and the difli red hot, give the blafl, and 
let the workman put on by little and little, all the mixture of 
iron and ftone he defigns 5 when it is melted, let him thruft into 
the middle of it three, four or more pieces of iron, and boil 
them therein for five or fix hours, with a brifk fire j and putting 
in his rod, let him often ftir the melted iron, that the pieces 
may imbibe the Ihialler particles of the melted iron, which par- 
ticles confome and thin the groffer ones of the iron pieces, and 
are, as it were, a ferment to them, and make them tender : Let 
the workman now take one of the pieces out of the fire, and put 
it under the great hammer to be drawn out into bars, and 
wrought 5 and "then hot as it is, plunge it forthwith into cold 
water : Thus tempered let him work it again upon the anvil and 
break it • and viewing the fragments, let him conlider whether it 
look like iron in any part of it, or be wholly condenfed, and 
turned into Heel : Then let the pieces be all wrought into bars ; 
which done, give a frelh blaft to the mixture, adding a littk 
frefh matter to it, in the room of that which had been drank up 
by the pieces of iron, which will refrefl-i and ftrengthen the re- 
mainder and make it purer ftill, then put the pieces of iron again 
into thedifli^ each of which, as foon as it is red hot, let hin^ 
beat into a bar upon the anvil, and call it hot, as it is, into cold 
water- and thus iron is made into fteel, which is much harder 
and whiter than iron. 
'J^li7iy, fpeaking of iron, fiiys, fornacum vjaxima differemU 
ejl ^ in its equidem nucleus f err i excoquiturad indurandam aciemy 
cUoque modo o.d denfandas incudes Malleorumije rojlra-, from 
this pafTage it fhould leem, that the ancients had one way to 
make flecl, and another way to harden or temper their tools, 
particularly fuch as picks and anvils^ it is aifo plain, thar ?;;^- 
ckusferri was melted down m both : /.gain, the diflerencc was 
