114 



NA TURE 



{June 2, 1887 



--also be appointed, and the party will remain three years at the 

 Oameroons. The surgeon and botanist will have charge of the 

 meteorological station, while Lieut. Kund will devote himself 

 to the exploration of the interior lying to the east of Cameroons. 



THE IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE. 



'T'HE annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute was held 

 ■^ on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of last week, in the 

 Theatre of the Institution of Civil Engineers, under the 

 presidency of Mr. Daniel Adamson. 



In his inaugural address the President exhaustively treated the 



-question of the selection and adoption of metals for various 

 purposes in the arts. Commencing with the purest iron obtain- 

 able, containing only 0"o8 per cent, of foreign matter, he ex- 

 plained that it was wonderfully malleable, and welded at a 



•comparatively low temperature ; a further exceptional character- 

 istic of such a metal was that it suffered little when worked at a 



•<olour-heat, whilst it endured percussive or concussive force 

 without distress much better than the mildest steel. All the 

 alloys of iron, or the steels, were less malleable and ductile than 

 the pure metal, but were on the other hand much stronger, or 

 possessed a much higher carrying pawer. . Pure iron would 

 maintain a maximum load of nineteen tons per square inch, 

 "whilst it would set at half that amount. By an addition of 0*13 

 per cent, of carbon, o'52 per cent, of manganese, and OTO of 

 silicon, sulphur, and phosphorus, a steel might be produced carry- 

 ing 50 per cent, more than pure iron, whilst by a further addition 



•of these elements, the carrying power might be increased to sixty 

 tons per square inch. In thus increasing the strength, the 

 ductility or reliability was reduced however in nearly the same 

 proportion. It thus becomes evident how important is the selec- 

 tion of material for a given purpose, but besides this the stronger 

 the material the more skill is required in working it, and the 

 more forethought has to be manifested by the constructive 

 ■engineer. 



Referring specially to the subject of steel for guns, the Presi- 



-dent drew attention to the diversity of opinion, both in England 

 and the United States of America, as regarded the selection of 

 the proper metal and its treatment for ordnance, the artillerists 

 tnaintaining that a strong and consequently hard s'eel was 



-desirable, whilst engineers contended that a mild tough metal 

 should be used ; this was a question which he thought might be 

 decided by the Iron and Steel Institute, with the result that guns 

 would be made, as they could be made, which would not burst. 

 He referred to what had been done by the late Sir Joseph Whit- 

 worth towards the compression and consolidation of steel, and 

 by the late Sir William Siemens, especially as regarded the pro- 

 duction and introduction of soft or ductile steel, which possessed 

 great regularity in quality by the uniformity of its composition. 



Another most important subject treated of was that of steel 

 rails and weldless solid rolled steel tires. By this application of 

 steel, the saving to railway companies had been estimated at I 

 per cent, on the dividend, and this was largely due to the efforts 

 of Sir Henry Bessemer ; and he thought it was quite within the 

 province of the Institute to suggest the most suitable material 

 for the construction of railway and river bridges of moderate and 

 large spans, by the application of which further economy would 

 be effected. 



After reference to the subjects of case-hardening weldable 

 steel — for which, when manufactured with reliability and 

 economy, there would be an enormous demand — cast-iron, and 

 steel castings, the address concluded by drawing attention to the 

 influence of high railway rates upon trade depression, and to the 

 necessity of employers and employed working in unison, as by 

 their intelligent action alone could we expect to defy the conten- 

 tion and competition of the world. The vote of thanks for the 

 address was proposed by Sir Lowthian Bell, and seconded by Sir 

 James Kits n. 



A paper on the Terni Steel Works was read by Sir Bernhard 

 Samuelson, which he prefaced with some remarks on the import- 

 ance of testing commercial education, which was now under the 

 consideration of the Oxford and Cambridge Joint Board for 

 Local Examinations, and drew attention to the circumstance that 

 Chinese and Japanese were being taught on the Continent in 

 anticipation of trade being opened out with the East. 



The next paper was by Mr. George Allan, on " Patent Com- 

 posite Steel and Iron." After referring to the necessity for a 

 OTiaterial of this character, and the various attempts that had been 



made to produce it, the author proceeded to explain the meth< 

 of its manufacture. This consisted in embedding fibrous iron 

 mild steel, and subsequently rolling the ingots into bars or plat 

 as desired. " So perfect was the union of the two materia 

 that by an inspection of the samples when the covering of ste 

 was turned down to the strands of iron and the surface polish( 

 it was quite impossible to detect any separation between the tv 

 I materials, or which was iron and which steel." 

 j The next paper read was by Prof. Chandler Roberts- Auste 

 descriptive of a mode of electro-deposition of iron, ai 

 illustrated by a medallion in iron of Her Majesty executi 

 by the process, the secret of success in which appears to be t 

 employment of veiy feeble currents. The adherence of t' 

 deposited iron to the surface of the copper gives rise to conside 

 able difficulty in detaching it ; this was obviated by depositii 

 nickel in the first place, allowing it to oxidize slightly, then aga 

 depositing nickel and the iron on its surface. The subject w 

 still under the author's investigation. 



The first paper read on Friday was one by Sir Bernha 

 Samuelson on the "Construction and Cost of Blast Furnaces 

 the Cleveland District," supplementary of one read in 187 

 before the Institution of Civil Engineers. 



Mr. James Riley, to whom the Bessemer Medal for this ye 

 has been awarded for his excellent work in developing tl 

 manufacture and high quality of mild steel, read a paper of 

 most elaborate character on " Some Investigations as to tl 

 Effects of Different Methods of Treatment of Mild Steel in t! 

 Manufacture of Plates." The author compared reheating wi 

 soaking, or cooling gradually in pits ; hammering with cogging 

 cross-rolling with rolling in one direction only, and the resul 

 due to different amounts of work. 



It was found that the soaked ingots were slightly more sati 

 factory than those reheated, the reheating having been perform( 

 in a non-radiation furnace, and that the results of cogged ai 

 hammered ingots were almost similar. Cross-rolling and ordina 

 rolling were also found to give almost similar results. As regar 

 "working " the ingot, the strength of the steel was found to i 

 crease with the quantity of work put upon it, the ductility beii 

 however diminished. The author looks upon annealing as 

 corrective to damage done, and thinks that as regards tl 

 ordinary operations of a well-managed works annealing 

 unnecessary. The paper relates to a very large number 

 exp riments, the bending tests alone being close upon 1300, ai 

 gave rise to a very animated discussion. 



Other papers on the programme, including one by Dr. H. ( 

 Sorby, F.R.S., on "The Microscopical Structure of Iron ai 

 Steel " were taken as read. With reference to this paper, D 

 Percy, the immediate Past-President, remarked before resignii 

 the chair, " For twenty years, more or less, he has been engag( 

 in this kind of research, in which of late much has be< 

 done by foreign o'^servers. Having carefully studied wh 

 has been published on this subject, my conviction is tha 

 with regard to originality of contrivance, accuracy, and impoi 

 ance, the work of Dr. Sorby is as yet unrivalled. He h 

 successfully explored a comparatively new and most importa 

 field of inquiry, and has thrown much light on some of the mo 

 recondite problems concerning the mechanical and physic 

 properties of iron and steel. My first impression is that tl 

 result of such researches will prove to be of the highest practic 

 value." 



THE INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL 

 ENGINEERS. 



A T the recent meeting of the Institution of Mechanic 

 Engineers, the President, Mr. E. H. Carbutt, gave '<. 

 address, in which he reviewed the progress made in the man 

 facture of guns during the last half century. The guns in use 

 the beginning of the present reign, in 1837, were principal 

 the cast-iron smooth-bore 24-pounder and 32-pounder wi( 

 s, herical shot. Now they are made of steel, and provid( 

 with mechanical appliances for every movement ; accuracy 

 aim is insured by rifling, and the length of range increased 1 

 the use of an elongated shot of small cross-section, and 1 

 increased powder-charges. Breechloading has 1 d to increase 

 speed of firing, and to the use of guns 35 and 40 feet long ( 

 board ship. The loading is self-acting in the smaller field gun 

 whilst on board ship the guns are made to revolve, load, return 

 position, and train to firing-point by hydraulic power. Such gui 



