vin TECHNICAL EDUCATION 205 



be and ought to be done ? Are the great mass of the 

 Sheffield " blades," whether masters or men, yet fully 

 alive to the greatness of the issues ? Do they see that 

 their future trade, their profits, and their wages depend 

 upon the skill and the technical knowledge which they 

 severally bring to bear on their industries ? I said I 

 feared that the iron had not yet entered into their souls ; 

 and their interest was in too many cases only skin 

 deep. They were satisfied with little, and did not see 

 that much deeper knowledge and training are needed. 

 As an example of what may be done by scientific work 

 I quoted the story of Thomas and Gilchrist. Two 

 young students, not more gifted, probably, than many 

 others, studied their subjects with care and attention. 

 They were good chemists and good engineers. The 

 iron-masters were unable to make steel from cheap 

 Middlesbrough pig, because it contained phosphorus, 

 and in the ordinary Bessemer process this substance 

 remained in the steel and rendered it useless. Ulverston 

 flourished because their hematite, though more expen- 

 sive, contained no phosphorus. Suddenly a change 

 comes. These two young men, scientifically equipped, 

 win a great victory. Why, they asked themselves, is 

 the phosphorus not left with the slag in the ordinary 

 Bessemer process ? Because, they replied, the phos- 

 phorus cannot combine with the silicious or acid lining 

 of the converter. If, instead of using an acid lining, 

 we were to -use a basic lining one composed of lime 

 and magnesia then the phosphorus would be taken 

 out of the steel as phosphoric acid, and would be found 

 in the slag. And this turned out to be so. This 

 application of a simple chemical principle has revo- 

 lutionised the iron trade. It has rendered the com- 

 monest and cheapest Middlesbrough pig available for 

 steel-making, equally with the best Cumberland hema- 



