THE ABBOTSBURY IRON DEPOSITS. 05 



form of combination. The basic materials may as a rule (man- 

 ganese being excepted) be regarded as diluents, but the presence 

 of minute percentages of phosphorus or of sulphur exerts a 

 most powerful and deleterious influence on the quality of the 

 smelted metal. When considering, therefore, the probable value 

 of an iron ore as a commercial substance, it is of most importance 

 to ascertain not how much iron it contains, but what quality of 

 metal will it yield when passed through the smelting furnace. I 

 rather insist on this on account of the Abbotsbury ores having 

 been somewhat blown upon, because they do not on the average 

 reach so high a standard as some other ores in respect of per- 

 centage of iron. I believe the true test, that of the furnace, has 

 yet to be applied to the deposit we have had before us to-day, 

 and it is, I venture to suggest, highly desirable that for the sake 

 of the inhabitants of the district, and especially of the proprietors 

 of the Abbotsbury Eailway, to say nothing of the owners of these 

 valuable beds, this omission should speedily be rectified. 



Passing over the carbonates, which nevertheless produce the 

 larger part of the iron made in this country, I will mention a few 

 particulars respecting the peroxides which in this neighbourhood 

 are represented by the iron deposits of Abbotsbury, Westbury, 

 Devizes. These all partake of the oolitic character, and are 

 found in various situations amongst the rocks of the oolitic series. 

 Mr. Damon in his valuable manual quotes analyses by Dr. 

 Liveing and by Messrs. Blake and Huddleston, the former finding 

 43'97 per cent, of peroxide of iron (= 30'78 metallic iron) in the 

 specimen he examined, the latter 73*57 per cent. (= 51 '50 

 metallic iron) in what are called oolitic granules. But whether 

 these granules were selected specimens or a fair example of a 

 certain deposit we are not informed. Mr. Damon remarks that 

 " the iron ore (haematite) of the carboniferous series contains, 

 when pure iron, 70 ; oxygen, 30 per cent." That is, of course, 

 absolutely true, the qualification " when pure" being introduced, 

 but it is scarcely fair to make such a comparison as is here 

 suggested, seeing that such a specimen of absolutely pure 



