426 



NA TURE 



[August 29, 1895 



industry'. It consists, briefly, in running molten iron from the 

 blast furnace into a reservoir, and from thence letting it flow 

 into the puddling furnace, the latter being of larger description 

 than is generally used. It is obvious that with this process, as 

 compared to the ordinar)- method of feeding the puddling furnace 

 with cold pig. there is a saving of fuel, inasmuch as the metal 

 does not require melting : on the other hand, the dillicully of 

 getting a uniform product, owing to the inability to mix various 

 kinds of pig, has to be overcome. Apjiarently the author has 

 Iwen successful in the latter resiiect, although how he has ac- 

 complished his end was not staled in the paper ; the tests given, 

 however, indicate that a superior quality t)f iron is producetl. j 



Mr. Kamensky's ixqx-r on the iron industries of South Russia i 

 was, like the two first contributions, of an historical natuie. In 

 this case, however, there was less of ancient history in the ' 

 memoir, and necessarily so, as the production of iron in Kussia, 

 as an industry of imi>ortance, is of essentially niotlcrn growth. 

 It is true that iron-making has been carried on in Russia for a 

 long time jiast, but it is only within the last year or two that any 

 great strides have been made. Now, however, there are several 

 works in operation, and it ap|>ears likely that more will follow ; 

 so Russia may in her turn put in a claim for a share of the 

 o|x;ning markets of the world. This is a (act that British steel- 

 makers may ])erhaps look on not altogether with satisfaction ; 

 but it is incritaUe. Only by increased exertion can British 

 manufacturers maintain their (Hisition in the markets of the 

 world ; but there is one point, however, worthy of attention. 

 If kussLi is alx)ut to start many steel works, large quantities of 

 plant and machinery \\ill l>e required. It is proposed that the 

 Institute shall next year hold its summer meeting in Russia. 

 The suggestion is a bold one, but is worthy of consideration, for 

 it is only liy pushing abioad that steel makers can hope to keep 

 abreast of the times. The days are |>ast when the manufacture 

 of iron and steel was almost entirely centred in England. Now 

 there are works all over the world, under intelligent and scientific 

 management. It is unreasonable to expect that we, in Kng- 

 land, will continue to originate all new and valuable processes, 

 and it is well, therefore, that Knglish manufacturers should go 

 abroad to reap the advantages of foreign research and practice ; 

 just as foreign manufacturers have in times past, and are still, 

 reaping the advantage of Knglish experience and study. 



The reading and discussion of the above four papers con- 

 stituted the business of the first sitting. The afternoon of that 

 day — Tuesday, the 20th inst. — w.is devoted to visits to works. 

 One party priKcedcd to the Staffordshire Steel and Ingot Iron 

 Company's establishment at Bilston, where the operations of 

 rolling sections and plates were witnessed. A large c|uantity of 

 l>asic steel is produced at the.se works ; and the method of deal- 

 ing with the iKLsic slag, which is largely used for agricultural 

 purposes, w.as inspected with interest by the members, .\nother 

 l»rty xisiled the Klectric Cfmstrjction Com|)any's works at 

 Wolverhampton ; whilst, again, others distributed themselves 

 amongst various works in Birmingham. 



On assembling again on We<lnesday mfirning the first paper 

 taken was that contributed by Prof. Ilarley, on the thermo- 

 chemistry of the Bessemer process. This was an exceedingly 

 interesting |>apcr, which those engaged in subjects of this 

 nature wouUl do well to read in full in the Trail sad ion i of the 

 Institute. The author commenced by saying that the flame 

 i.ssuing from the mouth of a Bes.semer converter w.as first inves- 

 tigated by .Sir Ilcnry Roscoe in 1S63 (see Manchester Literary 

 M\>\ I'liiln,ophical Society's ProteeJiiigs, vol. iii. p. 57, and 

 / :! Magazine, vol. xxxiv. p. 437); by Leilcgg (sec 



lile Kaiseil. AkaJemie der M'isscnsthaflcn, Wicn, 

 V .1. Ii. part ii.); and by M.arshall Watts in 1867 (see Philo- 

 iophital Mai;azint, vol. xxxiv. p. 437) ; by Tunner(see Dingler's 



/■ '■ ' '■•• ' ' ' ■ ' rlsxviii. p. 465): byj. .M.Silliman 



I 7, vol. xli. p. I );by von I.ichlenfels 



Journal, vol. cxci. p. 213) ; by 



il Nrws, vol. xxii. p. 25) ; by Ku])cl- 



Zeitsfhrift fiir Hcrg-iind Hiillcnuu-sen, 



I. ibOSj ; by Brunncr and Wedding in 1868 (see 



iiir das ]{cri;-Hiilt(n-iind SalinrnwiSin im /•reiis- 



' - ii. p. 117, 1869): and also by .\. (Ireiner 



' •••iridic dfs Minn, vol. xxxv. p. O23). 



I , ihe nature of the spectrum, the cause of 



its pr' n disappearance when decarburisation of 



the III . and Ihe conneclicm between Ihe dc- 



carburivitr.il i.l i!n iiielal and the extinction of ihe spectrum, 



have not l<ecn s.iti«f.uioriIy cxpLained. According to Roscoe, 



NO. 1348, VOL. 52] 



Leilegg, Kupelwieser, and Spear Parker, the spectrum is 

 characterised by bands of carlwn or of carbon monoxide, which 

 disa])pear when all the carbon is burnt out of the metal. CJn 

 the other hand, Simmler, Brunner, von Lichtenfels, and Wedding 

 hold that the six-ctrum is not due to carbon, or to carbon mon- 

 oxide, but to manganese and other elements in pig iron. Dr. 

 Marshall Walts had come 10 llie conclusion that it was not the 

 spectrum of cijrbon in any form, nor of manganese, but that of 

 manganetic oxide. Leilegg proved that carbon monoxide yields 

 a continuous siwctrum, which causes the bright siwctrum of the 

 Bessemer flame ; but he also attributed certain lines, or tends, 

 to the high temperature of the carbon monoxide. Mar,shall 

 Watts established the fact that six lines of the S]iectrum of iron 

 were jiresent in the Bessemer spectrum ; tireiner observed in 

 flame from highly manganiferous pig iron the sjiectrum of 

 manganese. The author concluded this |xjrt of his paper by 

 pointing out the fact that notwithstanding the great .advance 

 which has been made in spectroscopy during the last twenty 

 years, our knowledge of flame sjieclra has remained almost 

 stationary, although much attention has been directed to the 

 spectra of the elements as we obtain them at higher temperatures 

 by vapourising substances in the electric arc, and by the irans- 

 mis,sion of electric sparks. 



Prof. Hartley next proceeded to describe a method of ac- 

 curately investigating the Bessemer flame. He pointed out that 

 the determination of wave-length of lines and bands by eye 

 observation only, with instruments of the usual form, islalwrious 

 under the most advantageous conditions, but it is especially so 

 when the spectra are constantly changing : and it becomes 

 practically impossible when the lines anil bands to be measured 

 are in the ultra-violet. S|H;ctra which are recorded by photo- 

 graphy are ca|xible of being more accurately measured at leisure 

 by very simple means ; moreover, they constitute a permanent 

 record ; and for accurate observations, determinations of wave- 

 lengths are absolutely essential. The author next went on to 

 describe a modification of the instrument he ha<l originally 

 designed for this purpose. This is described in the Prouiiiin;^ 

 of the Royal Dublin Society, and also in Thorpe's " Dictionary 

 of .-Xpplied Chemistry,"' article " Spectroscope." This instrument 

 wiis especially designed for use in steel work, particularly for 

 studying the spectra of flames and heated gases of open hearth 

 furnaces. It w.as therefore desirable that it should give a fair 

 amount of dispersion at the less refrangible end of the spectrum. 

 A train of four quartz jn'isms was at first arranged, and a camera 

 was lilted with a rack and ]iinion movement to the frame hold- 

 ing the dark slide, so that as many as thirty spectra could be 

 photographed on one jilate. The stand, however, was found to 

 be too light. Instead of four quartz prisms, a single jirism of 

 calcite may be employed if the surfaces are well protected from 

 dust ; Ihe prism table was fixed so thai it could be jilaceil in 

 almost any required position. The camera was of metal with 

 an eyepiece behind the frame for the dark slide, so as lo make 

 it available for visual observation. In a circular box at Ihe end 

 of the camera, which was reducetl in size, the dark slide can be 

 fixed at any angle, as it is rotated by means of a toothed wheel. 

 The prisms move automatically svith the camera, and in order 

 to secure the minimum angle of deviation lo the mean rays 

 photographed there is a condensing lens of 3-inch focus. There 

 IS a slit plate, covered with ihin quarlz lo exclude dust and 

 din, anil upon Ihis the image of ihe flame w.is projecle<l. \ 

 metal plate, with a V-shaped piece cut out at one end. slides 

 over the slit plate, and serves to shorten or lengthen the slit and 

 secure a greater or smaller number of spectra on one photo- 

 graphic plate. In some cases a photograph w,is taken every 

 half-minule, from the commencement to Ihe lerminatiim of ihe 

 " blow." 'I'his could be .accomplished only by the use of llie 

 arrangement described, as the plates were no more than 3 inches 

 by 2j inches. The instrument was focussed by a jihotograph of 

 sun s|)ectra. 



The author also described an ingenious arrangement consist- 

 ing of yellow cloth, with armholes and .sleeves fitted with 

 clastic, by means of which he carried on development of ihe 

 photographs without use of a dark room. By this a)>paraUis il 

 was shown that a large number of lines in the spectrum of the 

 Bessemer flame were coincident with lines in the solar spectrum, 

 an<l Ihe jxisilion of the lines and edges of hands with respect to 

 the sixlium line was recorded, being measured with a micro- 

 meter .screw and microscope. Kniargements were m.ide in 

 which the s|)cctra were m.agnified ten diameters. Several inler- 

 |x>lnlion curves were drawn by which linear measurements were 



