

IRON. 



just observe here, that, according to Mr. 

 Mushet, of the Calder iron-works, who 

 has investigated the subject very exten- 

 sively in the large way, soft cast steel, 

 capable of welding, contains 1 one-hun- 

 dred and twentieth of carbon, common 

 cast steel 1 one-hnndreth, cast steel of 

 a harder kind 1 ninety-sixth, steel too 

 hard for drawing one-fiftieth, white cast 

 iron one-twenty-fifth, melted cast iron one- 

 twentieth, black cast iron one-fifteenth. 

 He conceives, however, that in steel the 

 carbon is more intimately united with the 

 iron. When iron is saturated with car- 

 bon, it becomes what is commonly called 

 plumbago. 



Iron unites with gold, silver, and pla- 

 tina. When heated to a white heat, and 

 plunged in mercury, it becomes covered 

 with a coating of that metal. Long tri- 

 turation of mercurial amalgams likewise 

 causes a coating to adhere to the ends 

 of iron pestles ; small steel springs, kept 

 plunged beneath the surface of mercury 

 in certain barometers, become brittle in 

 process of time ; and the direct combina- 

 tion of iron and mercury in the form of 

 an amalgam may be obtained, according 

 to Vogel, by triturating the filings with 

 twice their weight of alum, then adding 

 an equal weight or more of mercury, and 

 continuing the friction, with a very small 

 quantity of water, till the union is com- 

 pleted. Mr. A. Aikin unites an amalgam 

 of zinc and mercury with iron filings, and 

 then adds muriate of iron, when a decom- 

 position takes place, the muriatic acid 

 combining with the zinc, and the amal- 

 gam of iron and mercury assuming the 

 metallic lustre by* kneading, assisted with 

 heat. Iron and tin very readily unite 

 together, as is seen in the art of tinning 

 iron vessels, and in the fabrication of 

 those useful plates of iron, coated with 

 tin, which are generally distinguished by 

 the simple name of tin alone. The chief 

 art of applying these coatings of tin con- 

 sists in defending the metals from oxida- 

 tion by the excess of air. After the iron 

 plates are scraped,or rendered very clean 

 by scouring with an acid, they are wetted 

 with a solution of sal ammoniac, and 

 plunged into a vessel containing melted 

 tin, the surface of which is covered with 

 pitch or tallow, to preserve it from oxy- 

 dation. The tin adheres to, and intimate- 

 ly combines with, the iron to a certain 

 depth, which renders the tinned plates 

 less disposed to harden by hammering 

 than before ; as well as much less dis- 

 posed to alter by the united action of air 

 and moisture. The process for tinning 



iron vessels does not essentially differ" 

 from that which has already been de- 

 scribed for copper vessels. Iron does not 

 unite easily with bismuth, at least in the 

 direct way. This alloy is brittle, and at- 

 tractable by the magnet, even with three 

 fourths of bismuth. As nickel cannot be 

 purified from iron without the greatest 

 difficulty, it may be presumed that these 

 substances weuld readily unite, if the ex- 

 treme infusibility of both did not present 

 an obstacle to the chemical operator. 

 Arsenic forms a brittle substance in its 

 combination with iron. Cobalt forms a 

 hard mixture with iron, which is not easi- 

 ly broken. The inflammability and vola- 

 tility of zinc present an obstacle to its 

 combination with iron. It is not improba- 

 ble, however, but that clean iron filings 

 would unite with zinc, if that metal were 

 kept in contact with them for a certain 

 time, in a heat not sufficient to cause it 

 to rise ; for it has been found, that zinc 

 may be used in the operation of coating 

 iron in the same manner as tin. Anti- 

 mony unites with iron, and forms a hard 

 brittle combination, which yields in a 

 slight degree to the hammer. The sul- 

 phuret of antimony is decomposed by vir- 

 tue of the greater affinity of the iron to 

 the sulphur. For this purpose,five ounces 

 of the points of nails from the farriers 

 may be made red hot in a crucible, one 

 pound of pulverized ore of antimony must 

 then be thrown into the crucible, and the 

 heat quickly raised to fuse the whole. 

 When the fusion is perfect, an ounce of 

 nitre in powder may be thrown in, to 

 facilitate the separation of the scoriae. 

 After the mass is cooled, the antimony is 

 found separate at the bottom of the cru- 

 ciblej while the iron remains in combina- 

 tion with the sulphur and alkali. If the 

 proportion of the iron be considerably 

 greater than five ounces to the pound of 

 ore, the antimony will be alloyed with 

 iron. Manganese is almost always united 

 with iron in the native state. Tungsten 

 forms a brittle,whitish-brown, hard alloy, 

 of a compact texture, when fused with 

 white crude iron. The habitudes of iron 

 with molybdena are not known. 



Iron is the most diffused, and the most 

 abundant, of metallic substances. Few 

 mineral bodies or stones are without an 

 admixture of this metal. Sands, clays, 

 and the waters of rivers, springs, rain, or 

 snow, are scarcely ever perfectly free 

 from it. The, parts of animal and vege- 

 table substanceslikewise afford iron in the 

 residues they leave after incineration. It 

 has been found native, in large masses, in 



