162 [Assembly 



which will compel its use, aUhough the cost may be somewhat greater 

 than the' poorer qualities of foreign iron with which our market is 

 constantly inundated. In the construction of important machinery, 

 and particularly ocean steamers, where every thing depends on the 

 quality and perfection of the materials used j where immense amounts 

 of property, and, more than all, thousands of valuable lives, are 

 some times made dependent on the strength of a piston-rod, cross- 

 head, a shaft, a bolt, or a bar of iron ; it would seem to be necessary 

 that contracts should now cease to designate that article as of two 

 qualities only, " cast iron" and " wrought iron," and that the work 

 should be placed under the constant hourly supervision of qualified, 

 practical, and reliable judges of the material, so that nothing but the 

 best should be permitted to enter into the construction, regardless of 

 its cost. 



There are several mines in our country which have been long 

 worked, producing iron of the very best quality ; specimens of which, 

 we regret to say, were not shown at our recent Fair, and consequently 

 (!o not come under particular review. 



STEEL. 



This is one of the most important materials known. In prosecut- 

 ing the mechanic arts, it is indispensable, for without it, advancement 

 to any very great extent would have been impracticable. It is a 

 combination of iron and carbon, the relative proportions of which are 

 supposed to vary in the different qualities of steel. The quantity of 

 carbon which unites with the iron in the process of conversion, has 

 not with certainty been ascertained. It is estimated not to exceed 

 in any case two per cent. Steel must have been known at a ver}' 

 early period ; it is mentioned in the sacred volume, 11. Sam. xxii. 35 : 

 Jeremiah xv. 12 ; and Job xx. 24. " He shall Jlee from the iron luea 

 pon^ and the bow of sted slmll strike him, through.''^ Dr. F. Hoefer, 

 in his " History of Chemistry from the most remote tim.es ^ says, " the 

 East Indians were for a long period renowned for the temper of their 

 ^teel. The whole world was heard to speak of the excellence of it 



