628 TRANSACTIONS OP THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



nectionwith the oxyde of iron, by using oxydes of chromium, tung-sten, 

 or titanium for produciug hard steel, or by simply increasing the oxj^de of 

 iron and wrought iron for making soft steel. The apparatus used in the 

 process was also explained, and that portion designed to economize heat by 

 passing it successively around a series of crucibles was illustrated by dia- 

 grams on the blackboard. It was stated that the whole cost of making 

 steel by this process is seven cents per pound. 



In the course of his remarks upon the steel process, the Professor de- 

 scribed an experiment made in Paris. It was found that when iron nails 

 are heated to a white heat in a crucible, and the oxyde of iron was poured 

 upon them, the iron was melted into a button. 



An application of magnetism in the formation of steel as a part of the 

 new process was also explained. When the steel is poured into a flask an 

 electro-magnet is placed upon its side, with one hole at the top and one at 

 the bottom of the flask. The current then passes through the molten iron, 

 and by this operation the molecules of steel place themselves in perpen- 

 dicular lines. By this means the position of the molecules can be varied 

 relatively to suit any particular case. For instance, if a screw is to be 

 formed, the crystal ization can be made to correspond to it. 



The Chairman remarked that the use of the oxyde of iron in combination 

 with cast and wrought iron, ill the process just described, is not new. The 

 same combination had been made by a member of this Institute several 

 years ago. 



No discussion followed upon the feasibility of the method described, the 

 members generally having previously expressed the opinion, that less is 

 known about the forces controlling the formation of steel, than concerning 

 those applied in any other department of manufactures. 



Mr. Fleury then directed attention to the subject of 



Iron. 



We find that in the American iron there is a large percentage of silicon. 

 It is usual to attribute the "cold-shortness" of iron to the presence of 

 phosphorus, but it is, in fact, owing to the presence of silicon. We have 

 in chemistry some substances which have a great affinity to silica; among 

 these is fluor-spar — a very small percentage of this substance causes the 

 silica to disappear in the manufacture of iron. Fluor-spar is used in Eng- 

 lish iron furnaces, and the speaker thought it was also used in the cele- 

 brated manufactory of Krupp, in Prussia, as the specimen which was 

 analyzed by him was almost entirely free from silica. Another substance 

 used for the purpose of abstracting the sulphur from iron is the barita — 

 the oxide of barium — which unites with the sulphur forming the sulphide 

 of barium. In the process of making steel, we mix charcoal and a small 

 percentage of fluor-spar with some carbonate of lime — not burned lime. 

 Some iron-masters do not seem to understand the effect of magnesian lime- 

 stone which also produces the cold-short iron. Some of the rails made 

 from this iron were_found to be filled with small holes. The speaker said 

 he had found a large percentage of iron in the cinders of furnaces, thou- 

 sands of tons of which are thrown away. He had made more than a 



