AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 435 



Mr. Johnson. — Mr. Eddy, the manager of the Damascus Steel Company 

 Works, 47th street, New York, informs me that he invariably obtains per- 

 fect ingots of cast steel, by the Neville process, and of greater weight than 

 the combined materials used to produce the ingot, even taking into account 

 the carbon yielded by the blacklead pots which he uses. Mr. Johnson 

 could suggest but one other source whence material could be obtained to 

 produce this result, viz : the atmosphere yielding nitrogen. 



Mr. Tillman instanced Mr. Dixon's process for converting cast iron into 

 cast steel by the continued action of heat, a portion of the carbon being 

 consumed, and so passing off from the cast iron, leaving it converted into 

 steel. 



Dr. Vanderweyde gave as a reason why the English manufacturers 

 should make the best steel, that they have obtained the exclusive owner- 

 ship of the best iron in the world, viz : that of Dannemora, in Sweden. 



Mr. Coryelle. — Nevertheless, these manufacturers have to exercise great 

 care, skill and judgment, to pi'oduce steel of anything like uniform quality. 



Mr. Stetson. — England is peculiarly fortunate in her climate, and in 

 possessing an abundance of skilled labor, iron, &c.; but she is unfortunate 

 in the quality of iron she possesses. 



Dr. Vanderweyde. — The English steel is uniform, because it is made 

 from the iron of uniform quality which I mentioned. 



Mr. Stetson. — The Dr. is correct, but still, in this country we possess as 

 good iron as the Dannemora, yet we fail to make good bteel because we do 

 not manufacture on a sufficiently large scale. In the great works of Eng- 

 land, experts are always on hand to direct the manufacture, hence success 

 follows. 



Mr. Butler. — With a proper assay office and skilled workmen, superin- 

 tended by a thorough chemist, we wouM doubtless obtain valuable practi- 

 cal results from experiments on the making of steel. In England their 

 processes are stereotyped, and they laugh at our " five minute process." 

 We make steel, however, and good steel too ; and, when the refining pro- 

 cess is well understood, poor steel w'ill become the exception, not the rule. 

 About thirty years ago a lot of steel was made which proved valueless, and 

 was laid away and almost forgotten. Subsequently, however, it was 

 reworked and proved to be a very superior steel. Was not this effect pro- 

 duced by a molecular change ? I believe it was. Docs iron improve by 

 age ? and if so, what is the nature of the change ? By which is the color 

 of iron produced, chemical or mechanical action ? Some iron will case- 

 harden, other iron will not case-harden uniformly. What is the reason 

 for this ? 



Mr. Seeley. — I regard quickness as highly objectionable in a process of 

 this kind. We want to know the raw material to be operated upon and 

 any such material, if it contains sulphur, must be rejected. We can ascer- 

 tain with sufficient certainty what impurities are in the ore by testing it 

 in the laboratory. The facts related by Dr. Vanderweyde in relation to 

 the Dannemora iron and the importance of its purity for the purpose of 



