Miscellaneous Intelligence. 293 
and foreign iron is now only imported for the manufacture of steel. 
ur exports, on the contrary, have so increased as to become an object 
of national importance.—- 
n 1827 we exported 92,313 tons, declared value, . . £1,215,561. 
In 1845 Mo ¢ SL QIB: 0.4 Siegen oh ad OD, SOB 
The increase of our exports appears to be contingent on a reduction of 
Price, and must, therefore, be materially affected by variations in the 
Cost of production. Should the new railways stimulate a much larger 
Production of iron, the quantity produced will greatly exceed the de- 
mand so soon as those railways are completed, and then prices will fall, 
perhaps to a lower point than has ever yet been witnessed. This will, 
probably, cause iron to be applied to many new purposes, and particu- 
larly to. the construction. of ships, fire-proof houses, and frame-work 
for exports to new settlements. All this, however, must be t 
work of time; and it seems but too probable that, in the meanwhile, 
our iron-masters will have to undergo a somewhat lengthened season 
of adversity, —for the enduring of which they are, in a measure, pre- 
pared, from former experience. 2 
8. On Plate Glass. making in England in 1846, contrasted with 
what it was in 1827; by Mr. H. Howaxp, (Proc. Brit. Assoc., from 
Athen., Sept. 19, No. 986.)—The writer furnished carefully all the ma- 
terials for establishing this comparison. Amongst other results he sta- 
ted, that in 1827 plate glass was sold for about 12s. average per foot, to 
the extent of about 5,000 feet per week; in 1835, for from 8s. to 9s. 
Per foot, to the extent of about 7,000 feet ; in 1844, for from 6s. to 7s. 
Per foot reaching about 23,000 feet; and in 1846, for from 5s. to 6s., 
about 40.000 feet per week. ‘The sale is now about 45,000 feet 
weekly. He mentioned that, in 1829, a plate glass manufactory ceas- 
this extrao spite of the severity of excise restrictions, 
the author asks, what would be the probable demand if the price were 
uced to 4s, * r foot--which, free as the trade now is from 
excise interference, would yield an ample profit? 
9. A Review of the Mines and Mining re of Belgium; by 
