On the Blast Furnace in the Manufacture of Iron. 97 
wood at the furnace ‘of Bievres (Ardennes); in which he states 
that twice the quantity of charcoal is obtained by treating the 
wood after his method, than by the ordinary way of burning in 
the woods. By the heat lost from the furnace, 100 parts of wood 
gave 35 of charcoal, and from 40 to 45 of charcoal roua (half 
burnt wood). 
_ But after all, it is not to those who first applied this lost heat 
to economical purposes, that we are indebted for the practical in- 
formation that is now in our possession; for had they made their 
arrangements so as to exhibit an undisputed advantage arising out 
of its adoption, it would not have been so tardy in its progress. 
~ It isto M. de Faber Dufaur, superintendent of the iron works at 
Wasseralfingen i in the kingdom of Wurtemburg, that most of the 
credit is due for the present method of converting pig into wrought 
iron, by using and burning the gases that escape from the mouth 
of the blast furnace. The best idea that can be given of the 
manner in which the operations are conducted in the above works, 
and the advantages accruing therefrom, is contained in the fol- 
lowing short extract from a letter written by M. Grouvelle to M. 
Dumas.* 
St if ‘The establishment at MapereaMiaigen is supplied with ore,. 
ditso-Giuthe of which is a hydrated oxide of iron, and the other 
fourth is an ore in grains. The influence of the first species of 
ore gave to the pig so bad a quality that it was used altogether 
for castings. M. Dufaur, by his processes, without altering the 
operations of the blast furnace, now obtains from the Pig: a wrought 
_ iron of superior quality. 
» “The first gas furnace put in viento by him was a refining 
- furnace, into which the pig metal was run as it issued from the 
blast farnsve, where the refining was executed with the air of the 
hot blast. From this the most beautiful results were obtained, 
and it worked regularly during the year 1837. In 1838 he erect- 
eda puddling furnace ; and finally in 1839 he completed his mag- 
nificent system for suk fabrication “9 iron, by constructing a fur- 
nace for re-heating and welding.” — 
At Wasseralfingen there are now ¢-tumed out annually, one 
million pounds of wrought: iron in various forms, made in these 
new furnaces, and owing to the deficiency of moving power, all 
the pig cannot be worked up. ‘This operation of refining iron 
Re sree aedieh conan alae tal ere 
* Comptes Rendus, 1841, p. 382. 
Srcoxp Gineie, Vol. II, No. 4.—July, 1846. 13 
