May 11, 1899] 
endothermic combinations take place at a high temperature, 
the possible action of hydrogen as a decarburiser will be dwelt 
upon. Prof. Noel Hartley’s papers upon the thermo-chem- 
istry of the Bessemer process will be read with much interest, 
Surprise will, however, be widely felt that physicists generally 
of the last half of the nineteenth century did not see in the 
lovely flames of lilac, amethyst, gold, and russet, or in the ‘stars 
suspended ina flying sphere of turbulent light” which come from 
the converter, an appeal to fully investigate their cause and to 
study the dynamic problems presented by the intense heat en- 
gendered. Why was not the destination ascertained of the 
1000 cubic feet of argon which accompanies the air passing 
through the metal during an ordinary Bessemer 10-ton blow? 
Why were not more strenuous efforts made to ascertain the 
effect of the temperature of the bath on the nature of the metal ? 
It will be felt that, as the eighteenth century had closed with 
a clear statement as to the true nature of oxidation, the nine- 
teenth century had seen its magnificent application in the 
Bessemer process. 
As regards the work of Mushet, future generations will, I 
believe, desire to add nothing to the words of the President 
of this Institution who, in 1875, had the pleasure of awarding 
the Bessemer Medal to him. Mr. Menelaus then said ‘‘ that 
the application of spiegeleisen . . . was one of the most 
elegant as it certainly was one of the most useful inventions ever 
made in the whole history of metallurgy.” 
Attention must now be directed to the great process for the 
production of steel which involved the use of the ‘‘open 
hearth.” 
Sir William Siemens’ life was one long and ultimately bnil- 
liantly successful effort to apply the kinetic theory of gases and 
the dynamical theory of heat to industrial practice. He was 
eminently a practical worker ; but the depth andaccuracy of his 
scientific knowledge gives him a place near that of all the great 
atomists from the time of Lucretius to that of our own country- 
men, Graham, Joule, Clerk Maxwell, and Kelvin. In many 
of Siemens’ papers, theory and practice are closely blended. 
In viewing the results of his labours, it will be seen in future 
ages that confidence in the trustworthy character of steel was 
finally established by experiments on metal produced in the 
regenerative furnace of Siemens. Looking back, it is astonish- 
ing with what difficulties the use of steel for structural purposes 
was beset. In 1859 Sir John Hawkshaw was not permitted by 
the regulations of the Board of Trade to employ steel in the 
construction of the Charing Cross bridge. Time will not permit 
me to indicate the efforts which were made to induce the Board 
of Trade to remove the serious hindrances to the use of steel, 
which had ‘‘ rendered the construction of the projected bridge 
over the Firth of Forth practically impossible.”” These efforts 
were not successful until 1877, when a committee, consisting of 
Sir John Hawkshaw, Colonel Yolland, and Mr. W. H. Barlow, 
were able to recommend that the employment of steel in en- 
gineering structures should be authorised by the Board of Trade. 
The steel employed was to be ‘‘ cast steel, or steel made by some 
process of fusion, subsequently rolled or hammered” ; one con- 
dition of such recommendation being that ‘‘ the greatest load 
which can be brought upon the bridge or structure, added to 
the weight of the superstructure, should not produce a greater 
strain in any part than 64 tons per square inch.” 
As regards the use of steel for shipbuilding purposes, in 
the year 1875 Sir Nathaniel Barnaby asked, ‘‘ What are our 
prospects of obtaining a material which we can use without 
such delicate manipulation, and so much fear and trembling ?” 
He partly answered his own question four years later, when he 
quoted experimental evidence as to ‘‘the recent successes” of 
open-hearth steel. In 1890 he completed the case by pointing 
out that naval architects now ‘‘ have a perfectly regular material, 
stronger and more ductile” than iron, and he speaks of ‘‘ our 
lasting debt of gratitude for the birth and training of that true 
prince, William Siemens.” It is hardly necessary to point 
out that the country owes the excellent materials used in naval 
architecture mainly to the productions of the regenerative 
furnace. 
In connection with the production of mild steel, the addition 
of ferro-manganese to the decarburised bath proved to be most 
effective. We can hardly over-estimate our indebtedness to those 
whose perseverance ensured the adoption of mild steel for mari- 
time and other purposes. ‘‘ Looked at from the standpoint of 
to-day, when thousands of tons of such steel are made weekly 
without serious anxiety or trouble, it is scarcely possible to 
NO. 1541, VOL. 60] 
WATORE 
41 
realise the anxieties and difficulties of the days when the manu- 
facture of open-hearth steel was being perfected.” To no one 
is our debt greater than to our Vice-President, Mr. James Riley, 
who bore a large share of the anxieties of the early days, and 
whose words are those I have just quoted. 
With regard to the great modifications which have been 
effected in the Bessemer and open-hearth processes, reference 
must be made to that ample source of information, our Fowrnal. 
It must also be consulted for the history of the appliances for 
heating the blast, with which the names of Cowper and of 
Whitwell will always be specially connected. 
In speaking of Bessemer and Siemens I have been obliged to 
depart somewhat from strict chronological order. I must now 
resume it. 
In the year 1866 Graham’s first paper on the occlusion of 
gases by metals was published in the Phz/osophical Transactions. 
Its results have been far-reaching, and will always be ranged 
with the metallurgical triumphs of the century. 
In the year 1869 our Institute was founded. In view of 
certain aspects of the treatment which inventors had previously 
received from their industrial brethren and from the country, 
it will be evident that the time for its formation had fully 
come. Taking instances almost at random, I may remind 
you that Dud Dudley was, as he says, ‘‘ with lawsuits and 
riots wearied and disabled’’ in the seventeenth century, and 
that Henry Cort was neglected and oppressed in the eighteenth. 
The great invention of iron bottoms in the puddling-furnace made 
by Rogers was received with ridicule, and he died in poverty. 
Popular tradition of Sheffield indicates that possession was 
obtained of Huntsman’s secret ‘‘ by the heartless trick of a 
rival.” Neilson, though he warmly acknowledges the support 
he received from certain ironmasters, was treated with singular 
meanness by others. Heath fought single-handed for fifteen 
years ‘‘ against a common purse, the accumulation of the wealth 
which he had created.” Even Bessemer’s early statements 
were received with incredulity and contempt. With the form- 
ation of our Institute all this is changed : men place the results 
of their work and experience freely at the disposal of their 
brethren, and each fresh advance meets with appreciative con- 
sideration. ‘‘ Vigorous moderateness,” wrote the late Walter 
Bagehot, ‘‘is the rule of a polity which works by discussion. 
. . It was government by discussion that broke the bond of 
ages and set free the originality of mankind.” 
{It was then pointed out, that the history of the iron and 
steel industry since the formation of this Institute was epitomised 
by the labours of those who had occupied the presidential 
chair. The President, therefore, gave a brief sketch of the work 
done either by the successive Presidents of the Institute, or 
during their respective terms of office. ] 
The address then continues as follows: This concludes the 
list of those who have hitherto presided over the Institute, and 
it will have been evident that from time to time other interests 
than those connected with iron and steel have been represented 
by your Presidents. We were reminded of this fact when the 
Institute first met, now twenty-four years ago, at Manchester, 
where we are promised a delightful meeting again next autumn. 
The Bishop of that great city then welcomed us by a quotation 
from Virgil, which connects the age of iron with the age of gold. 
The passage runs thus :— 
“quo ferrea primum 
Desinet ac toto surget gens aurea mundo.” 
A President of this Institute who has had the privilege to 
serve in the Mint, ina sense connects the iron and the golden 
age. I find that during the course of a long official career I have 
been responsible for the standard fineness of over one hundred 
and twenty-one millions of gold coin. This sum is so vast, and 
the anxiety connected with it has been at times so great, that I 
am not careful to conceal the pride revealed by this reference to 
it, as it is an exponent of the financial greatness of the nation 
which created the age of steel. But I value as highly the means 
of conducting research and the hope of being useful, which was 
also given me by the Government when I was appointed Pro- 
fessor of Metallurgy at the Royal School of Mines. I have in 
the discharge of my duties persistently striven to show that what 
is called applied science is nothing but the application of pure 
science to particular classes of problems. 
I regret that space will not permit me to censider the pro- 
gress of the century as measured by the work of our Bessemer 
medallists. I hope, however, as regards the labours of the 
foreign recipients of the honour, to deal with them next spring. 
