Sept 27, 1877] 



NATURE 



469 



descriptions of ores, and Kirkaldy's tests of the mechanical 

 properties of the iron ; but it should be understood that these 

 tests were taken with a view rather to test various modes of 

 manufacture than to show high results. Only a small proportion 

 of the samples had been subjected to the refinery process, and 

 the variable percentage of phosphorus may be taken really as 

 indicative of the extent to which the cinder had been removed 

 from the metal. 



Another table gives the analysis of slags produced in the procesp. 

 These are, no doubt, rich in iron, but it mu^t be remembered 

 that in the case of comparatively pure ore they c?n be used 

 almost entirely in succeeding charges, and that in the case of 

 ores containing much sulphur and phosphorus they are the 

 recipients of those impurities — in the same way as the puddling 

 cinder carries off the same impurities in the puddling farnace — 

 and thus serve .a useful end. 



If rich cre.=, such as hematites, are available, it is more 

 advantageous to use a stationary furnace and to modify the pro- 

 cess as follows : — 



A mixture of pulverulent ore mixed with a suitable proportion of 

 fluxing materials and reducing agent is prepared, and from four to 

 five Ions of it is charged from a charging platform into the heated 

 chamber to the depth of some twelve to fifteen inches. But before 

 charging the mixture some coke dust or anthracite powder is 

 spread over the bottom and sides of the chamber to protect 

 the silica lining of the same. The heat of the furnace is there- 

 upon raised to a full welding heat, care being taken that the 

 flame is as little oxidising as possible. The result is a powerful 

 superficial action upon the mixture or batch, causing simultaneous 

 reduction of the ore and fusion of the earthy constituents. In 

 the course of two hours a thick skin of malleable iron is formed 

 all over the surface of the mixture, which, on being withdrawn 

 by means of hooks, is consolidated and cleared of cinder under 

 a hammer, and rolled out in the same heat into rough sheets or 

 bars, to be cut up and finished in the refinery furnace or charcoal 

 hearth. Une skin being remove^, the furnace is closed again, 

 and in the course of an hour and a half another skin is formed, 

 which, in its turn, is removed and shingled, and so on until, 

 after three or four removals, the furnace charge is nearly 

 exhausted. A fresh charge is then added, and the same operation 

 continued. Once every twelve hours the furnace should, however, 

 be cleared entirely, and the furnace lining be repaired all round. 



The shingled metal so produced forms an excellent meltin;; 

 mater al for the open-hearth or Siemens-Martin process ; but if 

 ores both rich and free from sulphur and phosphorus are used, 

 together with roll and hammer scale, which forms an admirable 

 admixture, I simplify the process still further in causing the 

 fusion to take place in the reducing furnace. 



The furnace having been charged with say five tons of 

 batch, the heat is allowed to ply on it for four or five hours, when 

 about two tons of hematite pig iron are charged upon the sur- 

 face by preference in a heated condition. The pig metal on 

 melting constitutes a bath on the surface of the thick metallic 

 skin previously formed, and gradually dissolves it on the surface 

 while it is forming afresh below, and in the course of from three 

 to four hours the who^e of the materials charged are rendered 

 fluid, consisting of a metallic hath with a small percentage of 

 carbon, covered with a glassy slag containing about 15 per cent. 

 only of metalhc iron. The carbon of the bath is thereupon 

 brought down to the desired pomt of only about i per cent, of 

 carbon and spiegeleisen or ferro-marganese is added, and the 

 metal tapped in the usual manner. By these means the direct 

 process of making cast steel is carried to a further limit than I 

 have been able to accomplish before, and no difficulty has pre- 

 sented itself in carrying it into effect. The steel so produced is 

 equal in quality to that produced by the open hearth process as 

 now practised. It light scrap, such as iron and steel turnings or 

 sheerings, are available, these may be mixed with advantage with 

 the batch to increase the vieldof metal. 



These are, in short, the more recent improvements in the 

 direct process of producing iron and steel which I have been 

 able to effect, and which I should have been glad to lay before 

 the Iron and Steel Institute in a more complete form than I am 

 able to do at the present time. 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIA TION A T 



NASHVILLE 



A S we have said already, while the Nashville Meeting of the 



■^*- American Associatiun could not be called a brilliant one, 



most of the papers read were of substantial importance, and 



show that a large amount of valuable scientific work is being 

 carried on in the United States. The number of visitors does 

 not appear to have been up to the usual mark, mainly, we believe, 

 on account of the great heat which prevailed at Nashville, but 

 among those present were many of the most prominent men of 

 science in America. The reception by the authorities of the 

 State and city was all that could be desired, and the arrange- 

 ments as to excursions, entertainments, and public lectures were 

 in every way satisfactory. 



The Western Union Telegraph Company, which has a 

 Telegraphic Station in the building where the Association met, 

 ter.dered the use of its wires free for all members so far as related 

 to domestic affairs. 



It is customary at the meetings of the American Association 

 for each of the vice-presidents to give a public lecture ; we give 

 a long abstract of the lecture by Prof. O. C. Marsh, the im- 

 portance of which cannot be overrated. We have already 

 referred briefly to Prof Pickering's paper on the Endowment of 

 Research. The first obstacle encountered, he said, was the opinion 

 widely maintained, even by scientific men, that the original 

 research of a country was natural, and that it was useless to try 

 to force it. We might as well say that music and art were 

 natural growths. What should we have of ancient art were it 

 not for the encouragement of many ancient rulers ? In later 

 dajs how would art and literature have thrived had it not been 

 for the support of the public in purchasing books, &c. With 

 the man of science it was different. There was generally little or 

 no pecuniary reward for his success. The consequence was he 

 was obliged to engage in some other occupation, generally 

 teaching, which still allowed a little time for research. If these 

 same men were allowed to devote their entire energies to 

 investigation, and were ?idtd by the necessary appliances, far 

 more would be accomplished. The solution of the matter was 

 organisation, the carryirrg out of a plan by whicii researches 

 should be rendered as systematic as the process of mechanical 

 arts. They had first tlie munificent bequest of one of the first 

 presidents of the Association. The inc )me of the Baclie fund 

 amounted to 2,000 dols. or 3,000 dols. Second was the 

 Rumford fund, originally intended for giving medals in light 

 and heat, but now largely apphed to aiding investigation in 

 these sciences. Besides these were many indirect aids , 

 The paper then gave a plan of an in titution for making 

 researches : First, a president ; second, a corps of^ in^■estigators 

 of acknowledged scientific ability ; third, a large corps of assist- 

 ants, whose duty it should be to carry out work laid out for 

 them ; fourth, workmen, such as mechanics. He then went on 

 to describe a building such as would be as perf ct as pos^ible for 

 the institution. It was useless to hope for architectural beauty, 

 as the effect would be spoiled by attachments made to the 

 exterior. No more common mistake was made than in wasting 

 money which should be used for equipment. They had too 

 many colleges with far too little endowment. Such an institu- 

 tion, added to a college, would prove of great advantage. 



At a general evening meeting. Prof. Newcomb (president) 

 spoke at some length, extemporaneously, on the two recent im- 

 portant discoveries made by American men of science, viz., the 

 existence of oxygen in the sun, by Prof. Draper, and the 

 satellites of Mars, by Prof. Hall. At the same evening meeting 

 Prof A. R. Grote, of Buffalo, read a sketch of a scheme for an 

 international scientific service formed by the union of the various 

 civilised governments and national scientific societies, for the 

 carrying out of such scientific work as all the world is interested 

 in. Under the auspices of such an association **all extra-limital, 

 astronomical, geographical, and biological expeditions would be 

 fitted out and directed to those places which would be most 

 fruitful for the particular purpose." 



Of the papers read in the various sections v/e are able, at 

 present, to give little else but the titles. In Section A, which 

 includes Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, and 

 Mineralogy, the following, among other papers were read : — 

 Oil a New Type of Steam Engine theoretically eapable of utilising 

 the full Mechanical Equivalent of Heat Energy, at'd on some 

 points of Theory indicating its Practicability, by Prof. R. H. 

 Thurston ; Mechanics of the Flight of Birds, by Mr. A. 

 C. Campbell. An interesting paper in this section by Prof. 

 Forshey, treated of The Physics of the Gulf of Mexico and 

 of its Principal Affluent the Mississippi ; the author brought 

 together many important data concerning what he s^yled "the 

 cis-Atlantic Mediterranean." Another paper in [this section by 

 Piof. Mendenhall, was On Measurement of the Wave-length of 

 the Blue Line of the Indium Spectrum. 



