Sept. 9, 1880J 



NA TURE 



453 



inventors, Messrs. Thomas and Gilchrist, and its great importance 

 lies in the fact that it enables Bessemer steel and a very pure 

 homogeneous iron to be produced from the poor class of phos- 

 phoric iron ore which abounds in the Cleveland district and also 

 in the basin of the Saar, and in Lorraine and Luxembourg, 

 which ores have not hitherto been available for the production 

 of steel, on account of the difficulty of eliminating the phos- 

 phorus, the presence of which element is %\A\ known to be 

 highly detrimental to the quality of the steel. To the Germans 

 this invention is possibly of greater value than to ourselves, on 

 account of the prevalence with them of the poorer class of ore, 

 and the comparative scarcity of hematite. 



At the present moment five German companies are working 

 the Thomas-Gilchrist process, and in the course of a few months 

 many others will be in a position to follow suit, 



Herr Massenez gives in his paper a series of chemical 

 analyses, showing the composition of the metal at different 

 stages during the blow. The information contained in these 

 tables is also exhibited graphically by diagrams, in which the 

 quantities of the various elements at the different stages are 

 represented by the orJinates of curves. These " show that so 

 long as the silicon is in combustion the phosphorus not only is 

 not attacked, it actually increases. First of all, as is well 

 known, the silicon is attacked, and is reduced to a mere trace at 

 the expiration of two minutes. A portion of the carbon burns 

 off at the same time with the silicon ; however, only after the 

 silicon is reduced does the carbon curve descend rapidly. The 

 manganese curve is from the commencement to tte end of the 

 blow regularly decensional, showing that this body oxidises 

 but slowly. The small quantity of copper disappears after 

 the end of the first minute's blow. Surprising is the fact 

 that the sulphur-curve slowly rises till the commencement 

 of the after-blow, and then only decreases partially, or very 

 slowly, at the latter end of the same. The phosphorus 

 is energetically consumed in large quantities after decarbonisa- 

 tion has taken place, and its combustion is the cause of the high 

 temperature at the end of the process. At the commencement 

 of the blow, and during the time the silicon is oxidising, the 

 phosphorus increases in the metal in the proportion as caused by 

 the lessening of the volume of pig iron through the combustion 

 of silicon, manganese, and carbon. After the reduction of the 

 silicon, and during the period the carbon is reduced from 272 

 per cent, to o'l6 per cent., only a fraction of the carbon disap- 

 pears (from I "32 per cent, to I'lS per cent.); aftenvards the 

 very rapid combustion of tliis body takes place, leaving only a 

 (race of the same, a reaction which characterises the whole 

 process." 



It is satisfactory to learn from this paper that the chemistry 

 of the process is now thoroughly understood, and that the only 

 difficulties which remain to be overcome are of a purely mechani- 

 cal nature, and are principally due to the shortness of life of the 

 converter bottoms. The discussion which followed was fully 

 equal in interest to the paper itself, and was taken part in by 

 most of the leading members of the Institute. It bore principally 

 upon the commercial side of the invention, which has hitherto 

 been its weak point. We learn, however, that well-foimded 

 hopes are entertained [that this last difficulty in the way of a 

 general introduction of the process is in a fair way of being 

 removed. 



In our last review of the proceedings of this Institute we 

 noticed a paper by Prof. Akerman, on "The Hardening of Iron 

 and Steel." This paper, which w-as taken as read at the spring 

 meeting, was discussed at Diisseldorf. Most of the opinions 

 expressed were necessarily of a rather speculative character, for 

 very little is really known as to the ralwiiah of hardening and 

 tempering. Many eminent authorities seemed, however, to be 

 agreed that carbon exists in iron and steel in three separate 

 forms, and not in two only, as has hitherto been supposed, and 

 that the hardening is due only to one of these forms. A point of 

 great practical importance was referred to by Mr. Adamson, 

 viz., the prevalent practice of endeavouring to strengthen steel 

 by tempering in oil. This practice was strongly condemned by 

 Mr. Adamson. He maintains that the dipping in oil, though 

 it may increase the tensile strength of the metal, impairs its 

 elasticity and ductility. We commend this opinion to the 

 attention of the authorities at Woolwich Arsenal. It is well 

 known that the steel barrels of all our guns are tempered by 

 immersion in oil, and if Mr. Adamson's statements be correct, it 

 is not to be wondered at ;that so many disappointing failures 

 have taken place. 



The last paper to whicli we shall refer dealt with the subject 

 of iron permanent way. It contained an account of the expe- 

 rience obtained on the German state railways of the use of iron 

 instead of timber for sleepers. There are few subjects of 

 greater importance to ironmasters than this substitution of iron 

 for woodwork in the permanent ways of railways, for the 

 amount of metal which would thus be consumed is almost 

 incalculable. The paper, which was read by Privy-Councillor 

 Griithefein, embodies much valuable information as to the 

 different systems of iron permanent way at present in use. 

 From it we learn that there are at the present moment 

 1,542 kilometres of line in Germany laid with the new 

 description of sleeper, and that the results obtained are 

 so satisfactory that the system is being continually extended. 

 It is interesting to notice that in Germany the new sleepers are 

 mostly laid on the longitudinal plan, a system which has not 

 given satisfaction in this country. In the discussion which fol- 

 lowed, the opinion was strongly stated by English engineers that 

 longitudinal sleepers would be absolutely incapable of withstand- 

 ing the effects of the very heavy and fast traffic of the main Imes 

 in this country. 



In conclusion we must congratulate the Iron aud Steel Insti- 

 tute on the extended sphere of usefulness and the cosmopolitan 

 character which it has gained by going out of the beaten track, 

 and holding an autumn meeting on the Continent. 



ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE GERMAN 

 ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



'T'HE Eleventh General Meeting of the German Anthropological 

 Society was held at Berlin during the past month, Prof. 

 Virchow taking the chair and acting as president at each of the 

 six sittings. At the openingTsitting, after speeches by Herr von 

 Gossler and the President, in which they reviewed the past and 

 the present condition of the Society, and notably drew attention 

 to its aims and its achievements, Herr Friedel gave a short exposi- 

 tion of his paper " On Prehistoric Discoveries made in Berlin 

 and its Neighbourhood." This was followed by an interesting 

 address from Dr. Schliemann respecting the site of Troy. He 

 re-stated his now well-known convictions, and gave considerable 

 evidence in support of the belief that Homer's Troy was not 

 merely a mythical town, but that it had once actually filled a 

 place in the world's history. "I wish," said the Doctor, "I 

 wish that I were able to prove Homer to have been an eye-witness 

 of the Trojan war. But unfortunately this is impossible. In 

 his day swords were in general use as a weapon, and iron well 

 known as a metal ; in Troy, again, swords were unheard of, 

 while of iron the inhabitants knew nothing whatever. So, too, 

 the manners, the customs and the general civilisation which he 

 describes are of an epoch that is centuries later than the one to 

 which the results of my excavations belong. Homer presents to 

 us the legend of Ilium's tragic fate in the form which it had been 

 handed down to him by the bards who had gone before ; aud, as 

 we have already seen, he invests the traditional account of the war 

 and of the fall of Troy with the colouring of the time in which 

 he lived. Yet he was not without personal knowle ge of the 

 actual localities, for liis descriptions (both the general one of 

 Troy itself, as also of the plains of 'Troy in particular) are, if 

 taken as a whole, quite accurate and truthful." At the close of 

 his address, Dr. Schliemann announced his intention of com- 

 mencing a series of excavations on the site of Orchomenos in 

 Bccotia, the prehistoric capital of the Minyans, on his return to 

 Athens, the Greek Government having accorded him full per- 

 mission to do this. 



At the second sitting, on August 6, after a short address by 

 the President, Prof. Ranke spoke at some length upon the subject 

 of German ethnology and anthropology, pointing out the distinct 

 advance that these sciences had made, and citing, as helps to study, 

 the several important works which had appeared in the country 

 by Lindenschmit, Arnold, Bracht, Poppe, Geuthe, v. Sadowski, 

 and other distinguished anthropologists. He specially called 

 attention to the progress that had been made in the science of 

 cranio logy, it being now nearly always possible to distingui-h 

 between a male and a female skull. Prof. Virchow then briefly 

 put forward the proposition that the next (the twelfth) session of 

 the Society should be held at Ratisbon, a town which, for 

 many reasons, he thought was well fitted to serve such purpose. 

 This proposal was carried unanimously ; and after an address by 

 Herr Friedel the meeting was adjourned. 



