TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 211 



into something alive ; further, that while the nail must be so tough that it can be 

 with certainty bent over at the point to "clinch " it when in the hoof, it must still 

 be sufficiently stiff to penetrate the horny substance of that hoof, and to penetrate 

 without risk of wandering from the true direction, as were it to do so it would be 

 very likely to pass into the interior of the hoof and to lame the horse ; and, as a 

 final peculiarity, that the horse-nail when driven in is not there once and for all, 

 but in the course of a few weeks it has to be withdrawn, and that there must be 

 no risk of breakage in this withdrawal. 



The author then states that about seven years since the Messrs. Huggett set 

 themselves to devise means of making horse-nails by machinery, and that, having 

 secured tlie support of Mr. Moser, a factory was provided and machines were made. 

 These, as machines, answered well ; but the nails produced, though fair to the 

 eye, were unsound : after endeavouring for a long time to remedy the defect, the 

 attempt was abandoned, so far as that particular class of machine was concerned, 

 and the whole of them were pulled up and thrown into the scrap-heap. The 

 Messrs. Iluggett then again applied themselves to their task and invented 

 another machine, which turned out nails, not only perfect in appearance, but also 

 perfect in fact. Thereupon a large factory was tilled with machinery ; Init again 

 failure and loss were to result, not from the imperfection of the nail, but from the 

 inability of the machine to withstand tlie wear and tear incident to the particular 

 nature of its action. Once more the scrap-heap was the destination of property 

 which had cost thousands of poimds. 



For a third time the Messrs. Huggett set themselves to invent a mode of 

 making horse-nails by machinery, which they trusted would not only produce a 

 thoroughly good nail, but would endure the test of daily use. 



About three years since Mr. Moser consulted the author and asked him to advise 

 as to whether or not a third adventure of capital should be made. 



Having thoroughly investigated the subject, including in this investigation an 

 inquiry into the causes of the two former failures, the author came to the conclusion 

 and advised that a trial (a commercial one, but on a small scale, to the extent of 

 about £5000 of outlay) should be given to this third invention of the Messrs. 

 Huggett. The advice was followed, and the result has been highly satisfactory, 

 the working of the process having proved a complete success. 



The author then proceeds to describe the mode of manufacture now followed in 

 carrying out this third invention. 



The material used is the Swedish charcoal iron nail-rod, which is heated in a 

 Siemens Regenerative Gas-furnace, a double furnace having two working doors 

 (attended by two men) at each end. 



Six pieces of the nail-rod, in leng-ths of about 2 feet 6 inches, are charged into 

 the furnace at each working door. Thirty seconds suffice to raise them to a high 

 welding-heat. 



The workman who has charged a parcel of rods then (by means of a pair of 

 tongs) takes out the pieces one by one and jerks them endways down an inclined 

 shoot, by which they are conducted to a pair of rolls, which seize them in suc- 

 cession as they are presented and roll them through. The author then points out 

 that these rolls, and the operations they perform upon the iron, are of the very 

 highest importance in the manufacture, that, in fact, they lie at the root of it. 



The author then describes that the rolls are pattern-rolls, and are so constructed 

 that when working together they leave a channel or groove for the passage of the 

 nail-rod, which passage, while parallel and of uniform size, so far as regards its 

 sideway dimensions, varies in its height as the revolution of the rolls brings round 

 the different parts of their patterned surfaces. By the action of the patterned 

 surfaces, the rod which had entered the rolls a piece of mere parallel iron about 

 2 feet 6 inches long, leaves them as a rod of nail-blanks 7 feet in length, and made 

 up of numerous alternate prominences and depressions, occurring at distances apart 

 corresponding to the length of two nails, each prominence being intended for two 

 heads and each depression for two shanks. 



Obviously a change of shape so violent must be done at a high heat ; and, 

 looking at the small section of the iron, the only way to retain the heat during 

 the whole rolling is to run the rolls at a great velocity, so that there shall 



