456 THE BRITISH ISLES. 



tlie manufacture of iron has attained a wonderful development in England, 

 and still more so in Scotland, and until recent years tlie production increased 

 every decade by hundreds of thousands of tons. The blast furnaces of Great 

 Britain are equal to an annual production of 10,000,000 tons of iron and 

 steel ; but in no sing-lo year have more than 7,000,000 tons been actually 

 produced, and of late more than half the available furnaces have occasionally had 

 their fires extinguished. No other branch of industry has suffered more from the 

 depression of the years 1872 — 79 than that of iron, but happier conditions of 

 international trade have led to a wonderful revival. English iron-masters have 

 more especially been intent upon reducing the cost of producing iron, and in this 

 respect they have been eminently successful. In 1787 the Muirkirk Iron Company 

 in Ayrshire expended 9 tons of coal in the production of a ton of pig-iron ; in 

 1840 the average consumption of coal to effect the same result was 3| tons ; 

 in 1872, 2| tons; and at present it does not probably exceed 2 tons. Equally 

 important are the new processes introduced into the manufacture of steel, and the 

 "age of iron " is likely soon to be succeeded by an " age of steel." 



In comparison with iron the other metals won in the British Islands are 

 of small importance. Cornwall and Devonshire yield copper and tin ; Northum- 

 berland, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Shropshire, Wales, Lanarkshire, and the Isle of 

 ^lan yield most of the lead. Zinc is principally found in the Isle of Man and in 

 A^'ales.* 



Manufactures. 



Next to coal mining and iron-making there is no branch of manufacture in 

 which the British Isles are so deeply interested as in that of textiles ; or, in other 

 words, the spinning of yarn from the raw material, and afterwards converting it 

 into manufactured goods.f Of the various groups of this trade, that in cotton is 

 by far the most important, and the one in which the prosperity of Great Britain 

 is most bound up. In 18G1 England supplied half the cotton goods consumed 

 throughout the world. The quantity of English produce has increased since then, 

 notwithstanding frequent oscillations ; but continental Europe and the United 



* Minerals raised and metals produced from British ores : — 



Estimated Value at the Place 



(ii:.antities. of Production. 



1872. 1.S79. 1S72. 1879. 



Tons. Tons. 



Coal 123,497,310 133,808,000 £46,311,143 £46,832,000 



Pig-iron 6,741,929 5,995,337 18,540,304 14,985,342 



Fine copper 5,703 3,462 583,232 222.507 



Metallic lead .... 60,420 51,635 1,208,411 755,489 



White tin 9,560 9,532 1,459,990 689,163 



Zinc 5,191 5,554 118,076 95,809 



Silver from lead .... 62,892,002 33,346,202 157,320 70,905 



Gold — 44,702 — 1,790 



Other metals .... — — 2,500 1,210 



Salt 1,785,000 2,558,368 892,500 1,279,184 



Clays 2,4.30,538 2,878,489 656,300 717,143 



Other minerals (excluding build- \ 



ing stones, slates, &c.) . .) " '^^^'^^l — 343,031 



t Bevan, " Industrial Geography of Great Britain," 1880. 



