SPEECH OF PROF. WILLIAMSON. 6\)L 



Heat is the great source of power in almost all our dealings with 

 inorganic matter ; and I have not the slightest doubt that the 

 power over heat given by these regenerate furnaces will revolu- 

 tionize many a chemical art. Ths manufacture of iron, and its 

 subsequent treatment for the removal of impurities, has been of 

 late years the subject of many experiments. Various plans have 

 been proposed for avoiding the injurious effects of the mineral 

 impurities of our coal, by using gas for the reduction of the iron 

 ores. In this country, however, the manufacture of cast iron is ' 

 carried on in such vast quantities that changes in the processes 

 must meet with great resistance. The laborious and expensive 

 process of puddling, hitherto adopted for burning out the carbon 

 from cast iron, is being gradually superseded by one or other of 

 the following: — either by treating the molten pigs with oxide of 

 iron until the carbon is removed as carbonic oxide ; or by Bessemer's 

 process of blowing air through the molten coast iron. In either 

 case it is desirable to add some carbon to the malleable iron in 

 order to render it more fusible ; and for this purpose the best ma- 

 terial is the manganiferous carburet of iron, known by the name 

 of ' Spiegeleisen,' of which enough is used to make a low steel of 

 about half per cent, of carbon. One of the most interesting novel- 

 ties in metallurgy is the manufacture of aluminum, now carried 

 on chiefly for the sake of its alloy with copper, by the distinguished 

 gentleman who holds the office of Mayor of Newcastle. The me- 

 chanical properties of this so-called aluminum bronze give it great 

 value ; and it seems likely to find much favour for its appearance. 

 Mr. Bell lias also rendered no small service to science by collecting 

 and preparing a large quantity of that wonderful new metal, thal- 

 lium. Among alloys, a variety of brass containing a small quan- 

 tity of iron has recently attracted considerable attention. The alloy 

 is by no means new, though hitherto known but to few persons. 

 It combines tenacity with elasticity to a remarkable degree, and 

 can be easily forged. Most of the members of the Section are pro- 

 bably aware of the admirable series of agricultural experiments 

 which have been proceeding for the last twenty years under the 

 directions of Mr. Lawes of Rothansted ; yet many are probably 

 unaware of the vast importance of the results already established 

 by those experiments Few things are perhaps more difficult than 

 to conduct scientific experiments in any practical art like farming, 

 to find h w the resources which science discovers can be profitably 

 turned to account, or how the defects which theory points out in 



