OF THE ANCRAM IRON WORKS. 295 



not, I believe, been used in Belgium before Mr.Boucs- 

 nel described it. Should it be found in any quantity 

 at our furnaces, it would no doubt be equally advan- 

 tageous to work it with copper for brass. 



This substance has not yet been observed in many 

 places. 1 believe the only spot where it has been 

 noticed, in addition to the above mentioned, is at 

 Verrieres. in France, where I discovered it in the 

 year 1819.* I am inclined to think that if more 

 care were taken by our iron masters, in observing 

 the progress of their furnaces, and the products 

 which they yield, it might be found in many other 

 places ; certainly it must have been formed in the 

 old Franklin furnace, in Sussex county, New Jer- 

 sey, where so many fruitless attempts were made to 

 work the Franklinite. 



* As no account of the cadmia of Verrieres has as yet beei\ 

 published, I shall here add the note which I made on the sub- 

 ject in my journal. — " July 6, 1819. I visited the furnace of Verr 

 rieres, in the department de la Vienne, in France. The director 

 mentioned that his ore was good, and that the iron it produce^ 

 was likewise good. He complained, however, of a substance 

 which formed in the furnace, five feet below its orifice ; it was 

 in the form of a ring. It would, he said, have choked the fur- 

 nace, if not removed, which at times was a difficult undertaking. 

 I mentioned to him that it appeared to be analagous to the cad- 

 mia of Belgium. The specimens which I took with me were 

 heavy, compact, and of a dark colour." — 1 have not had an op- 

 portunity of analyzing them since ; but my suspicions on this 

 subject were confirmed, when, on returning to Paris in the au- 

 tumn of 1820, I was informed that the Engineer of mines De 

 Cressac had discovered calamine in that vicinity the year be- 

 fore. 



