B L A 



B L A 



About the year 1620, charcoal pig iron fold for 61. per ton. 



1 7S8, ditto for melting, - 81. 



1798, ditto - - 9I. los. 



Coke pi? iron, when firft invented by Dudley, "J . 

 was fold at - - - i 



In 1788, it fold for - 5 1. 10 s. 



1798, ditto - - 7I. los. 



1802, melting iron was - 81. 10 s. 

 And fmooth-faced N"^ I. fold at - - 9I. 10s. 



One thing is here worthy of remark, that in a period of 

 170 years or.e ton of coke pig iron rofe in value only 33 s. 

 i.e. betwixt i620and 1^88 ; but that in the fhort period of 

 14 years following 1788, an advance of 4I. per ton took 

 place. One thing only may be offered in extenuation of this 

 immenfe rife, that part of it was owing to the mifunderltand- 

 ing that took place betwixt this country and fome of the 

 Baltic powers, which was no fooneradiufted than pig iron fell 

 in price. The ar'.icle ftill, however, maintains itfclf at 81. 10 s. 

 per ton, being double the rife in point of Talue in fourteen 

 years that took place in the one hundred and feventy pre- 

 ceding the commencement of that period. 



To point out proper channels, whereby to account for 

 the annual confumption of fnch an immenfe quantity of raw 

 m?.Lerials, would prove a fatisfaftory lource of information. 

 Tlie endlefs detail into which the foundery trade has now 

 branched itfelf, the almoll univerfal fabrication which 

 it embraces, and the extenfive diffufion of the fcites of 

 manufaftories themfelves, preclude the poflibility of ob- 

 taining this with ilricl accuracy. The following ftate- 

 ment, however, will tend to throw fome light upon the 



fubjed. 



Tons. 



It is reckoned, that the bar iron forges in Bri- 

 tain manufaftured annually from pig iron 40,000 

 tons of finilhed bars, which, at the rate of 35 cwt. 

 of pigs for every ton of iron bar produced, will ac- 

 count for - - - - 70,oco 



Confumed yearly in the ereftion of new furnaces, 

 forges, machii'.ery, &c. ... j,ooo 



Purchafed by the board of ordnance in the ftat« 

 of cannons, mortars, carronades, (liot, and 

 (hells, &c. on an average of 1794, 5, 6, - 10,935 



Wafte in melting from the pig, boring, 

 &c. - - - - 1.3CO 



12.235 



Purchafed by the navy board in the ftate of bal- 

 feft, &c. - - - - 



India Company's annual fupply in guns, 

 fliot, Iheils, carcafes, &c. - 5,CC0 



Wafte melting, boring, &c. - 7C0 



2,664 



Merchant guns, carronades, (hot, &c. for 

 arming trading vcffcls, - - lo,oco- 



Wafte in melting and boring, - i,oco 



Ballaft for Merchantmen and India men, 



1 1, coo 



5,oco 



Tons 1 1 1>599 



For the difTerence betwixt this and the total manufafturc, 

 recourfe muft be had to the large exportation to Ireland, and 

 to the numerous and extenfive cafting founderies of London, 

 Liverpool, Manchefter, Birmingham, Wcrkingtor, New- 

 caftle, Edinburgh, Glafgow, &c. none of which melt under 

 2000 tons yearly, and many of them from 4 to 5000 tons of 

 melting pig iron. 



We ihall now leave this interelUng fubjeft with fome ge- 



neral obfervations upon the origin and progrefs of the pig 

 iron manufafture, and its early ufc in the fabrication of 

 caftings. 



It appears from Dudley, that towards the clofe of the 

 reign ot queen Elizabeth, blaft furnaces had been conftruAed 

 of fize, and with machinery fufficient to produce upwards of 

 two tons of charcoal iron per day. Such great produdts 

 in iron were moft probably confined to fituations where there 

 was abundance of water, and where water-wheels and bel- 

 lows of a confidcrable magnitude were ufed. The more 

 common modes of operation were confined to furnaces of an 

 inferior fize, which were fupplied with air by means of 

 hand-bellows, excited by cattle, or the labour of men. At 

 the fame period England enjoyed a conflderable export trade, 

 arihng from her fuperior manufatlure of iron guns, mortars, 

 &c. As pit-coal had not been applied in any branch to the 

 mannfafturing of iron, it is probable, that thefe articles 

 would be call from the large blaft furnaces ; the flame of 

 wood pofTcifing but feeble cffefts compared to that of pit- 

 coal, would rtr.der the application of the reverberating fur- 

 nace, if then known, of no ufe in the cafting of guns and 

 mortars. 



The non-application of pit-coal in every department of 

 the melting foundery, would greatly retard the perfeAion, or 

 even improvement of the art of moulding, and catling fmaller 

 and more general articles. The want of it, as the fmeiting 

 fuel in the blaft furnace, was long feverely felt by the gene- 

 ral backward ftate of the art of moulding and calling in this 

 countrv, and allowed other nations with fewer advantages 

 to get the ftart of us. It is highly probable, that long be- 

 fore the period formerly alluded to, the application of pit- 

 coal had been fpeculated upon, either as an auxiHary, or as 

 a fubttitute in evei-y branch of the iron bulinefs. Its well 

 known inflammability and tendency to form a cinder, and 

 the general decay of wood, would furnifh ample grounds 

 for what, to many at the time, would be confidered as idle 

 and vifionary ipeculations. The advantages ariiing from the 

 trade, as it was then fituated, had been rigidly afcertained, 

 and fully appreciated by the eftablilhed manufafturers. The 

 bulii'.cfs, in point of extent, feemed only limited by the 

 fupply of wood. New ereftions, for want of a proper fup- 

 ply of materials, became imprafticable ; thofe already en- 

 gaged were more anxious to preferve their fupply, however 

 much circumfcribed, than liften to innovation, which, by 

 fubftituting pit-coal for the cliarcoal of wood, would likely 

 give to the fpeculatift a great fuperiority in the market. It is 

 alfo highly probable, that many of the iron works then 

 eftablLTied were at a confidcrable diftance from pit-coal, the 

 genera! ir.troduclion of which would prove fatal to their 

 intereils. 



In this view of the fubjeft, the adventurer with capital 

 had every thing to hope, the eftablifhed manufafturcr every 

 thing to fear, by change. Under thefe circumftances, the 

 difcovery, or rather the affertion of the prafticabihty of 

 making iron with pit-coal, was announced by Simon Sturte- 

 vant, efq. in the year 1612, who, upon application, was 

 favoured with a patent from king James, for the exclufive 

 manufafture of iron with pit-coal, in all its branches, for the 

 long period of thirty-one years. In return, the faid Simon 

 Sturtevant bound himfelf to publifh a faithful account c£ 

 his difcoveries, which afterwards appeared in quarto, under 

 the title of his " Metallica." It ii uncertain to what caufes 

 his failure was at the time attributed, but in tl'c ex-cution 

 of his difcoveries upon a large fcale, he had foui.d d:i?.cul- 

 ties amounting to utter impraclicabihty ; for in the year fol- 

 lowing, he was obliged to make a lurrendcr of his letters of 

 monopoly. 



The 



