686 Chronicles of Science. [Oct., 



principal uses to which this metal is applied, are in the manufacture of 

 fusible metal, of calico-printers' rollers, and for medicinal purposes. 

 This country is supplied chiefly from the Saxon and Bohemian mines. 

 Although found in Cornwall, it is but rarely obtained in sufficient 

 quantities for sale. 



Professor Goeppert has published a book ' On the Organic Nature 

 of the Diamond.' The fact that diamonds when exposed to the intense 

 heat of the voltaic arc are turned black — converted indeed into coke — is 

 seized upon to prove that this precious gem cannot have been produced 

 by igneous action. Diamonds are stated by Goeppert to have often 

 on their surface, impressions of grains of sand, and sometimes of crys- 

 tals, showing, it is contended, that they must have been in a soft state. 

 It is found that sometimes they enclose other crystals, germs of fungi,, 

 and occasionally fragments of vegetation of a higher order. All the 

 facts known, according to Professor Goeppert, appear to prove that 

 the diamond is the result of vegetable change, representing, in fact, 

 the ultimate condition of a series of decompositions. 



Metalluegy. 



A paper, " Fabrication directe de VAcier fondu au moyen des Gaz" 

 by M. Aristide Berard, was read at the meeting of the Academy of 

 Sciences in Paris on the 17th July. To produce steel, the impurities 

 of iron are removed by using alternately reducing and oxidizing 

 agents in the gaseous condition. M. Berard operates in a kind of 

 reverberatory furnace with two soles, which are separated by a bridge ; 

 coke is placed on this bridge to remove free oxygen. While air is 

 sent through the metal on one side, the other is treated with a mixture 

 of hydrogen and carbonic oxide free from sulphur. The process is 

 supposed to be thus explained : — During the period of oxidation part 

 of the iron is converted into protoxide — the earthy metalloids — such 

 as Silicium, Aluminium, Calcium, and the like, are oxidized, and 

 combined with Silica to form Slags. The sulphur, phosphorus, and 

 arsenic are oxidized and volatilized. In the period of reduction the 

 oxide of iron is reduced, and the other metals remain in combination 

 with the Silica, forming Scoriai, -which float on the surface. Any 

 sidphur, phosphorus, or arsenic remaining is said to form now a 

 volatile hydrogen compound. The final process is that of decar- 

 buration, which is effected by the air-blast. This process appears to. 

 us to partake, in all its main features, of the principles involved 

 in that of Bessemer. It certainly involves many of the conditions 

 which were experimented on, and rejected, ere the Bessemer process 

 took its final form. We are also told that Manganese plays an 

 indefinite part ; the certain effect, however, being to facilitate the 

 conversion of the iron into steel. Is this anything beyond the use of 

 Spiegel-Eisen f The French Metallurgists are still continuing the 

 discussion on the agents necessary for the production of cast-iron and 

 steel. M. Marguerritte recently published a memoir on this subject, 

 in which he gave many original and ingenious experiments. MM. 

 Boivin and Loiseau have communicated to ' Les Mondes ' some experi- 



