530 Notices of Books % [October, 



The Manufacture of Russian Sheet-Iron. By John Percy, M.D., 

 F.R.S., Lecturer on Metallurgy at the Royal School of 

 Mines, and to the Advanced Class of Artillery Officers at 

 the Royal Artillery Institution, Woolwich. London : John 

 Murray. 1871. 



The method of manufacturing Russian sheet-iron has long been 

 thought a process the details of which were supposed to be kept 

 secret by the various firms interested in the production. But 

 Dr. Percy has succeeded in presenting to the public a full 

 account of the process afforded him by several eminent Russian 

 engineers employed in the manufacture. This particular variety 

 of sheet-iron differs from that produced elsewhere in being 

 remarkable for its dark grey, polished surface, and its extreme 

 ductility. It is extensively used in Russia for roofing, and 

 in the United States, where it is known as stove-pipe iron, in the 

 construction of locomotive engines and for stoves. The pig- 

 iron employed in the manufacture results from the smelting 

 of magnetite and the red and brown haematite ores with charcoal 

 in a cold-blast furnace, the conversion of the pig-iron into 

 malleable iron being effected either in the charcoal finery or 

 by puddling. The malleable iron is rolled and beaten into bars 

 and sheets, and is then subjected to a re-heating process to 

 which the ductile nature and peculiar colour are due. Packages 

 of three sheets are heated to redness, and immediately before 

 rolling there is strewn between the sheets a quantity of pow- 

 dered charcoal. The rolled sheets are sheared to size, and 

 bound up in packets of about one hundred sheets each. These 

 packets are re-heated in a peculiar furnace, powdered charcoal 

 having again been placed between each sheet ; the packets are 

 then thoroughly hammered. When the sheets are cool, they 

 can be delivered to the purchaser. Dr. Percy suggests that, if 

 an attempt should be made to extend the manufacture to this 

 country, it would not be necessary to imitate the Russian process 

 in every particular ; and that instead of the peculiar annealing 

 furnace used in Russia, the method of annealing in covered 

 cast-iron vessels pursued in tin-plate works might be advan- 

 tageously adopted. Dr. Percy is to be highly commended 

 for this careful compilation on so important a subject, hitherto a 

 matter of much doubt and controversy ; and his work should be 

 consulted for the chemical investigations as to the nature of the 

 iron, and for the description of the peculiar machinery employed 

 in its manufacture. 



Power in Motion : Horse Power, Wheel Gearing, Driving Bands, 



and Angular Forces. By James Armour, C.E. London : 



Lockwood and Co. 187 1. 



To meet the wants of practical men engaged in engineering 



works requiring the use of tackle, driving-bands, wheel gearing, 



