184 7. J Process of working the Damascus Blade of Goojral. 419 



and being carefully cleansed from grease in wood ashes, white vitriol 

 (kussees) dissolved in water is rubbed over all the surface excepting 

 the edge. This, eating deepest between the interstices of the crystals, 

 exhibits their arrangement which constitutes the damask of the blade. 



In following the mass of cast steel through all the changes of figure 

 produced by the action of the hammer (figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,) we per- 

 ceive that, as it cannot be welded, the pores in the centre of crystalli- 

 zation must remain, although immensely elongated under the extension 

 of the mass. These accordingly exhibit themselves in an irregular and 

 ugly seam in the back of the blade, impairing both its elegance and its 

 solidity. And hence it is manifest, that in order to the production of 

 a blade without flaw, either the porous heart of the mass should be 

 ground out previous to the action of the hammer, or the blade should 

 be forged of excessive breadth, and the unsound back be ground away. 

 But the necessity of either precaution would not exist were necks made 

 to the moulds (fig. 9) in which the steel is originally cast ; so that 

 there might be a surplus of metal (as in casting bullets and guns) — to 

 give solidity by pressure to the incumbent mass. 



We further observe, that as the flat surfaces of the blade (figure 

 10) are formed of the edges of the lenticular mass (figure 11) they 

 present a section across the crystallization ; rectangular in the centre, 

 but of various obliquity toward either end. It follows, that the less 

 the original mass is altered by hammering, the more nearly lateral will 

 be the disposition of the dots representing the ends of crystals — and 

 hence the various figures presented by the same metal under slightly 

 different treatment. It is also apparent, that these figures will mate- 

 rially alter, according to difference in the shape of the original mass — 

 and it may be reasonably doubted, whether the shape in which the 

 cast steel is brought to India, be the most conducive to symmetry of 

 damask or to soundness of fibre. 



As the damask of a blade is the map of its crystallization, so it is 

 probable that the figures alter according to the purity of the iron of 

 which the steel is formed, the quantity of carbon contained in it, or to 

 both these circumstances combined. Nay, the degree of heat of the 

 fused metal at the time of casting, and the temperature of the mould 

 in which it was formed may both contribute to differences in the 

 crystallization. 



- r 2 



