72 
with the implements of civilization, but have become 
degraded intellectually through isolation. Prehis- 
toric discoveries, particularly those made in the re- 
gion of Otaru, on the west coast of the island, favor 
this view. The pits found there for dwellings indi- 
cate that the Ainos came from the north to Yezo. 
The shell-heaps contain, besides very elegant pot- 
sherds, many stone implements, especially obsidian 
heads of lances and arrows, and ornaments of differ- 
ent kinds, as stone-beads and the like. In all these 
respects the shell-heaps are distinguished from those 
found throughout Japan, from latitude 39° north to 
the southernmost point of the coast of Kiushiu, 
within which limits the shell-heaps are destitute of 
ornaments, poor in stone implements, and entirely 
without obsidian. These facts point to a higher civil- 
ization of the Aino race, and at the same time refute 
the assumption that the Ainos formerly settled a 
large part of the main island (Nipon), — an assump- 
tion erroneously supposed by some to be supported 
by prehistoric discoveries. As there is no near rela- 
tionship between the Ainos and the Giljaks of North 
‘Saghalien, who are less hairy, more prognathous, and 
more like the Tchuktchi race, we must assume that 
the Ainos were displaced by the Giljaks, and that 
their nearest relatives, judging from important analo- 
gies of language, and especially from their ‘ naturell,’ 
are to be sought among the Kaoli of northern Corea 
(Oppert’s Caucasian type of Koreans). The latter 
have symmetrical features and luxuriant beards, and 
are therefore called ‘ bearded barbarians’ by the Jap- 
anese. They stand to the inhabitants of southern 
Corea in many respects as the Ainos to the Japanese, 
The Kaoli have had, to be sure, a history very differ- 
ent from that of the Ainos; for they became a civil- 
ized people, while the Ainos in the primeval forests 
of Yezo became more and more uncivilized. This 
fact is not opposed to the assumption of a kinship of 
the two races; and this assumption is supported not 
only by the particulars already alluded to, and the 
undeniable capacity of the Ainos for greater intel- 
lectual activity than they now exhibit, but also by the 
-act, that, notwithstanding the developed culture of 
the Coreans, certain things (e.g., the lance-shaped 
turrets on grave monuments) recur which remind one 
of Yezo. Besides, the traditions of the Kaoli, and 
certain names of places in the southern part of Amur 
(on the Sungari and its south-eastern tributaries), 
point to earlier dwelling-places of the race. From 
here the Ainos probably spread over the lower part 
of Amur and Saghalien. Other attempts to bring 
the Ainos and the North-Coreans into close relation- 
ship with other peoples are too hypothetical to require 
mention here. It is certainly to be hoped, but un- 
fortunately it can hardly be expected, that the silent 
but eloquent appeal for friendly sympathy which the 
hearty greeting of the Ainos and the melancholy look 
given to strangers seem to make cleat, may meet 
with some practical response: at all events, we should 
not withhold our most cordial good will from these 
sons of the primeval forests of our temperate zone, 
who are unquestionably the most peaceful and good- 
natured of all the so-called ‘ savages.’ 
SCIENCE, 
"Ww 
THE HOT BLAST IN MAKING IRON. 
At the last few meetings of the Iron and steel in- 7 
stitute of Great Britain very important papers. have 
been presented and discussed, showing the direction 
in which competition has brought about economy in 
iron-manufacture. These papers, notably those of 
Messrs. Cochrane, Hawdon, Bell, Cowper, and How- 
son, give to the technical reader a very good idea of 
the latest opinions of the foremost iron-makers of 
England. . 
The institute held its September meeting in Mid- 
dlesborough,—the place in which it was organized | 
fourteen years ago. This anniversary naturally led 
to some general reflections on the progress made in 
that time, which can be appreciated by the general 
public. The only drawback to the discussions was 
the absence, owing to illness, of Mr. I. Lowthian 
Bell, who has been present at all the previous meet- 
ings. 
In 1828 Mr. J. B. Neilson patented a process for 
heating the air before it was blown into the blast- 
furnace, claiming that a gain in economy of working 
was the result. The idea was received with disbelief 
in most quarters. A little later Mr. Neilson proved 
conclusively to all that one hundred pounds of coal 
burned in heating the air for the blast were able to 
save three hundred to four Rundred pounds of the 
fuel used within the furnace. The first step was 
made, and the iron-makers had to accept the conse- 
quences. 
From this small beginning the tide of invention 
and enterprise went on, until the air used for blast 
was no longer heated by coal burned for the pur- 
pose, but by the combustion of what were formerly 
waste gases issuing from the top of the furnace. One 
improvement after another was introduced, until the 
temperature of the blast was raised to 900° F., and 
even to 1000° F. At this point it seemed that the 
metal pipes used in the stoves for heating had 
reached their limit of endurance; and a portion of 
the iron-making world made up their minds that 
creater heat than this could not be economically 
maintained, and that, even if the question of obtain- 
ing the heat was solved, there was still a balance of 
chemical reactions within the furnace which would 
prevent the greater heat from being advantageous. 
Meanwhile, by the use of the Siemens regenerator _ 
principle, two different inventors, Cowper and Whit- 
well, each manufactured stoves which contained 
fire-brick chambers, within which the waste gases 
burned for a period, until the fire-bricks were at a red 
heat. The gases were then turned off to the alter- 
nate stove, and the air for the blast-furnace was 
driven in through the heated stove until the other 
one had become sufficiently heated. 
change was again made, and so on. ‘These various 
devices have resulted in the production of a blast of — 
air for the furnace heated up to 1600° F., or even to 
1700° F. be 
Now let us see what has been the result of this 
change. The blast-furnaces of 1869 produced, on an 
average, a little over 180 tons of iron per week. To- 
Pow, 
[Vou. IIL, No. 50. | 
The inter- 
a 
