400 Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 



straps, crow-bars, tongs, &c, in which softness is of no con- 

 sequence, and great tenacity and ductility are requisite. 



2nd. Half fibrous and half granular. Fit for axle trees, 

 wheel tyres, &c., where tenacity and strength are both requi- 

 site. 



3rd. Nearly all granular and steely, resisting the file in 

 some parts, and brittle, breaking with one or two blows of 

 the sledge. Fit for lathe bars and iron work in mathemati- 

 cal instruments, where hardness is requisite to prevent 

 bruising. 



4th. All granular, with the fine snow-white fracture of 

 cast steel in parts. Only touched by the file in some parts. 

 Very brittle unless annealed. Hard, and resists the hammer 

 in forging, drawing out with difficulty, and cracking slightly 

 at the edges unless carefully forged. Fit for plough shares, 

 spades, and pickaxes, bricklayers' trowels, &c. which re- 

 quire to be hard. 



25. Some native made iron which I have met with 

 was difficult to forge, from its cracking very much under 

 the hammer at the edges of the bar, though not otherwise 

 deficient in tenacity ; but as such iron is not common, I have 

 not had opportunities of examining it properly. The native 

 workmen say, that iron of this kind is quite as ductile as 

 any other if it is forged with bamboo charcoal. Should this 

 be a fact, it seems to be well worth the attention of chemists, 

 considering that the coat of the bamboo contains much 

 finely divided silica, and remembering that the English 

 smiths, when welding together steel and iron, use freely 

 large quantities of a white quartzose sand. It is probable that 

 it is this last kind of Indian iron, which has by some been 

 called " red short," which is however a mistake. The Eng- 

 lish red short iron snapping off like a carrot when bent. 



