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resulted in producing a fibrous bar iron when rolled, which is not at all 
coldshort ; a result altogether unexpected, since this pig iron is known as 
one of the cheapest brands of German iron, for notwithstanding that it 
contains from 3 to 5 per cent, manganese, and only about 0-1 per cent, of 
sulphur and silicon, it has, on account of its large percentage of phosphorus, 
been much more difficult to sell than the common irons, like that made 
from minette, which only contains 0‘2 per cent, of manganese, but is, how- 
ever, not so rich in phosphorus as the Ilseder pig. — Vide Forbes’s Report, 
February 1872. 
Chromium Steel . — Cast steel, in which the carbon is in part or wholly 
replaced by the metal chromium, is attracting considerable attention in the 
United States, where, says Mr. Forbes’s u Report ” (February 1872), a 
company, called the Chrome Steel Company, now produce this steel in 
large quantities by processes patented by a Mr. Bauer. It is claimed for 
this steel that it is capable of sustaining a greater degree of heat than 
ordinary steel, and, consequently, is not so liable to become oxidised or 
“ burnt” in working. It is said to work quite as easily, and to roll much 
more smoothly than ordinary steel. It is stated to be made in crucibles, but 
otherwise we have no details of the mode of manufacture. According to a 
report of Captain Eads, chief engineer to the Illinois and St. Louis Bridge, 
this steel has been employed in those parts of that bridge where very 
great strength was required with perfect success, notwithstanding that 
anchor bolts and staves made from the usual cast steel had, as a rule, 
failed to sustain the tests fixed by the terms of the contract. 
Using up Old Iron . — At the rolling mills of the Southern Railway in 
Gratz, the old rails, crop ends, and scrap are heated in a gas furnace, and 
then added to a bath of good grey pig iron, melted with some spiegeleisen 
in a Siemens-Martin furnace. When the sample shows that the desired 
quality of steel is attained, the metal is tapped into large pouring pots 
lined with clay, from which the ingots are filled. The bottom of the 
furnace is made of quartz sand, so arranged as to be kept cool by a current 
•of air, whilst the sides and roof are of Dinas bricks. (“Zeitsch. d. 
Deutsch, Oesterr. Eisen. Stahl, u. Maschin. Industrie.”) 
Specimen of Wolfram from Trumbull, Connecticut, U.S.A. — At a 
meeting of one of the American societies Dr. L. Feuchtwanger exhibited 
an interesting specimen of wolfram. It consists for the most part of 
scheelite (tungstate of lime), but at places this mineral has been replaced by 
the wolfram (iron and manganese) taking the place of the lime j but the 
crystalline form of the scheelite has been retained, so that we have a 
remarkable example of pseudomorphism where large crystals appear having 
the form of scheelite, but composition of wolfram. This is stated by 
Dana to take place by the action of a solution of bicarbonate of iron and 
manganese, or perhaps mainly through sulphate of iron arising from the 
decomposition of pyrites. He also exhibited a finely crystallised specimen 
of pyrargyrite, a sulphuret of antimony and silver, containing from 58 to 
60 per cent, of the latter metal, from Germany. 
What is Onoprite ? — At one of the meetings of the Lyceum of New York, 
Dr. L. Feuchtwanger exhibited a specimen of a mineral which has gone by 
the name of Onoprite. It is a selenio-sulphide of mercury, and was first 
