402 
Cast SteeL 
tie, in another ; both pieces are then to be quickly brought 
to the anvil and made to adhere together by gentle ham- 
mering. 
Several curious pieces of work are made of iron and 
steel welded together, especially the real Damascus sword 
blades, which are believed to be composed of slips or 
thin rods of iron and steel bound together with iron wire, 
and the whole firmly cemented together by welding. 
The properties and external appearance of such a blade, 
correspond very exactly with the supposed mode in which 
it is manufactured. Its colour is a dull blueish grey, it is 
scarcely harder than common steel from the forge, it is 
not easily bent, and when bent has no elasticity to reco- 
ver its original figure ; but the circumstance which prin- 
cipally characterizes it is the appearance of narrow waving 
lines not crossing each other and chiefly running from 
heel to point ; they are ill-defined and about the thickness 
of a harpsichord wire. This wavy appearance is not pro- 
duced by any perceptible indentation of the surface, but 
merely by a slight difference in the degree of polish or 
brightness, and therefore may be at once distinguished 
from the false damasking or etching by which other 
sword-blades are made to resemble the genuine Damas- 
cus ones. In the false Damascus blades, the waving lines, 
called the water , are obliterated by grinding, but in the 
real ones, although the water is at first imperceptible after 
grinding, yet it may at any time be made to re-appear by 
rubbing the blade with lemon juice, no doubt on account 
of the unequal action of this weak acid on a surface com- 
posed both of steel and iron. 
Besides the varieties of steel that we have already des- 
cribed, there yet remains one more, concerning which a 
few words will be necessary : this is Wootz. The sub- 
stance known by this name in India, is imported into this 
country in the form of round flat calces about five inches 
