and Observations on Wootz. 
3*1 
in g, or the welling* state. On striking it gently under the 
hammer, it was cracked in many places : and by a hard blow it 
was broken into a number of small pieces, as crude iron and 
cast steel are at this degree of ignition. 
(c) The surfaces of the fractured pieces (§ 3. b) were black 
and ragged, or, as it is termed, had no grain. Two or three 
pieces indeed had yellow and reddish spots ; but these were 
merely tinges from the fire, and disappeared on applying a 
few drops of muriatic acid. 
( d ) The pieces (§ 3. c) when cold were readily broken. 
Some of the fractures exhibited a bright silvery foliated grain, 
of seemingly an homogeneous substance, as frequently appears 
on breaking steel which has been quenched, when white hot, 
in cold water ; and as also appears on breaking steel and crude 
iron which-have been repeatedly ignited and cooled gradually ; 
but many of the fractures of the small pieces were gray and 
close grained. 
( e ) A piece of the substance was ignited to whiteness, and 
then quenched in a large bulk of cold water. It was rendered 
much harder than before, so that a good file rubbed off very 
little. I cannot however from this experiment determine whe- 
ther wootz is susceptible of a greater, or so great a degree of 
hardness as some kinds of steel used by the English artists. 
(/) The piece (§3. e) was ignited in a close vessel, and let 
cool in the ashes of the fuel. It became much less hard, but 
I never could by annealing bring down the temper to the de- 
gree of any of our steels : on which account it is far more 
difficult to forge. The interior parts of a thick piece of wootz, 
could not scarcely be softened at all by annealing. 
* This term being from the German word wellen. 
U U 2 
