IRON ORES. 
37 
Ores of Iron. 
The production of Iron forms so prominent a feature in the com¬ 
mercial industry of Great Britain, that a larger space is allotted in 
the Museum to its ores than to those of either of the other metals. 
The gradual revival of the iron trade of this country, from about the 
middle of the 18th century, and its enormous increase during the last 
two generations, constitute one of the most remarkable chapters in 
the history of civilization. 
That iron ore ’svas known in the time of the Romans to exist in 
England we learn from various evidence. The presence of Roman 
coins, some of them as early as Trajan, found in heaps of iron cinders 
near Monmouth, and again under similar circumstances in Sussex, 
proves that iron wms made at a very early period from the red and 
brown oxides, commonly called lujematites, which were found in the 
Forest of Dean and in Kent and Sussex, and wdiich are similar to the ores 
wdiich have from time immemorial been smelted by simple methods in 
the Apennines and the Pyrenees. These ores, reduced by the aid of 
charcoal, and often conveyed for long distances to the places v/here 
wmod was abundant, were the great source of iron, until about the 
year 1740, when after more than a century of experiment, pit coal 
came into use in the blast furnace, and with it the poorer but abundant 
and contiguous clay iron ores of the coal measures began to be employed. 
The old localities of the once prized rust-coloured ores were gradually 
neglected, and in many cases utterly forgotten, or recognized only by 
some heap of cinders or the traditions of the country people ; but, as if 
by a new turn of Fortune’s wheel, the revolution given to trade by the 
introduction of railways, has sought for new supplies of ore to satisfy 
the constantly increasing demands of the furnaces, and the ancient 
sites are in many cases again brought into operation. 
The total production of Pig Iron, (the crude cast metal obtained from 
the smelting in the blast furnace,) wms in 1863 no less than 4,510,040 
tons, of the value of upwards of ten million pounds sterling. This vast 
amount, growm up to a Colossus from a mere germ of 180,000 tons in 
the year 1800, required for its production upwards of 9,000,000 tons of 
various classes of ore, ‘a total to wdiich nearly all our Western, Midland, 
and Northern counties contributed their quota. 
Notwithstanding the magnitude of the interests concerned in the 
preparation of this indispensable metal, it will scarcely be credited that 
no systematic collection representing the workable ores of the Kingdom 
had been brought together until the Great Exhibition of 1851. The 
want was then supplied by the liberal exertions of Mr. S. H. Blackw'ell, 
ironmaster, of Dudley, wdio after the Exhibition presented them to this 
Institution, munificently adding a sum of 500/. towards their chemical 
analysis for the general advantage.* Mr. Blackwmll’s collection has 
been amalgamated with numerous specimens wdiich had before been 
collected during the progress of the Geological Survey through, the 
South-wmstern counties, and the wPole now represents wdth complete¬ 
ness all the notable iron mining districts of the country. 
• Note.—Tha analyses of a great number of the more important ores have been completed in 
the laboratory of the Museum, and published among the Memoirs of the Geological Survey, as 
the “ Iron Ores of Great Britan,” Barts I., II., III., IV. 
