[ 170 ] 
[March 1, 
THE NEW PATENTS LATELY ENROLLED. 
MR. PETER DAVEY of the Parifh of 
Chrijt Church, Surrey, for an 1M- 
’ PROVED FUEL. 
ry “HE fubftance here employed is a 
mixed coke compofed of pit-coal and 
charcoal in various proportions, united pre- 
vioufly to the operation of coking, and 
thus prepared together. The patentee 
takes the fmall of fea-coal, to which he 
adds charcoal, breeze, or any fubflance 
capable of making charcoal, fuch as faw- 
duft or tans and mixed in the requifite pro- 
portions, Thefe he does not mention, but 
only obiferves that for large fires, furnaces 
with a Jarge draft, and the like, the quan- 
tity of fea-coal may be increafed ; and di- 
minifhed when the fuel is intended to be 
burned in fmall fires, as fimple charcoal. 
‘The materials when mixed are to be dried 
in kilns, and heated fo as to make,them 
conglutinate and drive off the moifture 
and oily parts without coniuming the 
fubftance of the coal, which indeed is the 
precife obje&t of the procefS of coking, 
The fuel is then fit for ufe. 
The choice of fuel is a fubje€t of no 
fmall importance in chemical operations 
as well as for domeftic purpofes. ‘The 
very intenfe heat given by well made com- 
mon coke, the durability of the fire, and 
the abfence of any noxious fmoke give it 
a preference over any other, in thofe cafes 
where a moderately large body of fuel is 
to be confumed af one time, and there is 
a good draught; but it is often found ne- 
ceffary in fimall fires to mix it with pieces 
of charcoal, in order to quicken and en- 
liven the combuftion. This object is pro- 
bably better fulfilled by the prefent con- 
trivance of coking beth together, whereby 
they are mare intimately mixed, and the 
texture of the prepared fuel becomes much 
more eafily penetrable by a moderate fire, 
than that of ordinary coke is. Probably 
too a lefs degree of roafting would fuffice 
for the mixture, than what is found ne- 
ceffary tor coal when ufed alone to be cen- 
verted into good coke. ' 
Mr. DAVID MUSHET, of Glafcow, for In- 
' provements ia METALLURGY, Ge. + 
THE metal, the obje& of the prefent 
improvement is iron, and the moft im- 
portant of the procefles which the patentee 
propoles, is, the converfion of malleable 
iron or iron ore into caft fteel in a much 
more expeditious manner than is ufually 
done, and alfo to give the caft fteel the 
property of welding when that may be 
required. The common way of manu- 
faciuring caft fteel is tedious and expen- 
five, as it is performed by firft {melting 
iron ore into caft or pig iron; then by 
heating and hammering, changing the 
caft into bar iron; afterwards by a long 
procefs- called cementation, which lafts 
many days, converting bar iron into bar 
feel; and laftly, melting the latter into 
caft fteel. Ic will appear fingular to the 
reader that the whole procefs propofed by 
the patentee is fimply to take any quantity 
of malleable iron, introduce it into a cru- 
cible along with a proper proportion of 
charcoal duft or any kind of coal duft or 
carbonaceous matter, and by melting the 
mixture in a fufficient heat, the metal will 
be converted into caft fteel, which may 
either be at once run into moulds, and 
ufed in that ftate for many purpofes; or 
will ferve as a material out of which by 
fubfequent proceffes, to form the other va- 
rieties of fteel employed in the arts. Alfo, 
not only malleable iron may be ufed for 
the mixture with charcoal, but even fome 
iron ores, without previous reduétion, if 
they are fufaciently pure and free from 
thofe foreign ingredients, the prefence of 
of which forms the difference between caft 
and malleable iron. The patentee lays 
down with fome accuracy the proportions 
of carbonaceous matter to the iron, requifite 
for the different kinds of caft feel. When 
wood charcoal be ufed, he employs afeven- 
ticth to a ninetieth of the weight of iron, 
if a fortieth, the metal which refults from 
the mixture becomes very completely fu- 
fible fo as torun into any kind of moulds, 
When a very foft fteel is wanted, the pro- 
portion of charcoal may be diminifhed ta 
even a two-hundredth; for, when not 
more than one-hundredth is ufed, the caft 
fteel preferves great elafticity and ftrength ; 
but, by diminifhing the proportion of coal, 
the metal approacles to the ftate of fimple 
matieable iron, is difficult of fufion, foft, 
elaftic, and then capable of bearing a 
white heat without running down, and in 
that ftate, of being welded. The patentce 
farther adds, that to produce that valuable 
kind of feel called bi/fered fageot, or Ger- 
man fieel, which is both hard, and will 
bear welding, he heats his common caft 
feel in contaét with. carbonaceous matter, 
for five days, more or lefs, according to 
the quantity and thicknefs of the ingots. 
On the whele the inventor prefers the 
powdered 
