material, but draw their walls and roofs from the mine; whilst multiplying railroads, and a thousand steam engines, call upon the earth for further offerings of the precious ore. Amidst such a display of iron-power, we cannot but ask, Whence does the all-conquering metal come? through what processes does it pass before rising in such majesty in our dock-yards, or performing its hundred humble offices in our dwellings? Nothing presents us with a stronger proof of the triumph of the human arm and head than a piece of iron, which he who rightly understands will regard as a most striking fact in the history of civilization. The mass of that noble road which spans the Menai straits, or the elegant suspension bridge, was once a heap of hard dull earth. The hand of man has drawn from the clay-like heap, steam frigates and national roads. To trace the steps by which iron gradually passes from the ore to its ornamental and useful shapes, is the object of the present article, which it is hoped will give to every reader a brief but clear history of the advance of iron from the ore to the metallic state. It is needless to speculate on the circumstances by which men first discovered the mode of extracting iron from the earth; it is better to rest content with the fact that the art of working this valuable metal was known to the antediluvian world, for we read of Tubal-Cain that he was "an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron." The ancient fables of the pagans ascribe the art to the gods, for Vulcan, whom they represent as the first ironworker, was a son of Jove. The plain inference is, that the origin of the iron manufacture cannot be indicated by human historians, being hidden beneath the shadows of those ages when Tubal-Cain may have taught the sons of Lamech the mysteries of metallurgy. The art, once acquired, was never lost, but descended through ancient and middle ages to modern times, in which it has made such surpassing advances, though yet very far from perfection. The manufacture is of course confined to the more civilized regions of the globe, where alone the numerous processes required for its development can be fully carried out. As England is now the principal seat of this most useful art, our remarks will have a special reference to the system of iron-making pursued by British workmen. Iron is truly a creation, and the expression 'making" is no idle, inconsiderate, or fanciful phrase, as it might sound, if applied to such metals as silver, gold, or quicksilver, which are but taken out of the earth, and not made. 66 Let us take up a piece of the iron earth, called ore, and, with this dull rusty looking lump in our hands, examine a polished sabre, or a needle, or gaze upon an iron steam frigate floating in her pride of power at Spithead. What resemblance can be traced between such results of skill, and the earth in our hands? The eye can see no connexion between such diverse objects, nor can the hand use that lump of matter in its present state to promote any one end of human industry. But experience here steps in, and conducts us through all the processes which show how the magnificent Menai suspension bridge is created from a mass of shapeless earth. What then is iron? It is found either as a clay-iron ore, called argillaceous, or as a limestone-iron ore, called calcareous in the former the mineral is united to a clayey body, in the latter to limestone masses; the former of which is the most abundant ore in England, and is classed as an argillaceous carbonate of iron. These terms simply imply that the mineral is united to clay, and also combined with another widely diffused substance called carbonic acid. The mineral is often found united with sulphur, and is then termed a sulphuret of iron, which has a more metallic appearance than the other ores, and is commonly called iron pyrites.1 (1) Pyrites is derived from the Greek word for fire, and is applied to those ores which exhibit a bright appearance. It may be necessary here to inform the reader, that when a mineral is alloyed with some combustible substance not acidulated, such as sulphur, or carbon, the compound is distinguished by the termination et being added to the name of such a combustible; thus iron united with carbon is called carburet of iron (steel), or with sulphur a sulphuret of iron. When the termination ends in ate, as sulphate of iron, the reader must remember that the sulphur or carbon is strongly impregnated with oxygen; the endings in ite import a less degree of oxygen in the compound. The word oxide expresses the union of a metal with oxygen: when the latter substance acts upon unprotected iron and rusts it, this rust is called oxide of iron. These explanations may prevent any, obscurity should the use of such terms as sulphurets, carbonates, oxides, &c. be necessary in these pages. The reader may now infer that iron, in its mineral state, is united to various foreign substances, such as sulphur, carbon, clay, lime, flint, and even arsenic, from which it must be freed before it can be made an obedient servant to man. These alloys are, however, frequently found useful in various arts, and produce valuable materials for the purposes of man. Thus the oxides of iron are used in calico-printing establishments; sulphate of iron is the vitriol employed to colour cloths, and the union of the two last-mentioned alloys with prussic acid (hydrocyanic acid) produces prussian-blue. Blacklead is nothing but a mixture of carbon and iron; and the red chalk used for pencils, is also an oxide of the same material, besides which there are various amalgamations not necessary to be particularized in this article. Large The reader doubtless has sometimes heard of meteoric iron, and may inquire whether it is one of the alloys just noticed. This iron is certainly an alloy, but not a production from any mine in this world, being formed either in the air by some mysterious electrical agency, or projected from the moon, as some imagine. masses of this mineral have fallen from the atmosphere at various times, and are found to consist of iron, nickel, silica (flint), sulphur, and lime. They are often called aerolites (air stones), and are discovered in all parts of the earth in blocks of considerable magnitude. The Esquimaux possess knives formed from this extramundane metal, which the investigations of science are unable to trace to its home. If these mineral fragments are shattered portions of some distant planet, which being projected into space are drawn within the circle of the earth's attraction, we have a singular fact presented to our notice: a sort of connexion is thus established between us and some remote orb, from which we receive these exiled fragments. That a portion of another world should be found in the shape of a tool amongst the half barbarous tribes of this earth, not only excites wonder, but must suggest many curious speculations on the original homes of the aerolites which have descended upon all quarters of the globe. Probably the sacred stones worshipped by the pagans were but aerolites, which seemed to the ignorance of heathen priests and people the representatives of some power above. These singular bodies may be generated in the atmosphere, under peculiar combinations of heat and gaseous matter, upon which supposition the term meteoric has been applied to the numerous masses recorded to have fallen upon the earth. Hadley observed the descent of such a body, and estimated its motion at 350 miles a minute, and its height at seventy-two miles, at which elevation it blazed with an intense light, although far above the limits usually assigned to our atmosphere. How do these bodies burn in their rapid flight if above the atmosphere, and therefore without oxygen? or does a combustible gas fill all space, and thus allow flaming substances to feed upon it at any elevation? If such masses are projected from a distant planet, we thus learn that some of the substances forming the crust of the earth exist in the other globes of the solar system, | loss of the fuel, however, is the least mischief produced and receive new views of that uniformity which appears by a bad coking: the iron will be deteriorated by the to rule the most distant parts of the universe. Enough, defects of the coke, when the latter retains sulphur or however, has been said to call the reader's attention silex; and the effects will be seen through every stage to the existence of the meteoric metal, and we must now of the manufacture, and be at last evident in the quality proceed to a survey of the processes connected with the of the iron itself when brought to market. manufacture of iron. 1 The first important operation is preparing fuel for the furnaces, a work of the greatest importance, as upon it depends the quality of the iron produced, and consequently, the profits and fame of the manufacturer. The reader may here inquire whether coal is not found abundantly in the iron districts? We answer, most certainly; noble fields of coal stretch for miles beneath the countries where the fires from iron furnaces startle the traveller, and gleam over the wild, northern moors, or on the sides of the Welsh hills. But coal will not suit the manufacturer's purpose; it will spoil his iron, and must, therefore, be coked before it can be used in the furnace. The best fuel is charcoal, which is consumed in the Swedish furnaces, and was formerly employed in England at the iron works, until the vast increase of the manufacture rendered the employment of such a substance impossible. Even in the time of Elizabeth, the great consumption of wood in the iron works induced the legislature to prohibit by statute the use of such a fuel, and there is no reason to apprehend that the manufacturer will infringe this law in 1847. Since sufficient charcoal cannot be procured, the next object is to provide a fuel nearly resembling it, and this coke supplies. Before, then, the ore can be in the least degree acted upon, an important preliminary operation is essential to expel from the coal those substances which are injurious to the iron. Coking is thus effected. A large quantity of coal being spread over the ground, the mass is lighted, and when the flames begin to rise, the whole bed of burning matter is covered with ashes to keep out the air, after which the coal is left to burn out, and by this process becomes changed into coke. Should a person unacquainted with the various works of an iron district be conducted into the midst of such a country on a dark night, he would suppose himself placed in the heart of some volcanic region, with craters belching forth their fires from deep-seated centres of flame. Here in a valley spreads one fiery bed, resembling a lake of molten matter, swelling with its fierce glow above the surface; there on the side of a bleak mountain, a flaming chasm seems opened in the side of a volcano. To increase his surprise, figures like men are seen to dart to and fro amidst the sulphureous glare, as if performing some incantation. Such feelings might influence the person whom we have supposed suddenly introduced to the novel spectacle; but the inhabitants of the districts are too accustomed to these sights to express wonder at things which are connected with their daily pursuits. Thus the smoke of Vesuvius arrests the earnest gaze of the Englishman who enters for the first time the bay of Naples, but has little attraction for those who have dwelt from childhood within sight of the opening through which the subterranean fires of southern Europe have for ages escaped. Having now observed the preparation of the fuel destined to feed the furnaces, and produce results never witnessed by Prometheus himself, we must proceed to an examination of the different operations by which the rough iron ore is changed into the useful metal. The first process is that of roasting, by which various vapours are expelled from the ore by exposing it to a heat sufficient for this purpose, but not so intense as to liquefy the mineral. Were these gases allowed to remain they would interfere with the subsequent operations of melting and refining; it is, therefore, of the highest consequence to dry the iron earth, and expel from it all watery and sulphureous particles. The task is not one which a rude, careless man, can satisfactorily perform, however simple the mere process of roasting a mass of ore may appear to the reader. In fact, we shall find, through every stage of the iron manufacture, that the greatest attention to all the details of the work is expected from the workmen, who are thus far removed from the dulness often produced by labours requiring little exertion save that of mere animal power. The ore is put into a kiln for roasting, where the chief point requiring the workman's care is to preserve the heated mass within given temperatures, so that the heat shall neither fall below, nor rise above a fixed limit. If the furnace be too hot, the ore will begin to melt, and the pieces stick to each other, which is to be avoided; and if the fires be kept too low, the roasting will be inefficiently performed; in other words, the water and sulphur will not be sufficiently expelled from the mass. A great diminution in the weight of the ore is caused in the roasting, by which about one-fourth of the original is lost; a result to be expected when we consider the vast quantities of vapour driven from the rough ore by the heat. The reader will remember that in this operation no melting has been permitted; this is the next step in the manufacture, and is termed smelting, a word apparently derived from the Saxon language, in which its root was of the same import with the modern term melt. The operation of smelting is thus performed: a large quantity of the roasted ore is put into a furnace, which is a clumsy shaped mass, often fifty feet high, and to the ore a certain bulk of coke and limestone, or clay, is added. The furnace being heated, the whole contents are reduced to a fluid; the metal sinks through the fiery mass to the bottom of the furnace, whence it escapes, when sufficiently prepared, through a hole purposely plugged up with earth or clay till the moment for extracting the melted iron. Thus the whole mass is kept simmering for about twelve hours, exposed to the most intense heat which the arts of the metallurgist can produce. The degree of heat requisite to melt iron would be represented by nearly 18,000° of Fahrenheit's thermometer; to support this the furnaces are constructed of the materials most fitted to resist the constant action of fire, such as fire-proof bricks, laid in fire-clay instead of mortar, and raised upon the most solid masonry. The lower part, on which the fluid metal rests, called the " 'hearth," is often formed of grit-stone, cemented with fire-clay; and even these are soon burnt into a basin-like shape by the constant heat. However grand these coking fields may appear to a stranger, the manufacturer is too much engaged in the operation to pay attention to its picturesque circumstances, as profit alone, not a striking scene, is his object. The anxiety often attending the work may be estimated from the immense loss sometimes occasioned during one stormy night, when the wind sweeping along an exposed hill prevents the burning mass from being effectually covered by the ashes, in consequence of which an inferior coke is produced, and enormous quantities of the fuel consumed, in spite of all the coker's care. In such a night, a hundred tons of coal may thus be lost by exposure to the atmosphere, an important item in the expenses of a manufacture requiring the most rigid economy in all its branches. The 1 fore, regarded as the author of all arts. Some may now inquire the object for which the lime, or clay, is introduced with the ore into the furnace, as this may seem like adding foreign substances to the mineral mass. This iron will not separate from the earth with which it is mixed without the assistance of some substance called a flux, which attracts to itself the (1) Perhaps it is not superfluous to inform some readers that Prometheus was deemed the bestower of fire upon men, and, there non-metallic matter, and then enables the liberated iron to sink to the bottom, leaving the foreign substance with which it had been united floating at the top, like a thick scum or crust of molten lava. If the iron is calcareous,' it is evident that no object will be attained by adding more lime; clay is then used as a flux. It is therefore only with argillaceous2 iron ore that lime is employed. When the roasted ore, with the proper quantity of fluxing material and coke, has been placed in the furnace, the utmost watchfulness becomes necessary to keep every process in the right state, and secure the proper quantity of iron having all the requisites of a good marketable metal. Too much heat may not only injure the massive furnaces, by burning away the solid brickwork, but the iron produced is then bad in kind, and small in amount; whilst a too slow fire will also cause results equally pernicious. To secure the utmost attention on the part of the workmen, the masters usually pay them according to the quantity of metal produced; thence, not only the keeper of the furnace, but all his fellows, have the strongest motives for the exercise of care and skill. (To be continued.) Poetry. [In Original Poetry, the Name, real or assumed, of the Author, is printed in Small Capitals under the title; in Selections, it is printed in Italics at the end.] -- TRUE WALTER. From the German of Uhland. REV. HENRY THOMPSON. IT was Childe Walter, true and good, "O stay, Childe Walter! true love, stay! "Tis found with thee alone." He rais'd her soft, that maiden bright, She cast her arms around the knight "Ah, Walter true! this heart, I feel, Into Childe Walter's towers they pace; "Sunk eye, and cheek all pale of blee! As now, thou constant one!" "What see I here? A haircloth vest! Dost mourn for kith or kin ?" (1) A word formed from calcium, the name of the metal from which lime is formed. (2) This word is derived from the Latin argilla, clay. (3) This word is used for maid in our cld English writers, whom Uhland himself imitates in this and many other of his ballads; an imitation followed in this version. The other archaïc words are well known. She casts her weeping at his feet; Forget all crime and care!" "Stand up, stand up, my poor lost fere! My arms are stark, my heart is sere, Rectory, Wrington, Sept. 24, 1846. Miscellaneous. "I have here made only a nosegay of culled flowers, and have brought nothing of my own, but the string that ties them."-Montaigne. OUR CHILDHOOD. ALL minds, even the dullest, remember the days of their youth; but all cannot bring back the indescribable brightness of that blessed season. They who would know what they once were, must not merely recollect, but they must imagine the hills and valleys-if any such there were-in which their childhood played; the torrents, the water-falls, the lakes, the heather, the rocks, the heavens' imperial dome, the raven floating only a little lower than the eagle in the sky. To imagine what he then heard and saw, he must imagine his own nature. He must collect from many vanished hours the power of his untamed heart; and he must, perhaps, transfuse also something of his maturer mind into those dreams of his former being, thus linking the past with the present by a continuous chain, which, though often invisible, is never broken. So is it too with the calmer affections that have grown within the shelter of a roof. We do not merely remember, we imagine, our father's house, the fireside, all his features then most living, now dead and buried; the very manner of his smile, every tone of his voice. We must combine with all the passionate and plastic power of imagination, the spirit of a thousand happy hours into one moment; and we must invest with all that we ever felt to be venerable, such an image as alone can fill our filial hearts. It is thus that imagination, which first aided the growth of all our holiest and happiest affections, can preserve them to us unimpaired,— For she can bring us back the dead, -Blackwood's Magazine, 1837. London Magazine: A JOURNAL OF ENTERTAINMENT AND INSTRUCTION A PAGE FROM THE DIARY OF A FORTUNE-HUNTER. BY MRS. ABDY. THIS morning I received a note from my affianced | mined never to marry her while her uncle lived; bride, Constance Graham, requesting me to attend at he had frequently proclaimed her his heiress, but as two o'clock that day at the house of her late uncle frequently took offence at something or at nothing in in Harley-street, for the purpose of hearing his will her behaviour, and bequeathed his wealth to a hospital, read. I had the greatest pleasure in complying with prison, or lunatic asylum. I felt quite easy on the this invitation. I had really begun to fancy that old Mr. Graham was going to remain perpetually on the earth, like Mrs. Norton's "Undying One;" he was always on the point of death, and always cured, and better than ever in the course of a few days; last month the cold water system seemed completely to renovate him, but he suddenly relapsed, departed from the world, and left fifty thousand pounds and a will behind him. Though Constance is the prettiest and most amiable girl of my acquaintance, I had deter present occasion, for Mrs. Bates, Mr. Graham's housekeeper, had given me information that, only an hour before her master's death, he had told her he had handsomely provided for Constance. I felt, however, that it was my policy to appear ignorant of that circumstance, Constance being very romantic, and Constance's mother very suspicious. At the appointed time I walked into the drawingroom in Harley-street, the very few relatives of the old gentleman were assembled. There was Constance, look VOL. IV. ing as Hebe might have looked if Hebe had ever worn crape and bombazine; Constance's mother looking stiff, cross, and uneasy; an elderly female cousin, and a stripling nephew of the deceased. I feared none of them. I knew that Mr. Graham disliked his fine lady sister-in-law, despised the servility of his elderly cousin, and dreaded the frolics of his stripling nephew. I seated myself by Constance, and in a soft tone began to protest my affection and disinterestedness. Knowing the caprice of your uncle, my beloved," I said; " I have every reason to conclude that I shall hear you are disinherited; this, however, will be of little moment to me; I have enough for comfort, though not for luxury, and, as the song beautifully says 'Still fixed in my heart be it never forgot "I fancy, Mr. Chilton," said Constance's mother, looking excessively sneering and shrewish, "that it is pretty well known that my daughter is the sole heiress of her uncle's wealth." "Indeed, Madam?" I replied, with a start of surprise, "I was not aware that any surmise was hazarded concerning the contents of Mr. Graham's will." "I have heard a surmise hazarded," sharply interposed the elderly cousin, "that Mr. Graham was not in his senses when he made it." "Constance ! dear Constance!" I exclaimed, in the softest of tones. But Constance looked neither like || Hebe nor Niobe, but as stern and severe as Medea. I then attacked Temple. "Is it legal," I said, "only to read part of a will?” "I read every word of the will," he replied, “and, having greatly fatigued myself by so doing, I trust that it was perfectly legal to refresh myself with a glass of sherry before I read the codicil." I was going to utter some further remarks, when Constance's mother said, " Good morning, Mr. Chilton!" in a tone of voice which left me no alternative but to echo her leave-taking, and I descended the stairs, pursued by a smothered laugh from the party in the drawing room, returned home in very low spirits, and entered my adventure or rather misadventure in my diary, deducing from it this valuable piece of advice to gentlemen in search of fortune: "Never believe that a will is concluded till you have inquired whether there is any codicil to it." THE IRON MANUFACTURE.1 THE intense heat required in the smelting and similar processes is produced by blast machines, which drive "The mind must be both base and weak,", retorted air into the furnaces by a steam-engine. Those who Constance's mother, "which could give credence to such his fire, can form little notion of the effects produced have only seen the effect of a blacksmith's bellows on a rumour." And forthwith a sparring dialogue took place between the two ladies, during which I whispered by the impulsion of volumes of air into a glowing to Constance a page of Moore's poetry done into prose. furnace by powerful machinery. Strong iron vessels are filled with air, which is then forced through pipes ¦ Temple now entered the room, the solicitor and intimate friend of the late Mr. Graham; he was a hand-by the steam-engine piston, into the furnace, thus kept some young man, and had presumed at one time to lift at the heat requisite for the smelting operation. It his eyes to Constance; he opened the will, and we all might be imagined that the introduction of such became mutely attentive. Oh, what a disappointment all the heat required, but not so have the iron-masters volumes of air would be sufficient for the production of awaited us! Three thousand pounds were bequeathed to Constance, (this was the old fellow's idea of a hand- thought hot air is now poured into the furnaces, and some provision !) Five hundred pounds to the elderly thus the heat is never diminished by the inrush of cold matter upon the melted mass. cousin, ditto to the stripling nephew, small legacies to the servants, and the remainder of his wealth to found a cold water establishment for the reception of those who were not rich enough to pay a gratuity for being half drowned Temple read the names of the attesting witnesses, and then refreshed himself with sherry and biscuits. As he was a friend of the family, his presence was no restraint on conversation. "That will ought to be disputed," said Constance's mother, looking very red, "I do not believe Mr. Gra ham was in his senses when he made it." "I thought," said the elderly cousin, with a sneer, "that the mind must be both base and weak which could give credence to such a surmise." "Dear mamma!" said Constance, do not be discomposed; I am very well contented--I shall not be quite a portionless bride." Constance here held out her deli cate white hand to me-I affected not to see it. "My dear Miss Graham," I said, " do not believe me so cruel and selfish as to wish to plunge you into poverty." "I thought you said that your income was sufficient for every comfort," remarked the stripling nephew. I did not condescend to answer him, but continued: "No, Constance, though it breaks my heart to do so, I give you back your freedom, saying, in the pathetic words of Haynes Bayly, May your lot in life be happy, undisturbed by thoughts of me!" I was just making to the door, leaving Constance looking more like Niobe than Hebe, when Tempie said, "I think the party had better remain till I have read the codicil." I rescated myself in amaze, and Temple forthwith read that the testator, being convinced that he had received no benefit from the cold water system, revoked and rescinded his legacy to it, bequeathing the same to his beloved niece, Constance Graham. " In working the furnaces, the introduction of air alone air must rush out with variable force; to obviate this | Thus, in the management of the air alone, great skill and experience are essential; and the quality of the (1) Continued from page 32. |