This specimen had all the appreciable characters of the best Bombay TVootz. Hence Messrs. Stodart and Faraday were of opinion that wootz is steel acci dentally combined with the metal of the earths, the earth being either in the ore, or derived from the cru cible in which the prism is made. It will appear, say these chemists, from the following experiment, that we had formed artificial wootz when it was not the ob ject of research. In an attempt to reduce titanium, and combine it with steel, a portion of menachanite was heated with charcoal; a part of the button thus obtained was next fused with some good steel in the proportion of The following measure of the specific gravity of wootz in different states was obtained by Messrs. Stodart and Faraday. The results arc remarkable for being so much higher than the above : The alloy thus obtained worked well under the hammer, and the bar obtained was evidently superior to steel. This was ascribed to the presence of tita nium, but no titanium could be found in it, not even in the menachanite button itself. The product was iron and carbon, combined with the earths or their bases, and was in fact excellent wootz. On this specimen a beautiful damask was produced by the action of dilute acid.
On the Alloys of Steel.
The curious observation of Sir Humphry Davy, that mercury is rendered solid, and experiences a di minution of specific gravity from 13 to 5 by combining with part of ammonium, seems to have impressed on Mr. Stodart's mind the important fact that a very minute quantity of one metal is capable of producing extraordinary effects by combining with another.
Hence he was led, in conjunction with Mr. Faraday, to perform a series of interesting experiments on the alloys of steel with small quantities of gold, silver, platinum, rhodium, iridium, osn tam, and palladium.* A brief account of the results is all that our limits will permit us to give.
1. Alloy of Steel with Silver. When one part of silver and Jive hundred of steel were properly fused, a button was produced which forged well, and formed various cutting tools decidedly superior to those made of the very best steel. The metals were in a state of perfect chemical combination, and by a delicate test the silver could be detected in every part of the alloy. When more than part of silver was used, the excess was only mixed mechanically with the steel, and a silvery dew exuded from the metal when it con tracted by cold or was hammered.
2. Alloy of Steel and Platinum. An alloy of 100 parts steel and 1 platinum t was forged into bars remarkable for smoothness of surface' and beauty of fracture. Though less hard than the preceding alloy,
it was considerably tougher. This alloy is powerfully acted upon by weak sulphuric acid, the action in creasing with the quantity of platinum in the alloy.
Equal parts of steel and platinum produced a beautiful alloy, which takes a fine polish, and does not tarnish. It is peculiarly suitable for specula, and its specific gravity is 9.862.
S. Alloy of Steel with Rhodium. Alloys of steel with from one to two per cent. of rhodium, possess the valuable property of hardness, with tenacity suffi cient to prevent cracking either in forging or harden ing. This superior hardness is so remarkable, that in tempering for cutting articles, Messrs. Stodart and Faraday found, that they required it to be heated fully Fahrenheit higher than the best wootz, wootz itself requiring to be heated fully 400 above the best English cast steel. The great scarcity of rhodium will, however, prevent this alloy from ever getting into general use.
4. Alloy of Steel with Gold. This alloy is good, though it does not promise to be so valuable as the preceding ones.
5. Triple Alloy of Steel, Iridium, and Osmium. This alloy is also one of great value.
6. Alloy of Steel with Palladium resembles the pre ceding.
7. Alloy of Steel with Chromium. This alloy was first made by M. Berthier,4 who speaks very fa vourably of it. Messrs. Stodart and Faraday fused 1600 grains of steel with 10 of pure chrome. The button forged well, and though hard showed no dis position to crack. Another button, made of 1600 grains of steel and 48 of chrome was harder than the first, but was as malleable as pure iron.
Tin and copper were also alloyed with steel, but they did not seem to improve it.
The editor of this work has now before him highly polished specimens of four of these alloys, viz. those of platinum, gold, silver, and rhodium, which were presented to him by the late Mr. Stodart. They have now been kept for nearly seven years with different specimens of highly polished steel also given him by Mr. Stodart. The specimens of steel are all rusted, while there is not a spot upon any of the alloys. The much lamented death of Mr. Stodart has, we fear, delayed for a while the introduction of these valuable alloys into the 'arts; but we trust the subject will be again resumed by some skilful individual, who unites great practical skill with scientific knowledge.