The Express.
London, England, 1855-03-29 00:00:00

SOCIETY OF ARTS.

Dr. W. H. Smith, of Philadelphia, read' last night
before the society a paper " On the Utilisation of the Siege
or Molten Mineral Products of Smelting Furnaces."
Tee lecturer manateased by abjutiog to the anal &Gab-
tioo of slag, as "the Niue vitreous products of smolt*,
furnaces." This only referred to one of its mat objecting-
able conditions. In order to be justly appreciated, slag
must be• considered, first, in its molten state, as a fused
mineral product, and then in the variety of the combine-
lions, forms, and general properties it may be made to
assume under scien!ific treatment subsequently to
its removal from the smelting furnace. Siege are
interesting both in a scientific and in a cons-
' mercial point of view. The scientific part of the
question was disposed of very briefly by the lec-
turer. He observed that geologists. toiling amidst the
vast laboratuy of nature, desirous to decipher the rocky
hieroglyphics of consecutive ages, found it a difficult task to
account for the varieties and seeming contradictions of the
mineral kingdom. in the smelting furnace, however, he
is able to reproduce those very formations, and thus to
account for the contradictions. The commercial value of
slag is evident from five considerations:
1 From the value of that class of rocks with which it is
identical in its essential properties. Granite, feldspar,
greenstone, clinkstone, asnygdaloid, lava, obsidian, 80.,
at. of primary importance. All these owe their origin to
WON deep-seatad source of beat, and are composed of the
same elements as the products of the smelting turnings
fused by a similar igneous agency. The slag of the fur-
naces is composed principally of silica, lime, and alumina.,
and these very elements are the ingredients out of which
nature has fsabioned and annealed nearly all the valuable
building material of the universal kingdom.
2. From the regularity of the laws iavotved in the com-
position of slog, which afford us a sure guarantee that it
ta possible to impart to it the same valuable properties by
which igneous rocks are characterised.
3. From the advantages it possesses se an industrial pro-
duct, and especially from its superior fitness for architectural
purposes, it can be cast as easily as iron itself, with the
superior advantage of being susceptible of the admixture
and blending, of colour so as to render it equal in brilliancy
and colour to agate, malachite, and variegated marbles. It
can be adapted to any variety of architectural design.
4. From the economy of production. In making bricks
of slag, the raw material can less than nothing, tee iron-
master at present being obliged to pay for the expense of
baring it thrown away. 7be process of making bricks
from slag is as simple and cheap u that of making them
from clay. The cost of making Vs's bricks from slag is only
about half that of making them from clay. The lecturer
thee went into long calculations of the cost of preparing the
slag, the result of which gave favourable economical results.
5 From the abundance of its supply. The iron smelting
works of Great Britain annually produce 6,000,000 to
10,000,000 tons of slag. If we add to this the amount yielded
la the reduction of copper, lead, and other ores, thee apply
will be found sufficient to create • new channel of prcdso-
tive industry almost equal in extent and importance to any
that now occupies the productive industry of civilised na-
tions. Very little additional capital would be required in
addition to that already vested in the smelting furnaces
Daring the lecture various beautiful specimens of the ma-
nufacture were shown. They appeared to payees all the
qualities of coloured marbles.
A discussion taking place,
Mr. Cameron corroborated the statements of the.
lecturer by accountsof experiments performed by himself at.
the iron works of Lady Chstlotte Guest.
Mr. Davison, the manager of the Dowlaia Iron Works,
confirmed the testimony of Mr. Cameron. lie drew parti-
-ular attention to the fact that it coat the iron masters
160,0001. per annum to throw away what he was convinced,
by experiments of which he was cognisant, might be male
by Dr. Smith's process an article of immense commercial
value.
Mr. Nesbitt, Professor Wilson, Messrs. May, Davis,
Reid, and Austin made some remarks ; but not of sufficient
importance to need repo: t. In fact, the whole meeting
seemed sati,fied that Dr. Smith had pointed out the open-
ing to a vast field of commercial enterprise.

DARING ROBBERY.--On Tuesday morning a daring
robbery took place at Newton le-Willows, Lancashire.
Mr. Loyd, a cattle dealer, laving at Newton-le-Willowy, wee
on bit way to the Llvdt.o and North Western station at
Newton-bridge, and was within a stone's throw of the bridge
which carries the Manchester. and Liverpool Railway neer
the road to Warrington, when he was seised by four tall,
powerful men, dreesed like nay, Oae ' a hand 0.--
him mouth, another pinioned r -
third tore away hie trousers
reigns. The robbery was act
of minutes, and the navvies,
izto a stream which runs near
beds threatened to murder b'
left film. He afterwards w
situated on the bridge, and
got a light (it was then soon
they carried to the spot wt
found a purse with a few a
that the robbers had taken
dropped, and also recovered I
had got clear away, and no tt
lathed. Mr. Loyd telegraph(
Warrington and Manchester,
the men. He was going to tl
daubs the man had waylaid
kiwi*, that hi snak areiad gad about him.

ICen;vries. Oa* put i hand twer
red his arum behind, him, and the
,ere pocket', containing 330 sows-
, accomplished in lees than a cou ...
es, after throwin ,g_Mr. Loyd' • .." 1:-....„
seer the road amidst , 1..
-k
~,....:.
er him if he raised any
_Kilo., ' v
went up to the stationor7l 3. . .-
d with the aid of a rail ;„ 44'7 -Oir: ~.
on after sin the morn . ~. • " ~..,,„
rbere he had been rob, , irs:P.!! !.:.‘'‘),
i • sovereigns and some , . • r '
en from one of his ..." :Air' s: ,
id his hat. The Yobbo" ti
o trace of them has I,lllCkyte • ' , 74.4 f
tphed to the police at Livl up oc ...;%1
ster, giving a good descriptio. •
to the Liverpool market, aad as
" kill!' qt•r, •bf•P#llg a 11•64