The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, AUCKTST 1, 1861.

of Essen, has taken the lead of all steelmakers in
this country. Ile has met the difficulty of tough-
ening large masses of cast steel by using hammers
of extraordinary weight, and I believe that equal
success will never be attained in England without
adopting similar measures. It will be a great era
in metallurgy when a material possessing the
toughness and ductility of wrought iron, combined
with the homogeneous character of a cast metal, can
be economically supplied in large blocks. But,
whatever the march of improvement may effect, I
doubt whether such blocks can yet be produced
at a cost which would admit of their extensive ap-
plication. lam glad, however, to see that papers
are to be read at this meeting which may be ex-
pected to bear upon this important subject ; and
among the names appended to those papers we are
fortunate in having that of Bessemer, whose exer-
tions in this field of inquiry have attracted so much
attention. The preceding observations on the ap-
plication of iron to the construction of artillery
would not be complete without some allusion to the
system of manufacture which I have myself adopted,
and which may be designated the coil system.
When malleable iron is rolled into bars its crystal-
lisation assumes a fibrous form, causing the bar to
resemble a bundle of threads, strongly adhering to
each other, but possessing their chief tenacity in
the direction of their length. The compressive
powerlis also such as generally to eliminate all im-
perfect welds, or, if any remain, they are drawn
out parallel with the fibre of the iron. To realise
in a cylinder the advantage of this fibrous struc-
ture it becomes necessary to coil the bar into a
spiral, and to unite the folds by welding. The
lines of welding will then be transverse to the
cylinder, in which direction they have little ten-
dency to weaken it when exposed to a bursting force,
even should they not be perfectly sound. There is
a limit to the thickness of bar, which it is con-
venient to bend into a spiral, and in making a gun
on this system the required diameter is made up
by applying successive layers of coils, each layer
being shrunk upon the one beneath. This mode of
construction has the advantage of affording the
opportunity of discovering and rejecting all defec-
tive parts as the work proceeas sand guns may
thus be built up to almost any site without encoun-
tering any of those difficulties and liabilities which
are met with in forging large blocks, whether of
steel or iron. With regard to the great question
of the ultimate effect of artillery against ships
protected by defensive armour, I believe that,
whatever thickness of iron may be adopted, guns
will be constructed capable of destroying it. At
the same time I am of opinion that iron-plated
ships will be infinitely more secure against artillery
than timber ships. The former will effectually
resist every species of explosive or incendiary pro-
jectile, as well as solid shot from all but the heaviest
guns, which can never be used in large numbers
against them. In short, it appears to me to be a
question between plated ships or none at all ; at any
rate, so far as line-of-battle ships are concerned.
With respect to the quality of the material best
adapted to resist the impact of shot, this subject is
engaging much attention in the town of Sheffield
and the iron districts generally. So far as my own
observation and experience go, I may say that hard-
ness and lamination are the conditions most essen-
tial to avoid. In striking a plate the tendency of
a shot is to fracture, rather than to pierce, the
material. When penetration is effected, the hole is
of a broken character, and not such as would be
made by the cutting action of a punch. The softer,
therefore, the iron, the less injury it will sustain,
and I apprehend that steel, in every form, will,
from its great hardness, be found less effective than
wrought iron, while its cost will be very much
greater. As regards laminat ion, it has been clearly
ascertained that a given thickness of iron made
up of successive layers of thin plates is very
much weaker for the purpose of armour
than the same thickness in the solid form.
But a laminated plate, by which I mean a
plate having the layers composing it imperfectly
united, must be regarded as an aggregation of
separate plates, so that_Jhe strength derived from
continuity is wanting. If this tendency to lami-
nation could be obviated, rolled plates would in my
opinion, be preferable to forged, since the iron
would acquire a more fibrous condition, but the
existence of this liability appears to turn the scale
in favour of forging. I hope the time is far distant
when these great questions concerning attack and
defence may receive a practical elucidation in actual
warfare ; but I trust that in the course of our efforts
to solve them discoveries may be made which will
be as useful for the purposes of peace as for those of
war. lam tempted to advert, before I conclude, to
a subject intimately connected with mechanical
progress, but upon which much difference of opinion
may exist. That dauntless spirit which in matters
of commerce has ied this country to cast off the
trammels of protection has resulted in augmented
prosperity to the nation, showing the injurious ten-
dencies of class legislation when opposed to general
freedom of action. Would that the same bold and
enlightened policy were extended, in some degree
at least, to matters of invention. Under our present
patent laws we are borne down with an excess of
protection. We are obstructed in every direction
by patented inventions which will never be reduced
to practice by those who hold them, but which em-
brace ideas capable of useful application if freed
from monopoly. The merit of invention seldom lies
in the fundamental conception, but is to be found
in the subsequent elaboration, and in the successful
struggle with difficulties, unknown to the mere
disappointment, for
years of labour,
for their removal.
blended Frith
wainthd
Nothing can be more irrational, therefore, to give
equal privileges to the mere schemer and to the man
who gives actual effect to an invention. Primary
ideas ought to be the common property of all in-
ventors, and protection, if we are to have it at all,
should be sparingly awarded to those persons alone
who, by their labour and intellect, give available
reality to ideas. Apart from the impolicy of our
present indiscriminate system, its operation is un-
just. Philosophers who furnish the light of science
to guide to useful discovery go altogether unre-
warded and unrecognised. Practical men, who, like
Watt and George Stephenson, devote the best part
of their lives to perfecting inventions of immense
importance to the world seldom derive from patents
any greater emolument than would flow to them
without the aid of a restrictive system, while they
are frequently inv lved in tormentinc, litigation
about priority of idea. On the other hand, we see
numerous cases of disproportionate wealth realised
by persons whose only merit has been promptitude
in seizing upon and monopolizing some expedient
which lay upon the very surface of things, and re-
quired no forcing atmosphere of protection for its
discovery. Finally, injustice is done by the exist-
ing law to those men who have no desire for
monopoly, but who are compelled to become paten-
tees for no other purpose than to prevent their being
excluded from carrying their own ideas into prac-
tice. For my part, I incline to think that the
prestige of successful invention would, as a rule,
bring with it sufficient reward, and that protection
might be entirely dispensed with. On this point,
however, I speak with hesitation ; but it is, at all
events, certain that extensive reform is urgently
required in this branch of legislation, and that the
advance of practical science is now grievously
obsti'ucted by those very laws which were intended
to encourage its progress. Having now called to
your remembrance the triumphs which have already
been accomplished in mechanical science, and hav-
ing directed your attention to some of the subjects
which at the present time merit your consideration,
it only remains to express my hope that the genius,
enterprise, and intelligence which have hitherto
distinguished your profession may continue to bear
fruits worthy of the past, and that the proceedings
of this institution may serve to guide and stimulate
the efforts of itslmembers.