Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-05-26


guns still to be seen in Turkey carrying a
stone ball 600 pounds in weight Muskets and
other light fire arms furnished an abundant field
for the ingenuity of smiths, and their varieties
are almost infinite. A favourite material for
gun barrels was, and perhaps still is, old stubs or
horse shoe nails. A great number of these being
confined by hoop, the whole mass is welded to.
gcther by strong heat, and then beaten into long
thin plate.. which are forged and welded around
rod and afterwards bored smooth. There are
also twisted barrels, showing spiral grain pro-
duced by twisting the barrel when red hot. Wire
barrels, or very thin barrels wound with iron
wire, the coils being soldercd down, and the out.
er surface dressed smooth, were at one time
much in vogue The rifle the most effective of
| light firearms, is claimed as German invention
II was certainly known before the year 1900 and
according to some writers a century earlier.
The introduc ton Of cannon occasioned great
improvements in the art of casting iron, and in
deed the lron-foundries of Europe may be said to
owe their existence to the invention of ptnpow-
der, for though the art of casting iron was known
before that period, yet it was practsed but on a
very small scale. War therefore, the scourge
and disgrace of humanity, has in this, as in ma.
ny other instances, in some measure compensa-
ted for its enormous evils, by giving rise to mo
chancal Improvements of the highest practical
value Casting in bronze was known and much
practiscd at n very remote period. 1t was applied
not only to the fabrication of hollow ware, and
other ordinary purposes, but statues of great
size were cast in this material. These were hol-
low, as are the bronze works of modern statua :
res, and were generally cast in parts, which
were united by soldering, dove failing or rvet.
ing, but there are cxtant some ancient bronze
statues, believed to have been cast entire, and
displaying singular skill in the founder as we'll
as in the sculptor. They are incredibly thin,
many Of the full size of life not exceeding one
tenth of an inch in thickness of metal, and even
the equestrian statue of Marcus Aureius at Rome
is said scarcely to be Of greater thickness.
| In refining the precious metals the ancient
white smiths were not inferior TO the moderns
so tar as the means for Judging now exist Few
OF their works in the fine arts in these metals
have survived the cupidity of twenty centuries,
and we must Judge of their skill in REFINING and
working gold and silver, chiefly from their coin =
age The ancient CONS are believed to have
been struck by the hammer and punch. This is
inferred from the character of the impression,
and the texture of the metal, which are said to
differ some what from the effects of the pressure
OF DIE, from the irregular disposition ofthe char
actcrs and figures, and from the fact that no two
strictly similar coins ever found. The styIc
oil execution by such means must of necessity in
general he rude, with whatever skill the punches
might be designed or cnt, but there are some
coins of great beauty both of design and impress.
sion. The coins of Sicily in particular are re-
markable for purity Of design, boldness of relief
ana sharpness o! impression. Among the re-
markab'e antiques in the precious metals may
be mentioned two golden horns, probably drink
ing vessels, found in Denmark, one in the year
1852 and the other, within few feet of the same
spot, IN IIol. These horns were about four inches
IN diameter at the mouth, and nearly three feet in
| length, ~ weighed about even pounds each They
were scul ptured with unknown characters and
mysterious symbols, and the gold of which they
were wrought was of such fincncss that the best
rchners in Copenhagen, who were employed to
supply defective part to Of these horns,
were unable after repeated trials, to produce
metal ofequal purity.
| The art of gliding metals, marble, and other
substances, was known and much practised by
/ the anclents, bronze statues and other works in
| the fine arts being often beautiiied in this way
| lhey are believed to have glded metals BY
anal yamatlon, but the thickness of the pildinu
on some statues, and other objects, which could
not be exposed to the necessary degree of heat
seems to imply that the metal was applied in the
form of thin plate, rather than in that Of lead
or amalgamatcd gold.
The Chinese were skilful in working the met.
ais in very early age. There is extent an old
Chinese work on vases, illustrated BY many hun
dred engravings of ancient vases of rod and 9th.
cr metals, among which are some of very curious
forms, and bearing inscriptions, which refer
Their date to the reign of monarchs, who flour.
lshed 1000 years before our era.
Notwithstanding the excellence Of the ancient
smiths and founders, it is not to be denied, that
the moderns have made important improvements
! in the working and of metals. These i'm.
provemcnts are partly mctallurgica, partly me.
chanlcal, and partly consist in the application of
metals to new purposes. To begin then with the
metallurgica, which term shall employ in a
sense somewhat extended, and more in accor.
dance with It's chronological meaning, than com
mon usage will perhaps justify. The modern
processes for the extraction Of metals from their
ores, and for refining them, are much more sim
Pile, economical, expeditions, and cfirctual than
those employed by the ancents, though, as has
been already intmated, we have not surpassed
them in the quality of the metal produced The
ancient modes of converting iron to steel are not
well understood. The process of cementaton
by which that conversion is now effected, is said
to he of English origin Concentration consists
in exposing bars of iron, in layers alternating
with powdered charcoal, in confined boxes, to a
red heat for many days. This steel is distin
gushcd by the bubbles or blistcrs on its surface
and is called Jistsred steel. If the bars are bro.
ken in pieces, welded, and drawn out again, a
variety is produced called GTman or shear steel
n name also given to kind produced from cast
iron, or directly from iron ore. Cast steel is pre-
pared from cemented steel exposed to longer
heat than usual, broken up, fused in a cruci BILE
and cast into short thick bars, which are after
wards drawn out into longer ones. The casting
ofsteel was invented in 1850 in England, and
the metal thus refined is the best manufactured
in Europe. Most of it is prepared from the iron
ofthe celebrated mines of Dannemora in Sweden
the whole produce of which is monoposed by a
single English house. Case-hardening by which
the surface of forged iron work is converted into
steel is modern invention. 1t is performed in
various ways. The best is said to be by envel