The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1864-01-22
Chemistry Of Knives and Porks--A Story
for Boys and Girls.
cd morning, Charles and John"

tell us what everything on tho table is com.
posed Of"
"Do you think that would bo interest
ing ?"
"Cortainly, sir. We like to know whs.
things are mado Of"
very we'll where shall we begin ?"
"Why not begin with the table itself ;
That would seem to bo tho proper place."
Il think it better to begin with the knives
aud forks you will understand why, by
by. Do you know what substance knives
are made of ?"
"Iron, sir"
"What do you say, Charles Z"
"Stoel, sir; or iron and steel, l suppose.
"Ycs, iron and steel Do you SEQ this
little wrinkled place on tho side of tho blade,
near the handle That is who're the steel
blado is welded to the iron shank. Steel
can be made great deal harder than iron ;
acd, consequently, whom it is ground down
to very thin odge, 1t does not break away
as iron would, so that the blade is made o.
steel, and the shank of IRON"
"Why do they not mako the whole of
steel ~
"Stocl is worth sixteen of seventeen cents
per pound, and iron only Hve or six and
the manufacturers find it profitable to weld
iron shanks to the blades, in order to save
the trfiing difference in the cost of the ma
torial. This is striking instance of tho OK.
treme economy introduced into industrial
opera tions of the present day."
"What is the difference between iron and
stool :"
Iron is a puro metal, and, like all
mota!s, IL is a simple substance. All the
matter OF tho oarth is composed of few
simple clements. When / first attended
lectures on chemistry. there were only forty.
four of those elements known, but othors
are being constantly discovered, and they
are now rockoned at sirty-two, of which for.
ty-soven arc metals. How many of these
metals do you know
Iron, iead, copper, silver, and gold tha.
is fivo" ...-'
What is that sheet before the stove 2"
"Oh ! zine"
"And what Is tha, in tho thorn ometer y
"Mercury-that makes seven; and brass. y
mo, brass is not simple metal it is q
mixture of copper and zinc. Mixtures of
metal arc called alloys. There arc three
moro metals besides these which you have
named, that are of mportanco,--tin, plati.
mum, aud aluminium. The others occur in
such small quantities, that it is of very little
consequence whothor you know anything
about HON or not"
You have not forgotten steel :"
mo, steel is iron with worry little car
bon in it,"
what is carbon :"
carbon is ono of the siIty-,wo simple
clements, and We see it in various forms
The diamond is pure carbon crystalized, and
charcoal is almost pure carbon"
"How does little carbon mako iron so
hard Z"
Nobody knows ; that is ono of tho many
mysteries that We moet with in nature, In.
decd, the composition of steel has been
very difficult thing to ascertain. There is
now discussion going on, whether it docs
dot contain nitrogen in addition to the car.
bon and iron. The quantity of carbon,
however, hos been learned and it ranges
in different varieties, from six-tenths of ono
per cent to ono and three -fourths per cont.
Cast iron, which is still moro brittle than
steel, contains more carbon the proportion
ranging, in tho different varieties, from ono
and niue-tenlhs to four and three-tentbs
per cent"
"How is iron welded to steel 2"
"The ends of both arc heated to q white
heat-much hotter than red heat-wben
the end Of ono is laid upon tho end of tho
other, with little bora1 sprinkIed on them,
ard they are hammetod or swedged togeth-
or. After tho knife ia made, it has to be
In this process, it is first hard
ened as hard as it can be by heating it red
hot, and plunging it into cold water but
this makes it 80 brittle that the edge would
crumble right off and, to make it right for
cutlery, a little of this brittleness has to be
taken out. This is done by moderately
beating it out again--'drawing the temper
as i: is called"
"What are forks composed of ?"
"These forks are composed of German
silver, covered on the outside with very
thin coating of pure silver"
"What is German silver ?"
"German silver is an alloy of copper,
zinc, and nickel, which are mixed in differ
ent proportions The ordinary rule is sixty
pounds of copper to twenty-five of zinc and
fifteen of nickle."
"What is nickle ?"
81, is one of the simple metals. The new
cent is an alloy of oighty.eight pounds of
copper to twelve of nicke."
"How is the silver plating on the forks
fastened on: =
"Sllver plating is an art which 10 would
take too long to describe now. The reason
why took knives and forks for the first
subject in describing to you the several
things on the table is. that the tho metals
are all simple substances. We will begin
with the simple substances. and 60 up to
those which are more complex, This rule !