East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1865-01-25
Damascus Blades.

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to the manufacture of new weapons
of war, it is somewhat curious to note
the fact that the method Of making
the best swords is lost art, and all
the skill of modern times is INSULT
cient to recover it. While we have
been making great discoveries and
Improvements in the manufacture OF
steel, it is remarkable that neither
England nor any other country can
produce an article equal to the Damas-
Gus blades which are so celebrated in
history, nor has Damascus itself been
able for several centuries past to make
even poor imitation of the work for
which it was once so celebrated.
These blades are no myth, as some
persons have imagined. They still
exist, numerous and highly priced, in
the hands of the descendants of Sara
cen chieftains, and Eastern princes,
and not unfrequently arc shown in
European collections. We have a
specimen lying before us--a short
blade, rather long knife than a
sword, Of that peculiar steel which
modern art cannot produce. The
peculiarly Of the Damascus weapon
is not only the beautiful surface, show
ing myriads of waving and zig-zag
lines, running through the metal, but
the elasticity and temper of the steel
surpass all other kinds, and show such
a union Of sharp edge with great elias
ticity as no modern art can equal
The point of a sword could be bent to
touch the hilt, and spring back to its
straight line, and the same sword
would cut through an ordinary steel
weapon without harming its keen edge,
or would pass with astounding facility
through q silk shawl or handkerchief
thrown into the air, sovering it with q
swift, sharp cut. SCOTS story of Sal
adin's sword, in the Talisman, is not
an invention Of the romancer.
Very many and expensive expert
ments have been made to recover tho
lost art Of making these blades, but
without success, except in the one in
stance of the experiments of General
Anosoff, a Russian officer of great
ability, who really seemed to succeed
in reproducing the old Damascus steel.
But even he was unable TO do it with
sufficient certainty and regularity to
leave his discoveries behind him in
such shape as to be of practical
value to the world. For since his
death, in 1851, the Siberian works,
which he superintended, have failed
wholly to produce the required article,
and the manufacture Of such blades
has entirely ceased.
The theories of different persons
had been that the peculiar lines and
veins in the Damascus weapons were
produced by some intermixture of
other metals with the steel. General
came TO the conclusion that they were
but the marks of the crystallization,
or tho lines of carbon among the lines
of steel crystals. He invented sys-
tenn Of carbonization, which produced
steel with the lines visible, and then
washing the blade with acid he brought
out more distinctly these marks Of the
peculiar manufacture. His works at
Zlataoust became celebrated as the
Birmingham and Sheffield of the
Oural country, and the steel blades,
arms, razors,. and cutlery of various
kinds there made, were unquestiona-
bly, the best products Of the modern
world. The General was accustomed
to exhibit to his visitors the exquisite
perfection Of his work by performing
the feat Of cutting through gauze
vail in the air with one of his swords
"a feat which no British steel could
be made TO perform; and he would
also hew nails, bones, and other hard
substances, with the same sword,
without turning or nicking the edge.
The highest authorities, speaking of
Anosoii' S steel, say that tho result Of
his discoveries was 8" to impress on
cast steel the elastic properties of a
softer material" Capt. Abbott, a
British officer highly competent to
Judge on this subject, said " tho gene
raj fault of European blades is that,
being forged of shear steel for tho
sake of elasticity, they are scarcely
perceptible of the keen edge which
cast steel viii assume. The genius Of
Anosof has triumphed over this OBJ
lection, not in hardening the soft steel
but in giving elasticity to the hard,
and it may be doubted whether any
fabric in the world can compete with
that of Zlataoust in the production OF
weapons combining an equal degree
of edge and elasticity Capt. Abbott
also states that he saw several Of the
rejected blades submitted to the break
ing engine, to be re-cast, and that they
were "bent double, and back again,
several times before they could be
divided"
The death of Anosof seems to have
committed this art again to oblivion.
His processes are well known, and
his blades are priced in Russia and
among the Eastern princes as fully
equal, both in beauty and in temper,
to the most celebrated Of the Damas-
Gus blades. But the art does not obey
the will of tho successors Of AnosoH,
and for the present we have nowhere
in the world a manufacturer of Da-
|, mascus blades.-N " Journal Of Com
mrce.
EEA Dentist wishes the press ia
correct the statement made on Horace
Walpole's authority, that alum is q
preservative of the teeth. He says