FORTIa’s TRAVELS IN SWEDEN.

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weeks and a half. The ore, upon its being withdrawn, is pounded by a large ham-mer and thrown into a fieve, whence the fineft part falls into a bucket faftened to aniron chain, which carries it to the large furnaces. When this large furnace is onceheated it continues To for about fix and-thirty weeks, more or lefs, without interrup-tion ; after which a new crucible becomes requifite. The fides of the furnace, al-though of bricks made from fcor'uz fixteen ells in thicknefs, require renewal every fouryears. When once the furnace is kindled it is fupplied every hour with a tail of char-coal and a fchippund and a half of ore. divided into eleven equal parts. The iron fufesin about fifteen hours : in the beginning this procefs is very little productive, but it in-creafes by degrees as the furnace augments in heat, and at length produces, when infull activity, about one hundred and twenty fchippunds of iron weekly. The bellowsare worked by a wheel twenty feet in diameter. When the ftrength of the flame isconfidered, which proceeds from the mouth, one is aftonifbed at the little hurry of theworkmen in -emptying their barrows of charcoal; fmall and dry as it is yet does it ne-ver inftantly take fire even in the middle of the flame. The greatefl attention is ne-ceffary in throwing the ore on the charcoal; as a little too much or too little might in-jure the fufion and have a material influence on the quality of the iron. The metal infuflon is let off every eleven hours. A channel is made in hot fand of equal dimen-fions with the orifice, where the molten metal flows, and the divrfions are markedagreeably to the length defired to be given them: it does not run to To great a lengthas in France , feldom more than two feet. The fand is kept hot for the purpofe of pre-venting accidents, which however in extreme cold weather occafionally happen. The-furnace each time it is (truck yields feven or eight fchippunds. In lefs than g, quarterof an hour afterwards the iron, having refumed a degree of firmnefs, is raifed and re-moved for its cooling with greater difpatch; fhortly after it is thrown into a cifternlined with wood, and repeatedly filled with cold water on account of its being made toboil inftantly upon the firft immerfion : from this ciftern a prodigious fleam arifes, andby the fide of it you feel a kind of trembling under ground. Near this is a building inwhich the raw iron from the procefs is founded ; for this ufe there are three furnaces,one hammer and a furnace for fmall anchors.

In another building are eight furnaces, fix of which for founding the raw iron, andtwo for large anchors. The chimneys of the furnaces for the anchors are fufpended inthe air. In this forge are three hammers. During the war between Englandand France the demand there was could not be anfwered, notwithftanding all the eightfurnaces were kept wholly employed upon anchors. The largeft hammers weigh twofchippunds and a half; the extremity alone is of tempered fteel. For hammering theanchors a hammer is likewile fometimes ufed larger than a fledge hand hammer, calledHercules ; it is entirely of iron, and has the fhape of a club. Of thefe there are differentfizes ; the largeft weigh nearly a fchippund. They are raifed, by means of pullies, bytwo men, and are direcled by another. There is here a machine in fhape of a crane,at the end of which hangs an iron chain ; it goes on a pivot, and is fo true that twomen are all that are required for moving the largeft anchor and placing it on jhe anvil,in the pofition defired for its receiving the blow. We have omitted to mention a fur-nace in the open air, in which the fcoria from the three fmall furnaces are moltenanew; in which fcorite a large quantity of iron is found yet to remain. It is but latelythat this furnace has been employed.

The anchors are tranfported by land to Elfscarleby, on account of the catarafl:; thelargeft, which weigh thirty fchippunds, require eight horfes, and can be moved onlyupon fledges; thofe of twenty fchippunds being the heavieft which can be tranfported

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