SPECIMENS OF ENAMELLING FROM INDIAN ARMS.
forwarded by Dr. Scott were of somewhat inferior quality; for more recent experience has conferred uponthe Indian steel a higher degree of estimation than Dr. Pearson allows to it; although he admits its excellencein many respects.*
Adopting mainly the authority of Mr. Heath, we may briefly describe the processes of smelting andforging wootz as follows:—The ore used is a magnetic oxide of iron, consisting of 72 per cent, of iron, with28 of oxygen, combined with quartz, in the proportion of 52 of oxide to 48 of quartz. It is prepared bystamping, or pounding, and then separating the quartz by washing or winnowing, and in these operationsthe Hindoo females are very dexterous. The smelting furnace is built of clay alone, from three to five feet high,and pear-shaped. The bellows, which are used in pairs, are of a kind common throughout India ; eachconsisting of a goat-skin, untanned, but made pliable by being rubbed between the hands, and used with thehair side outside. The body of the animal is extracted by a large opening in the hinder part, so as to
leave the skin of the carcass perfect, and a bamboo nozzle, ending in a clay pipe, is inserted at the neck.
The fuel is charcoal, upon which the ore is laid, in a damp state, but without flux; the bellows are pliedfor about four hours, and when the ore is reduced it is taken out, and while red-hot is cut nearly throughwith a hatchet, in order to show the quality of the mass. The iron thus produced is forged by repeatedhammering, until it forms an unpromising bar, from which an English manufacturer of steel would turn withcontempt; but in the conversion of which, the Hindoo proceeds with the utmost success. For this purpose,he cuts it into small pieces, and puts about a pound into a crucible, with dried wood of the Cassiaauriculata, and a few green leaves, either of Asclepias gigantea, or of the Convolvulus laurifolia. The objectof this is to furnish carbon to the iron. The mouths of the crucibles are stopped with clay, and about twentyor twenty-four of them are built up in the form of an arch, in a small furnace: charcoal is heaped over
them, and the bellows are employed to maintain a blast without intermission for about two hours and a
half. The crucibles being removed, and allowed to cool, are broken, when the wootz, or steel, is taken outin the. form of a cake rounded by the bottom of the crucible. Mr. Stodart, whose opinion is of greatpractical value, states that for the purposes of cutlery this product is “ infinitely superior to the bestEnglish steel ;”f but it necessarily happens that there is a difference in the quality of the cakes, some beingoccasionally honeycombed and otherwise defective. It is, indeed, a striking fact that the Hindoos are ableto produce such admirable cast steel, in so short a time, Avith an application of heat AAffiich in this countrywould be deemed utterly inadequate. At Sheffield, it requires at least four hours to melt blistered steel inwind-furnaces of the best construction, although the crucibles are at a white heat wdien the metal is put intothem; Avhilst in the Indian process they are quite cold when placed in the furnace.
As it leaves the crucible, the steel becomes an article of commerce; but for the operations of the nativecutlers, it is drawn into bars, first by annealing for several hours in a small furnace, which softens themetal, and then by beating Avith a hammer of a feAV pounds Aveight. Tavo pieces of cast steel are Aveldedtogether, by giving to each a sloping face, jagged all over with a small chisel, uniting these faces Avith somecalcined borax betAveen them, tying them together with a wire, and subjecting them to a red heat, and to afeAV smart blows of a hammer. So skilfully is this operation performed, that a poAverful microscope is necessaryto render visible the line of junction.
The manufacture of steel, and its conversion into Aveapons, is carried on in many of the large cities ofIndia, especially in Lahore, Hyderabad , and Kashmir. In urging the cultivation of Oriental arts and manu-factures, Dr. Royle particularly observes that, “ the Avootz steel might be largely consumed in Europe , andthe highly-Avrought arms of the East Avould be bought as curiosities, and for the artistic skill displayed aswell in the cutlery as in the inlaying.”
* An able abstract of Dr. Pearson’s paper will be found in tbe “Treatise on the Progressive Improvement and Present State of Manufacturesin Metal,” in “ Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopaedia.”
•(•' Supplement to “ Encyclopaedia Britannica.