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men, and are high priced. . The oriental processes have never been satisfactorily de-scribed ; but of late years methods have been devised in Europe to imitate the fabric verywell.
Clouet and Hachette pointed out the three following processes for producing Da-mascus blades : 1, that of parallel fillets; 2, that by torsion ; 3, the mosaic. The first,which is still pursued by some French cutlers, consists in scooping out with a gravingtool the faces of a piece of stuff composed of thin plates of different kinds of steel.These hollows are by a subsequent operation filled up, and brought to a level with theexternal faces, upon which they subsequently form tress-like figures. 2. The method oftorsion which is more generally employed at present, consists in forming a bundle ofrods or slips of steel, which are welded together into a well-wrought bar, twistedseveral times round its axis. It is repeatedly forged, and twisted alternately; afterwhich it is slit in the line of its axis, and the two halves are welded with their outsidesin contact; by which means their faces will exhibit very various configurations. 3. Themosaic method consists in preparing a bar, as by the torsion plan, and cutting this barinto short pieces of nearly equal length, with which a fagot is formed and weldedtogether; taking care to preserve the sections of each piece at the surface of the blade.In this way, all the variety of the design is displayed, corresponding to each fragment ofthe cut bar.
The blades of Clouet, independently of their excellent quality, their flexibility, andextreme elasticity, have this advantage over the oriental blades, that they exhibit in thevery substance of the metal, designs, letters, inscriptions, and, generally speaking, allkinds of figures which had been delineated beforehand.
Notwithstanding these successful results of Clouet, it was pretty clear that the watereddesigns of the true Damascus cimeter were essentially different. M. Breant has atlast completely solved this problem. He has demonstrated that the substance of theoriental blades is a cast-steel more highly charged with carbon than our European steels,and in which, by means of a cooling suitably conducted, a crystallization lakes placeof two distinct combinations of carbon and iron. This separation is the essential condi-tion ; for if the melted steel be suddenly cooled in a small crucible or ingot, there is nodamascene appearance.
If an excess of carbon be mixed with iron, the whole of the metal will be convertedinto steel; and the residuary carbon will combine in a new proportion with a portion ofthe steel so formed. There will be two distinct compounds ; namely, pure steel, andcarbureted steel or cast-iron. These at first being imperfectly mixed will tend f°separate, if while still fluid they be left in a slate of repose; and form a crystallizationin which the particles of the two compounds will place themselves in the crucible in anorder determined by their affinity and density conjoined. If a blade forged out of steeso prepared be immersed in acidulous water, it will display a very distinct Damascus appearance; the portions of pure steel becoming black, and those of carbureted stecremaining white, because the acids with difficulty disengage its carbon. The slowersuch a compound is cooled, the larger the Damascus veins will be. Travernier relatesthat the steel crucible ingots, like those of wootz, for making the true oriental Damascus ,come from Golconda , that they are of the size of a halfpenny roll, and when cut in lvr0 ’form two swords. . • t vs
Steel combined with manganese forges easily, but it is brittle when cold; it dispfajhowever the Damascus appearance very strongly.
A mixture of 100 parts of soft iron, and 2 of lamp black, melts as readily as 0T ° insteel. Several of the best blades which M. Breant presented to the Societe d’Encourag^ment are the product of this combination. This is an easy way of making c . " s an dwithout previous cementation of the iron. 100 parts of filings of very gray cast-iron, j100 parts of like filings previously oxydized, produced, by their fusion together, a bea ^ , gdamascene steel, fit for forging into white arms, sabres, swords, &c. This comp 00 ^remarkable for its elasticity, an essenial quality, not possessed by the old IndianThe greater the proportion of the oxydized cast-iron, the tougher is the steel. Care S rW j 6 ebe taken to stir the materials during their fusion, before it is allowed to cool; otnethey will not afford a homogeneous damasc. If the steel contains much car j or e.is difficult to forge, and cannot be drawn out except within a narrow range of ’^F’Pjf.-oinesWhen heated to a red-white it crumbles under the hammer ; at a cherry-red it re .hard and brittle; and as it progressively cools it becomes still more unmalleabie- ^ e yscmbles completely Indian steel, which European blacksmiths cannot forge, beea'> (hisare ignorant of the suitable temperature for working it. M. Breant, by - 5point, succeeded in forging fine blades. . gts or
Experience has proved that the orbicular veins, called by the workmen ^thorns ( ronces ), which are seen upon the finest Eastern cimeters, are the resu * Ifmanner of forging them, as well as the method of twisting the Damasc’« " - j B al lthese be drawn in length, the veins will be longitudinal; if they be spread eq