MANUFACTURES.

PART II.

MECHANICAL PROCESSES AND MANUFACTURES.

^4iiufae-

*Ures.

(549.) We have endeavoured in the preceding Part todescribe such Machines and Machinery only as could beunderstood, independently of any particular mechanicalprocess or Manufacture, although from the nature of thesubject we could not in all cases wholly complete theillustrations without reference to the nature of the workto he performed; these cases, however, are but few, sothat we may consider the preceding Part as an illustra-tion of the principles, construction, and general actionof Machinery , and the present division of the Work asdescriptive of the application of those principles to Me-chanical Processes and Manufactures.

The term Manufacture, in its original signification,undoubtedly means a work performed by hand ; whereasat present it almost signifies a work performed withouthands. One would smile at hearing a shoemaker’s oratailor’s workshop called a Manufactory, and yet it isstrictly so according to the original meaning of the word ;whereas a number of mechanical processes, dependingentirely for their guidance on Machinery , and that Ma­ chinery driven by steam, is without scruple denominateda Manufactory, although, perhaps, not a hand is em-ployed in making the article, but simply in feeding thefire-placeand attending to the Engines orMachines. This,however, is of no other consequence than as it rendersthe application of the terms Manufacture and Manufac-tor y somewhat arbitrary, and may furnish an apologyto the reader if he find a few of the following - articles?L ran §' e d somewhat differently from his expectation.

*c shall, however, in this Part, as in the preceding,endeavour to classify the articles according to the com-mon adoption of terms, rather than, by consulting. actual signification of the words, to place them111 an order wholly at variance with the common lan-guage of practical Science. Some processes are gene-. al| y spoken of under, the denomination of works, aslr ?”-works, copper-works, saltpetre-works, &c.; theseJT 1 fall under the general head Works. Other opera-°ns are simply designated by naming the article made,"tton-making, clock-making, &e.; these will befact*™ Uru ' er t * le head Mechanical Processes and Manu-fihi -UreS ’ ^' v Med into two classe, i. e. of metals andnei-l° US n l ater 'als ; and, lastly, such as do not fall pro-scrib d an ^ P recec '' n g heads, will be de-

jj u . 6 ’jader the term Miscellaneous Mechanical Arts,reade^ i!' dV f once more to observe, that if, after all, the\y 0 ,5 * ° U . not an y article in that division of thehim to m ' V ^' C ^ «pects to find it, we must troublewill ( COnS , ult ’•he general index, in which every articlebe found arranged in alphabetical order.

Tr orks.

(550.) Und:; d process?under this denomi

nic-il n,„„ er ll ' s term we shall describe those mecha-nical nrocesses. Manufactures. &c

commonly spoken ofnation, as gas-works, water-works, iron

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works, &c.; but it is not thought necessary here to at- Mechanicaltend strictly to the alphabetical arrangement which has Processes,hitherto been followed. It is proposed rather to consultthat order which will give the most satisfactory view,and show the dependence of one process on another,without reference to any other classification.

Works employed in the Manufacture of Metals.

(551.) It would be highly interesting if we were ableto precede our description of the different medhanicalprocesses connected with the Manufacture of iron andother metals, by a history of their first discovery, and themodes of working them adopted by the Ancients ; butthese discoveries, except in a very few cases, of those whichmay be called new metals, are lost in the mazes of an-tiquity. Gold, silver, copper, iron, and even the com-pound metal brass, are spoken of as known in our mostancient histories, without any reference whatever to theirManufacture; consequently it must be in vain for us atthis day to offer the least conjecture on this head. Allthat we can do is to state the progress of the Art, andthe improvements that have taken place in it withina comparatively short period of time. In our Chapteron Mining, we have endeavoured to describe the meansemployed in this Country for obtaining the ores from theearth, and the further processes of stamping and pound-ing, in cases wherein those operations are adopted, so asto render them ready for the subsequent process of smelt-ing, and for the Manufacture of them into bars orother forms fit for the working them into such shapes andforms, and lor such purposes, as the present state of theArts requires. We shall now, therefore, consider the oreas already obtained, and reduced to the state necessaryfor the subsequent stages of its Manufacture.

Iron-Works.

(552.) Iron in a malleable form has undoubtedly been Iron -known from the highest antiquity, although there is great M orks.reason to believe it was extremely scarce, and consideredof great value, not like gold or silver for its beautyand purity, but from its actual uses to mankind. It isrepeatedly spoken of by Moses in the Pentateuch , and byHomer in the Iliad ; and that it was at that time consi-dered of great worth, is proved by Achilles proposing aball of iron as one of the prizes to be distributed to thevictors at the Games instituted in honour of Patroclus .

Indeed, the extreme difficulty of extricating the metalfrom the ore must in these ancient times have renderedit very scarce, and of course very valuable. Its highimportance in the present day in its application to theArts is too well known to require any remarks of ours onthe subject; but it is very neatly pointed out by Fourcroy,who observes : “ Without iron agriculture could not haveexisted, nor could the plough have rendered the earth3 v