Kingdom.]
Class 1.—MINING AND MINERAL PRODUCTS.South Side—Abeas S. 1 to S. 27.
159
of the bed is very irregular, sometimes attaining a thick-ness of 12 or 14 feet; its average thickness is about 6feet. Nos. 7 and 8 are from the oolite, near Northamp-ton. They are at present of no commercial value; hut arecurious, as showing the almost universal dissemination ofthis important ore.
A square inch of Calder, No. l,is crushed by 72,193lbs.,or 32'229 tons, and 75,983 lbs., or 33 ’921 tons.
A square inch of Morries Stirling’s mixture as above,by 125,333 lbs., or 55'952 tons, and 119,457 lbs., or53 • 329 tons.—R. H.]
General
No.
No. ofSeries.
__
Ft.
In.
465
466
1
2
Geological Formation: Green Sand.
| Ironstone, Sussex.
These specimens are of great interest, as belonging tothe formation which was formerly one of our principalsources of iron; but which, furnishing with its ores nofuel to smelt them, was abandoned, upon the exhaustionof its forests, by the iron trade for the coal-fields, whereall the requisites for this manufacture exist. Perhaps,like the lias of Whitby, &c., the greensand of Sussexmay again, by means of railroads, at no distant period,furnish the iron trade with additional supplies of thisimportant ore. ____
and Producer.
Pig-iron:—Scotch, hot blast.
A. Same iron containing malleable iron scrap.—Processpatented in 1846.
Aa. The same mixture of malleable and cast-iron meltedtogether, and the pig (or ingot) broken to show the com-plete union of the metal.
A. Specimens of castings of the mixture, called “ tough-ened cast-iron,” and the breaking weights.
Co. Improved patent malleable iron, showing the fibrousstructure produced in iron naturally cold short. Process:the addition of zinc or calamine to iron in the puddlingfurnace. The strength of the iron is thus greatly in-creased.
L>. Hardened, or anti-laminating iron, for the top barof rails, tires of wheels, &c. This iron, or alloy of iron,has the character of steel, is said to wear well, and not tolaminate.
E. Rails composed of C c and D, to show the differenceof the two sorts of iron.
F. Tires of Cc and D.
G. Bell metal, consisting chiefly of iron.
G g. Bells of the same metal, stated to be superior intone to common bell metal, at a diminished cost.
JT. Common zinc cake, broken to show the fracture.
Hh. Zinc alloyed with about five per cent, of iron, toshow the difference in fracture from the preceding.
I to Oo. Alloys of copper and other metals with thealloy of zinc and iron.—Patented in 1846-48.
P. Sheets of zinc, and alloys of zinc covered with tin,and alloys of tin.
Q. Sheets of iron covered with zinc, and alloys of zinc,ana subsequently with tin, and alloys of tin.
Several other alloys and specimens exhibited forstrength, structure, and cheapness.
. ^ The Re P° rt °f the Commissioners appointed to inquiiinto the application of iron to railway structures, givethe following as the results of experiments on Mr. Mo,
hot bias “ S S 1 ron - 6 t6nSile Stl ' en S th ° f No ’ 1 Cald.
hot-blast non is, per square inch, 13,735 lbs., or 6 • 13
tons. The same iron, mixed with about 20 per cent <malleable iron scrap, breaks with a weight of 25 764 lh«or 11 * 502 tons.
Bars of Brymbo iron 1 inch square, and 4 feet 6 inchbearing, of Nos. 1 and 3, break respectively at 365 lbsand 416 lbs. The Calder No. 1, not given by the Com-missioners, breaks at about 390 lbs. to 400 lbs. With ?>0per cent, malleable iron, the Calder breaks at 623 lbs' •and when the proper proportion of scrap is used tliebreaking weight is about 800 lbs. ’
429 Bankart, Frederick & Sons, Uedjacket CopperWorks, near Neath , Wales — Inventors andManufacturers.
Various stages of the process of copper smelting, aspractised at Redjacket Works, according to the exhibitors’patent process.
[This process is as follows:—Copper pyrites reduced toa fine state of division are roasted at a moderate tempe-rature: the result is, that the sulphur of the ore com-bines with the oxygen of the air, and thus becomes con-verted into sulphuric acid. The copper is also oxidized;and the acid combining with it, a sulphate of oxide ofcopper is produced. A second roasting, with an additionof rich sulphur ore, converts all the metal into this salt.It is now dissolved in water, and the copper precipitatedby iron. It has been found that the copper thus preparedis of remarkable purity.—R. H.]
Patent fuel made from small coal, without any foreignadmixture; invented and patented by William Rees,Pembrey, Carmarthenshire.
Pure native carbon, found in the collieries of Messrs.Penrose and Starbuck, Vale of Neath, and electrodesmanufactured from it by the exhibitors.
430 Abercarn and Gwvthen Collieries Company,Newport , Monmouthshire, Proprietors—E. Rogers,F.G.S., Exhibitor.
Block of Abercarn stone ; a hard compact sandstone,which resists the action of the weather and of fire: itforms a part of the carboniferous (or coal-bearing) stratain South Wales. Weight 168 lbs. to the cubic foot. Theblock is formed in the shape of an obelisk, for the purposeof exhibiting on each face different modes of workmanshipin the dressing of the stone.
Block of Abercarn and Gwythen charcoal-vein coal,adapted for steam-ships, and used in the steam marineof the English, French, and Spanish Governments, theHon. East India Company , &c. This coal is said to resistthe action of the weather in any climate, and referenceis made to another specimen of this coal, placed at theWestern Entrance of the Building, which has been raisedand exposed to the weather some years.
Block of Abercarn rock-vein coal, used as a fuel fordomestic purposes in the West of England and Ireland .
Specimens of charred coal and tin plates manufacturedfrom the same: this charred coal is stated to be preparedby a process which deprives it entirely of sulphur andgives it a peculiar mechanical structure, making it aslight and pure as wood charcoal, and entirely supersedingthe necessity of wood charcoal for refining or smeltingiron.
A complete set of tools used in mining, and plans,showing the application of electricity to blasting in mines.In a paper accompanying these, the exhibitor states:—It has been often noticed, that, since the applicationof gunpowder for blasting, few if any improvements havebeen made in the methods adopted for cutting throughhard rocks; and the great expense of maintaining enginepower for pumping and winding, during the long periodrequired to sink shafts through such rocks, has. beenand is still the sole cause of some of the best and richesttracts of minerals in Great Britain lying idle and un-productive, and has been the principal cause of the lossof life, so serious and often occurring from explosions inmines.
The improvements, or rather the new system, nowintroduced will be better understood, after a review ofthe methods and tools heretofore used.
The oldest method of pumping, or taking up the waterfrom the bottom of the shaft during sinking, was the
N 2