re brought to light in the shape of many hundredweights of
steel, found buried in the earth in different places about his
manufactory. From the number of these wrecks of early experiments, it
is clear that he had worked continuously upon his grand idea of
purifying the raw steel then in use, by melting it with fluxes at an
intense heat in closed earthen crucibles. The buried masses were found
in various stages of failure, arising from imperfect melting, breaking
of crucibles, and bad fluxes; and had been hid away as so much spoiled
steel of which nothing could be made. At last his perseverance was
rewarded, and his invention perfected; and though a hundred years have
passed since Huntsman's discovery, the description of fuel (coke) which
he first applied for the purpose of melting the steel, and the
crucibles and furnaces which he used, are for the most part similar to
those in use at the present day. Although the making of cast-steel is
conducted with greater economy and dexterity, owing to increased
experience, it is questionable whether any maker has since been able to
surpass the quality of Huntsman's manufacture.

The process of making cast-steel, as invented by Benjamin Huntsman, may
be thus summarily described. The melting is conducted in clay pots or
crucibles manufactured for the purpose, capable of holding about 34
lbs. each. Ten or twelve of such crucibles are placed in a
melting-furnace similar to that used by brass founders; and when the
furnace and pots are at a white heat, to which they are raised by a
coke fire, they are charged with bar steel reduced to a certain degree
of hardness, and broken into pieces of about a pound each. When the
pots are all thus charged with steel, lids are placed over them, the
furnace is filled with coke, and the cover put down. Under the intense
heat to which the metal is exposed, it undergoes an apparent
ebullition. When the furnace requires feeding, the workmen take the
opportunity of lifting the lid of each crucible and judging how far the
process has advanced. After about three hours' exposure to the heat,
the metal is ready for "teeming." The completion of the melting
process is known by the subsidence of all ebullition, and by the clear
surface of the melted metal, which is of a dazzling brilliancy like the
sun when looked at with the naked eye on a clear day. The pots are
then lifted out of their place, and the liquid steel is poured into
ingots of the sha