The Ironstone Which I Saw Was Very Heavy, And Of
A Dull Red Colour, With Greyish Specks; It Was Broken Into Pieces About
The Size Of A Hen's Egg.
A bundle of dry wood was first put into the
furnace, and covered with a considerable quantity of charcoal, which was
brought ready burnt from the woods.
Over this was laid a stratum of
ironstone, and then another of charcoal, and so on until the furnace was
quite full. The fire was applied through one of the tubes, and blown for
some time with bellows made of goats'-skins. The operation went on very
slowly at first, and it was some hours before the flame appeared above
the furnace; but after this, it burnt with great violence all the first
night, and the people who attended put in at times more charcoal. On the
day following the fire was not so fierce, and on the second night some of
the tubes were withdrawn, and the air allowed to have freer access to the
furnace; but the heat was still very great, and a bluish flame rose some
feet above the top of the furnace. On the third day from the commencement
of the operation, all the tubes were taken out, the ends of many of them
being vitrified with the heat; but the metal was not removed until some
days afterwards, when the whole was perfectly cool. Part of the furnace
was then taken down, and the iron appeared in the form of a large
irregular mass, with pieces of charcoal adhering to it.
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