honourable company, and a flagrant act of injustice to his neighbours at Birmingham!

"A copy of this imperfect test has been introduced into the public papers. But as the affair is of national importance, it is greatly to be wished that a Court of general officers would condescend to determine the relative excellence of German and British blades. For it is not doubted, that those who pay a professional attention to the form and temper of swords, and spend their lives in the use of them, will form the most respectable and disinterested Tribunal to which an appeal can be made *.

"That we cannot use the British swords in the field of action, but at the peril of the military glory of this country, and the lives of our bravest troops, is founded on the sacred and indispensable evidence of general

who solemnly avers (in his memorial to the Lords of the Treasury), that when he commanded the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, in Germany, the broad swords which he received from Birmingham were so unfit for service, that several of them were absolutely broken in action; that his own sword was in a very imperfect state, through the want either of honesty or ability in the maker, and that his men suffered greatly on the occasion.

"Similar instances occurred frequently in America. And that the Birmingham people have not even now the power to remedy these defects, is evident from the case of one of the Regiments of Dragoons, lately quartered at York. It was furnished with swords at the commencement of the present year (not by Mr. GILL, however, Editor); a particular pattern was ordered, and as the time would not permit of an application to Germany, so the London tradesman was under a necessity of procuring them from

* Mr. Gill had afterwards the pleasure, and the London sword dealers the great mortification, of having a comparative trial made of his sword blades with those of Germany, and of other English makers, by command of his late majesty, before a Board of General Officers, at the Horse Guards; when the great superiority of those of his manufacture appeared still more manifest than upon the former trial.

Birmingham. At this moment, not one in ten remains unbroken!!!

"It is easy to conceive what carnage would ensue, if men were to charge an enemy with such weapons as these.

"The present experience of this regiment has not only destroyed their confidence in the Birmingham manufacture, but it may repress their ardour in the field of battle, even though they have a German blade in their hands. The very idea of being disarmed and exposed to the enemy after the first or second stroke, is sufficient to fill the bravest heart with terror."

It is somewhat singular, and not unworthy of remark; that, in the year 1779, when a petition was presented to the Board of Ordnance, to supply them with German swords, under the fallacious idea that those of England were inferior; Mr.father to one of the gentlemen whose signature is subjoined to the foregoing paper, was called to the Board of Ordnance, and his opinion of the swords of English and German manufacture desired; when he clearly proved to the entire satisfaction and conviction of the Honourable Board, that Mr. Gill's were equal in goodness to any foreign swords whatever; and the petition was rejected accordingly. What motives could influence the son, nine years afterwards, to decry his father's judgment, is left for the public to decide!

It having been hinted at the two comparative trials respecting the merits of Mr. Gill's sword blades and those of German and other English manufacturers, that the chief cause of his great superiority was the partial conduct of the person who struck his blades upon a cast-iron plate; he declared that he would make a machine to strike them, which could not, of course, be liable to such an imputation; and, accordingly, he invented and caused such a machine to be constructed. This machine had two powerful spiral springs similar to those of time-pieces, but much broader, and longer, of course; indeed each of them was twelve inches in breadth. The inner ends of these springs were

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united to an axis, turning upon necks or pivots at its ends, which moved in holes or bearings formed to receive them, in the cast-iron frame of the machine. Between the two springs, a cast-iron substitute for the hands of the person who before struck the sword-blades upon the cast-iron plate, was affixed upon the axis; having two iron staplés upon it, to receive the tangs of the sword blades within them, and which were firmly held therein, by two binding screws. One end of the axis of this machine projected beyond its pivot-hole, and had a ratchet-wheel affixed upon it, into the teeth of which a click, having a long handle affixed to it, was lodged. Upon winding up the springs, by means of a winch or handle, affixed upon the axis of the machine, the sword blade, held in the manner above mentioned, was brought from its horizontal position, when lying upon the cast-iron plate, and carried as far round, in an opposite direction, as was judged proper, or according to the kind of sword blade to be struck; the click retaining it in that position, until its handle being elevated, set the springs at liberty to strike the blade upon the cast-iron horizontal plate, with the requisite degree of force. This machine auswered its purpose most completely, and entirely removed the chance of any unfairness being practised, in the proving of the quality of any sword blades tested by it; and all the sword blades made and warranted subsequently by Mr. Gill, were capable of enduring the severity of its strokes! The Editor recollects inscriptions being etched upon the upper surfaces of the springs, stating, that "all of Gill's warranted sword blades, are of the same excellent qualities of steel and temper as these extraordinary springs."

We would here appeal to our readers, and ask, what would have been the fatal consequences of our being obliged to procure our sword-blades from Germany, frequently occupied bythe enemy, during the long continued wars in which we have since been engaged; and, as recommended by the worthies, who signed the above paper? And, con

sequently, how greatly the British empire is indebted to the praise-worthy exertions of that individual, whose sole endeavours completely obviated the necessity of our being reduced to such a pitiable state, and who indeed, completely turned the scale of merit in our favour; and especially, since the introduction of the sword exercise, by Colonel Le Marchant, which has given such a decided superiority to this important weapon!

Should public circumstances require it, the Editor, who, in consequence of the death of all his brothers, excepting the two youngest, who lost their father in their infancy, is now the sole depository of his late father's great and successful practices in the manufacture of his superior articles, would be glad to have the opportunity of reviving those practices, with such additional improvements as he has added to them in the course of his great experience in the difficult art of treating steel.

In the progress of publishing the Technical Repository, and the Technological Repository, our readers must have frequently observed notices by the Editor of improved processes, followed by his late father and himself, in the working of iron and steel. These, although of high importance, can, however, convey but little knowledge, comparatively, of the actual methods of carrying them into practice; and which, indeed, nothing short of actual experience can possibly effect.

It is indeed true, that in consequence of the example afforded by the Editor's late father, the qualities of English sword-blades, made by other persons, were considerably improved, in order that they might be rendered capable of undergoing the increased severity of the tests to which they were subjected. Still, however, no one but one educated in the extensive knowledge possessed by his late father, can possibly be enabled to carry his improvements into complete effect.

(To be continued.)

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148

XXXI.-On Silicate of Iron*.

A DISCOVERY of the greatest importance to the manufacturers of steel, has lately been made by the respectable Dr. Eynard, of Lyons, who, at the age of more than eighty years, has not only preserved all the faculties he enjoyed when but forty years old, but is likewise continually occupied in whatever can aid the advancement of the arts and manufactures.

His cabinet is equally accessible to the humble artizan as to the learned; and is a true laboratory, where he affords, with a noble disinterestedness, his useful advice to those workmen who may need it.

It is now some months since, and after the ingenious experiments of Conte, that, wishing to restore their cutting properties to some files, he plunged them for several days into a mixture of five parts of water and one of sulphuric acid. Upon removing the files, it was with astonishment that he found the bottom of the glass vessel contained a matter of a greyish-white colour, and of a shining appearance. He decanted the liquid, and collected and dried this matter. He found it to be pure silex, soft and silky to the feel, like amianthus. He collected enough of it to be enabled to send some to M. D'Arcet at Paris, in order that he might call the attention of the learned to this interesting discovery.

In fact, although it is considered at present, that in the cementation of iron, in order to convert it into steel, the change is effected by means of carbon or charcoal; yet we recollect that M. Clouet converted iron into steel by means of the diamond; and also, on the other hand, that he obtained very fine steel by cementing it with alumine and pure silex.

In the year 1732, the brothers Perru, of Neufchatel, in Switzerland, manufactured draw-plates, and rollers or

From De Moleon's Recueil Industriel.