Charles Shattuck Hill, Moses Nelson Baker, and others

“ The Greeks were familiar with the uses of iron at least six hundred years before the Christian Era, although the metal was very scarce. It was not until the Roman Empire was fairly established that the use of iron became general over civilized Europe. ”

“ In Germany, however, the art flourished vigorously, iron implements being exported to other countries in considerable quantities. Until about the middle of the fourteenth century all iron was produced by the direct process, the product being wrought iron or steel, as the case might be, according to the details of the process. ”

“ Corresponding to ferrous oxide and ferric oxide, respectively, are two series of iron salts, ferrous salts and ferric salts.
The action of acids on metallic iron, in the absence of oxidizing agents, causes the formation of ferrous salts, among which deserve mention the sulphate, the sulphide, the chloride, and the oxalate. Ferrous sulphate, known as green vitriol, or iron vitriol, is the substance from which the compounds of iron are generally prepared. ”

“ Another way to avoid the undesirable effects of acid compounds of iron is to administer them in the form of coated pills which may pass through the stomach unchanged, the acidity being then neutralized in the alkaline juices of the intestine. ”

“ But if sufficient quantities of iron are taken internally, the alkaline sulphides are decomposed and the organic iron of the food becomes available. The amounts of iron required depend of course upon the amount of alkaline sulphides in the intestines, and this is why it may be found necessary to administer as much as 18 grains a day to an anæmic woman whose body, in a normal state, contains altogether about 30 grains. ”

“ With mercury iron refuses to combine directly, the iron amalgam that has been used for electrical machines being made by a somewhat complicated process with the aid of the amalgam of sodium. When immersed in fuming nitric acid, iron becomes coated with insoluble oxide, and as it then refuses to dissolve in acids (unless the coating be removed) , it is said to be in a passive state. Dry air or oxygen gas has no effect on iron. The ‘rusting’ of iron in ordinary atmospheric air is due to the presence of moisture ”

“ The iron ores of Great Britain include siderite, limonite, and hematite. The Cleveland district is the most important, and produces siderite averaging 30 to 40 per cent. in iron from deposits in the coal measures. Limonite is mined in Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, and Leicestershire, and hematite in Lancashire and Cumberland. As the domestic supply of ore is insufficient, large quantities are imported from Spain, Sweden, Greece, and other countries. Germany has iron-mines in Alsace-Lorraine, Westphalia, and Hesse-Nassau, and the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg is noted for its iron. ”

“ Canada has given much attention in recent years to the development of her iron industry, with results that promise well for the future. Large blast-furnaces and steel-works were completed in 1901, which utilize hematite and magnetite ores from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Ontario. ”

“ Pure iron may be prepared by the prolonged action of a weak current of electricity on a solution containing pure ferrous sulphate and sal ammoniac or sulphate of magnesium, and heating the precipitated metal with a view of freeing it from ‘occluded’ hydrogen and diminishing its brittleness. Another method of obtaining chemically pure iron consists in preparing pure ferric hydroxide by adding ammonia to the solution of some pure iron salt, and then heating the hydroxide in a stream of hydrogen gas. Iron and platinum are the only metals that may be soldered together immediately, i.e. ”

“ A great shipping industry is engaged in the transport of Lake Superior ores, and it is largely owing to this fact that the tonnage of vessels passing through the Sault Sainte Marie Canal each year exceeds the annual commerce of the Suez Canal. ”