Old Cast-Iron Structures

IRON is one of the most widely distributed and abundant of the metals contained in the earth's crust; but, as it is found in the free metallic state only in meteorites, and can be reduced from its ores only by subjecting them to fierce heat under forced draught, its use by man lagged behind that of gold, silver, tin, lead and copper. The smith, none the less, played an important part in the development of early civilizations, and the iron founder made a vital contribution to the advance, during the eighteenth century, of the Industrial Revolution. S.B. Hamilton

Author(s): Hamilton, S B

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