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in veins 2 to 8 feet or more in thickness, mixed with copper pyrites, yielding often as much as 12 per cent of copper and being then worked as a copper ore. In Omi it occurred rather extensively, associated with a rich argentiferous galena and arsenical pyrites.
The old process of native steel manufacture by melting together wrought iron and cast iron was curiously interesting, as an almost identical process had been patented and worked by a Sheffield firm during late years.
The process for manufacturing wrought iron described in the paper appeared to be a kind of lengthened puddling process and must be attended with great loss of iron.
Professor Ayrton then again rose and said that he had derived much pleasure from listening to Mr. Gowland’s remarks especially those connected with the impurities chemical analysis showed to exist in Japanese copper wire. Like him he had found the wire brittle, but he had to a great extent got over this objection by insisting on the wire being carefully annealed before it was supplied to him. He was afraid Mr. Gowland had somewhat misunderstood what he (Prof. Ayrton) had said regarding the action taken by Sir W. Thomson. Prof. Thomson’s conclusions regarding the connection existing between the speed of signalling and the resistance of the conductor of the cable were based on mathematical reasoning, and not, as Mr. Gowland appeared to think, on tests of alloys of copper submitted to him. Probably, after theoretical considerations had led Sir William to see the immense practical value to be derived from the systematic testing of the resistance of copper wire, he might have asked wire-drawers to furnish him with samples in order that he might see how good it was practically possible to get copper wire; but the testing of these samples could not in any way affect the results he had previously obtained mathematically and to which Prof. Ayrton had referred in his previous remarks.
The Chairman (Sir Harry S. Parkes) then closed the discussion on this paper with a few observations on the subject generally, and after a few introductory remarks proceeded to read the second Paper, by Captain St. John of H. M. S. Sylvia, entitled “Observations on the Bay of Sendai.”
Mr. Brunton then made a few remarks to the effect that Ishi-no-maki had seemed to him on his visit there a short time ago to be a tolerably clean and well-to-do town. The bar across the river mouth, however, on which there is not more than 2 or 3 feet of water is a great obstruction to the shipping importance of the place. There is no shelter for vessels lying off the mouth of the river and it is therefore quite unsuitable as a port. There is a harbour, however, to the eastward of Ishi-no-maki called Ai-kawa which offers good shelter to vessels being open only on a very small arc towards the south east; but as this harbour is surrounded by steep hills, it also is useless as a commercial port.
The meeting then terminated in the usual manner.