STEAKNS STEEL 355 from which it is separated by saponification. (See GLYCERINE.) It combines with numerous bases, and forms with them both normal and acid salts, called stearates. Stearate of soda is the basis of ordinary hard soap ; stearate of lead is a constituent of lead plaster. STEARNS, a central co. of Minnesota, bound- ed E. by the Mississippi, and drained by Sauk river and lake ; area, 1,379 sq. in. ; pop. in 1870, 14,206. A portion of the county is prairie, but the "W. part is hilly. There are numerous lakes and streams. It is traversed by the St. Paul and Pacific railroad. The chief productions in 1870 were 305,114 bushels of wheat, 78,627 of Indian corn, 447,193 of oats, 23,856 of barley, 120,865 of potatoes, 28,939 tons of hay, 17,701 Ibs. of wool, and 323,085 of butter. There were 2,313 horses, 4,399 milch cows, 8,571 other cattle, 6,174 sheep, and 6,237 swine ; 9 manufactories of carriages and wagons, 1 of agricultural implements, 4 of furniture, 7 breweries, 6 flour mills, and 5 saw mills. Capital, St. Cloud. STEATITE. See TALC. STEDMAJV, Edmund Clarence, an American poet, born in Hartford, Conn., Oct. 8, 1833. He en- tered Yale college in 1849, was suspended in 1852, and did not return ; but in 1871 the trus- tees restored him to his class and gave him the degree of A. M. After editing the "Nor- wich Tribune " and the " Winsted Herald," he settled in New York in 1855, and in 1859 be- came a writer for the "Tribune." In 1861 -'2 he served as an army correspondent for the " World," and in 1863 he was private sec- retary to Attorney General Bates at "Wash- ington. In 1864 he became a stock broker in New York. He has published " Poems, Lyric and Idyllic" (1860) ; " Alice of Monmouth, an Idyl of the Great War, and other Poems" (1864); "The Blameless Prince, and other Poems " (1869) ; " Complete Poems " (1873) ; and "Victorian Poets," a volume of critical studies (1875). STEEL, a malleable compound of iron and carbon, which may be hardened and tempered. Considerable confusion in the use of the word has arisen in late years, owing to the intro- duction of improved metallurgical processes, whereby wrought or malleable iron may be melted and cast into ingots. These ingots, having the appearance of ordinary cast steel and some of its properties, have likewise re- ceived the name of steel, although they lack the capacity of hardening which hitherto was regarded as the essential characteristic of steel. Pure or wrought iron possesses a high degree of malleability and ductility, is difficultly fusi- ble, may be welded at high temperature, but below fusion, and is soft enough when cold to be readily wrought with tools. By the gradual addition of carbon to iron we notice an increase in fusibility, hardness, and resiliency, while malleability and ductility decrease. The small- est proportion of carbon which will distinctly produce these effects is about 0'25 per cent., and the largest amount of carbon which can exist in iron without destroying its malleabil- ity is about 2 per cent. Within these limits the compounds of iron and carbon possess the property of becoming soft when heated to red- ness and slowly cooled, and of becoming hard again when heated and quickly cooled. These processes of hardening and annealing may be repeated indefinitely, or until the carbon is burned out by the successive heatings. Iron with more carbon than 2 per cent, (say 2 to 5) is known as cast iron. It is more fusible than steel, but is not at all malleable, and while it may be hardened by sudden cooling, it is brittle and does not possess the resiliency or " spring " of steel. Soft or wrought iron has been until within the last 20 years worked by rolling or hammering when in a plastic condition at a red or white heat, owing to the impractica- bility of fusing pure iron. Steel was worked in the same manner as wrought iron until Huntsman succeeded in melting it in crucibles during the latter half of the last century, since when cast steel has replaced welded steel for most purposes, on account of its greater homo- geneity, since all welded products consist of layers or fibres of metal separated by cinder, which, though it may be largely extruded by rolling or hammering, yet is always present to a sufficient extent to prevent the absolute con- tact of all the particles of metal. Since the idea of perfect homogeneity combined with malleability has so long been associated with our notions of steel, it was natural that when malleable iron, or iron low in carbon, was melted and cast in moulds, it should receive the name of steel without regard to the amount of carbon or the capacity for hardening. It is thus that the products of the Bessemer con- verter and the Siemens furnace have all been classed as steel, although the content of carbon may vary from 1-50 to 0-10 per cent.; and owing to the very large production of metal by these processes, far exceeding in amount ordi- nary cast steel, this classification has become well established in iron metallurgy. The un- certainty and confusion that has arisen from classing together products of widely different physical and chemical properties, has led to an active discussion of the definition and classi- fication of steel. The classification of Greiner of Seraing is as follows : AMOUNT OF CARBON PER CENT. Series of ircne (welded). Series of steels (melted). to 0-15 0-15 to 0-45 0-45 to 0-55 0-55 to 1-50 Ordinary iron. Granular iron. Steely iron or puddled steel. Cemented iron or steel. Extra soft steel. Soft steel. Semi-soft steel. Hard steel. While the simplicity and convenience of this classification from a manufacturing point of view must be admitted, its adoption is opposed by Gruner and others on the ground that it takes no account of the capacity *or hardening.
