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lively idea of the operations of a hive of bees in the busy hours of spring, as described by Virgil:

"Qualis apes æstate nova per florea rura
Exercet sub sole labor, cum gentis adultos
Educunt Fætus; aut cum liquentia mella
Stipant, & dulci distendunt nectare cellas,
Aut onera accipiunt veniendum agmine facto,
Ignavum fucos pecus a præsepibus arcent;
Fervet opus."

All is animated industry; iron-works and coalpits on each side the road, and thickly peopled villages all around. This scene continued to Rotherham, a town situated at the point where the river Rother falls into the Don; and contains (according to the last returns made in consequence of Mr. Abbot's Bill) 1448 males, and 1622 females. It has a great market for fat cattle and sheep, held there every fortnight; from which the populous country of Manchester and its neighbourhood derive a considerable part of their supplies. The soil about Rotherham is of different sorts; partly being what is termed by the farmers red-land, (which is a light earth mixed with the sand of the red freestone of the country) and partly land of a stronger and heavier quality; most of it well adapted for the growth of corn, and in a high state of cultivation. The under strata, after passing through the stone, abound with iron and coal. Of the lat

ter product there are a number of veins of different thicknesses, from a few inches to seven feet, adapted to different purposes. Some are hard, and calculated to bear the blast of the iron manufacturer; whilst others are better fitted for the cheerful blaze of the domestic fire. Masbrough, which is separated from Rotherham only by the bridge, contains 1658 males, and 1668 females, a great proportion of whom are employed in and about the ironworks. Here are those of Messrs. Walker, where most of the articles made either of cast or wrought iron are manufactured, from the iron-bridge down to the Dutch hoe. Those of smaller and more delicate workmanship in steel are almost exclusively the produce of the neighbouring town of Sheffield. The following account of the processes in casting and turning cannon, cannon-balls, &c. may perhaps interest you:

To prepare the iron-stone for the furnace, it is first baked in the open air in large heaps, in order to dry it, and to deprive it as much as possible of its sulphur and arsenic; which would be prejudicial to the quality of the metal; the coal is also burnt into coke, or charred. These are then thrown mingled together into the furnace, with common limestone to act as a flux, and some of a superior kind of iron ore brought from Cumber

land, in various proportions, according to the quality required in the iron, and the uses it is destined to. A strong blast is then applied to the furnace, and as the iron melts, it falls down into the bottom of the furnace, which is paved with large blocks of freestone, and the mouth walled up with bricks and clay. When it is ready for casting, a hole is made with an iron crow, and the molten metal suffered to run into the proper mould along channels of sand laid upon the ground; but where smaller articles are wanted, the iron is run out of the larger furnaces into a small receiving furnace with an open door, whence it is lifted out in iron ladles covered with clay, to prevent fusion, and carried by the workmen to be poured into the moulds.

Το prepare the mould for the cannon, a wooden model is turned exactly of the size and shape required, and cut in several pieces, and the moulds in which it is to be cast are made of iron, in short pieces; but, except that in which the breech of the cannon is cast, they are all divided down the middle so as to close round the model, leaving a space for sand to be put in betwixt the moulds and the model. That part which represents the breech of the cannon, is first placed upon a bed of sand contained in an iron vessel like a pan, and in order to form the iron loop attached to that part of the gun,

a piece of wood, representing the outside of that loop, is put in, and sand beaten closely and firmly round every part of the model; the piece of wood is then removed, and a round piece made of sand and clay, representing the cavity of the loop, is put in, which remains. The sand is beaten down hard with wooden rammers, and when that piece of the model is taken away, it is finished with small trowels by the hand, to prevent any flaws by any particles of sand which may have fallen in. Other pieces of the model are preparing at the same time, and the moulds fastened round them, and the spaces betwixt them filled up with sand rammed close in like manner, till it is even with the upper surface. The pieces of the model are then taken out, and the moulds put together without them; and the moulds, in order to secure them and prevent any possibility of their not fitting each other, have flat rims corresponding, from one of which are projecting staples, passing through holes in that which comes opposite, and fastened by iron wedges. Every part is carefully examined by the workmen, and any defects repaired by them with their trowels. The whole apparatus is now conveyed into a large oven, where it remains till the sand and mould are all compleatly dry; it is then taken out, and by means of very strong tackle

let down into a round pit sunk in the ground; different channels for the melted iron being directed towards this pit, and communicated across it to the top of the mould by iron troughs, fortified with sand and clay. The iron is then let out of the furnaces, and runs along the ground in these different channels, emitting in its passage brilliant sparks like stars. Upon this occasion a great number of the Cyclopes attend with shovels, to stop the passage of the iron where it comes too fast, as well as to prevent any great quantity of dross from making its way into the mould. The splendid streams of melted fluid, with the burning light they throw on the number of workmen assembled round the spot, contrasted with the darkness of the place, and the occasional cries of the workmen when they pass the signals to stop or open the distant furnaces, together with the roaring of the metal as it falls into the mould, form altogether a terrific scene; and would be an admirable subject for a painter. Care is taken to leave a sufficient space at the top of the mould to receive the dross and such other substances as swim upon the surface, which are afterwards cut off. The whole remains in the pit for several hours, that the iron may set; it is then taken out, the surrounding frame taken to pieces, and as soon as the workmen

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