490 
 
 f MsDa 
 
BANCROFT 
 LIBRARY 
 
 o 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 J. W. POWELL DIRECTOR 
 
 MANGANESE 
 
 T. IXAY 
 
 ABSTRACT FROM ; ' MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 CALENDAR YEARS 1883 AND 1884" ALBERT WILLIAMS, JR., 
 
 CHIEF OF DIVISION OF MINING STATISTICS 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 1885 
 

DEPARTMENT OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 J. W. POWELL DIRECTOR 
 
 MANGANESE 
 
 BY 
 
 ZXA.VTD T. 
 
 ABSTRACT FROM "MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 CALENDAR YEARS 1883 AND 1884" ALBERT WILLIAMS, JR., 
 
 CHIEF OF DIVISION OF MINING STATISTICS 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFF.IOE 
 
 1885 
 
MANGANESE. 
 
 BY DAVID T. DAY. 
 
 Occurrence. Manganese occurs as an essential constituent of several 
 well known minerals, and it is also found in small quantity in many others, 
 often giving them a characteristic color. Silicates frequently contain 
 traces of manganese, and by their decomposition manganese passes into 
 the soil and is taken up to a slight extent by plants. Further it may be 
 stated as a general rule that where iron ores occur the ores of the closely 
 allied metal manganese may also be found, sometimes in well defined 
 masses, more frequently forming merely a small percentage of the iron 
 ore. On the other hand all the manganese minerals are found to con- 
 tain iron, though occasionally large beds of manganese ores are met 
 with in such pure condition that iron can be found only as a trifling im- 
 purity, less in amount than that of other metals such as nickel and co- 
 balt. The question whether a given mineral can be considered a prac- 
 tical ore of manganese is decided not merely by the amount of metallic 
 manganese which it contains, but principally by the use to which it is 
 put. It thus frequently happens that ores very poor in manganese find 
 sale, while others containing three or four times the amount remain 
 unmined. The two principal uses for manganese are (1) in the form of 
 manganese dioxide as an oxidizing agent, and (2) as an addition to 
 iron. For the first the richest ores obtainable are the only ones used. 
 But frequently an ore containing only a small amount of manganese but 
 comparatively rich in iron is used as a valuable source from which to 
 obtain iron alloyed with the desired amount of manganese. It is to be 
 borne in mind that in this last use as an addition to iron the richer 
 ores would be valuable if it were not for the fact that they usually con- 
 tain phosphorus in some form of combination. 
 
 Character of the ores. Manganese is chiefly found as manganese 
 dioxide or pyrolusite (MnO 2 ) ; it also occurs as braunite or brown oxide 
 of manganese (Mn 2 O 3 ) j manganite (Mn 2 O 3 , H 2 O) ; hausmannite (Mn 3 O 4 ) ; 
 and as psilomelane, which contains manganese dioxide together with 
 compounds of barium or potassium and frequently iron, nickel, or cobalt. 
 Manganese carbonate also occurs in quantity sufficient for its use as a 
 valuable ore in Germany ; and knebelite and manganiferous garnet, both 
 silicates containing iron and manganese, have found special application 
 in the manufacture of spiegel iron. Pyrolusite and braunite have been 
 the important manganese ores of the United States until recently, when 
 a hydrated variety of psilomelane called " wad " or " bog manganese" 
 has become an article of commerce. The terms used by dealers to dis- 
 tinguish the various ores of manganese are frequently different from 
 those given here, and much confusion exists. For a discussion of this 
 
 550 
 
MANGANESE. 
 
 551 
 
 subject the reader is referred to " Mineral Resources of the United 
 States, 1882," page 425. 
 
 Localities in the United States. The extent of the manganese deposits 
 in the United States is unusually great when compared with the depos- 
 its in other lauds. They occur irregularly distributed through the 
 eastern States from Maine to Georgia. Mines were formerly worked 
 for bog manganese in several well known localities in Knox, Oxford j 
 and Hancock counties, Maine. Bog manganese is again met with, 
 though sparingly, in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode 
 Island, New York, and Pennsylvania. From Maryland to Georgia black 
 oxide of manganese is much more common than bog manganese, al- 
 though the latter is met with occasionally in Virginia and North Caro- 
 lina. These deposits of black oxide are the important sources of Amer- 
 ican manganese. The most northern deposit is near Brookeville, Mont- 
 gomery county, Maryland. This was formerly worked, but no manga- 
 nese ore is now mined in Maryland. 
 
 Proceeding southward, the Crimora mine at Crimora station on the 
 Shenandoah Valley railroad, Augusta county, Virginia, ranks as the 
 most important mine in the United States. In 1867 a stock company 
 bought the land containing this mine from Mr. Flannigan, of Charlottes- 
 ville, for $3,000 ; as soon as operations for mining were actually begun, 
 the mine was valued at $24,000. The stock company continued mining 
 until 1869, when the total receipts showed a loss, owing to lack of ex- 
 perience in the managers. From May, 1869, to April, 1882, the mines 
 were alternately either idle or worked by Mr. Samuel W. Donald in the 
 interest of the stock company. On April 29, 1882, the mines were leased 
 for five years to Messrs. James B. White & Co., of Pittsburgh, Penn- 
 sylvania, who have put in new machinery and increased the yearly prod- 
 uct abou-t fourfold. During the early years the ore was shipped to 
 England and Belgium ; lately it has been used in making spiegel iron in 
 this country and for making bromine on the Ohio river. An analysis 
 of the Crimora ore, made by Prof. Andrew S. McCreath, is given below. 
 The analysis was apparently made from a particularly good specimen and 
 cannot be said to represent the average value of the ore. It serves how- 
 ever to indicate the nature of the impurities met with in manganese ores. 
 
 Analysis of pyrolu site from the Crimora mine, Virginia. 
 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 
 81.70 
 
 Manganeso oxide 
 
 7.28 
 
 Ferric oxide 
 
 .55 
 
 Cobalt oxide 
 
 .35 
 
 Nickel oxide 
 
 .09 
 
 Zinc oxide 
 
 .62 
 
 Alumina 
 
 .90 
 
 Baryta 
 
 .83 
 
 liime 
 
 .88 
 
 Magnesia 
 
 .63 
 
 Phosphoric acid 
 
 .17 
 
 Alkalies 
 
 .47 
 
 Silica ' 
 
 2. 13 
 
 Water 
 
 3.40 
 
 
 
 
 100.00 
 
552 
 
 MINE K'A I. RESOURCES. 
 
 Manganese is found at as many as thirteen other points in Wythe, 
 Giles, Bland, Campbell, Louisa, Nelson, and other counties of Virginia. 
 The mines in Pittsylvania and Nelson counties are especially large. 
 At Goshen Bridge, Rockbridge county, mines have been opened from 
 which 20 tons per day can be furnished. 
 
 In North Carolina manganese ores (pyrolusite and wad) are met with 
 in Cherokee, Catawba, and Cabarrus counties, but not in large quantity 
 and of a hard quality. As a rule these hard ores are coincident with 
 poor ores, because pyrolusite is softer than the less valuable manganite 
 and bra unite. In South Carolina deposits have been found at Hard 
 Labor creek, and a project is on foot to obtain manganese from the 
 Dorris mine. 
 
 The chief rivals of the Virginia ores are those of the " Etowah re- 
 gion," Bartow county, Georgia. A Virginian named Ruckman dis 
 Covered manganese at Cass station, Bartow county, and recognized a 
 similarity between these ores and those of Virginia. In 1867 the prop- 
 erty was bought for mining purposes by Mr. M. G. Dobbins, who has 
 furnished the following information : In 1870 the mines were rented to 
 a company of New York capitalists who extracted about 5,000 tons of 
 ore from less than one-half acre of land, without going deeper than 40 
 feet. The property has now gone into the hands of the Bartow Man- 
 ganese and Manufacturing Company, with $30,000 paid stock. The 
 company consists of M. G. Dobbins and others. Nearly the whole year 
 has been spent in placing machinery in position and in other prepara- 
 tions for work. The indications are that the ore will find sale in Pitts- 
 burgh. A small quantity has been shipped to England. The following 
 analyses give a fair idea of the average character of the ore. No. 1 
 is a sample analyzed in New York ; No. 2 is taken from a lot of ore 
 shipped to England. 
 
 Analyses of pyrolusite from the Etowah region, Georgia. 
 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Manganese oxide 
 
 Percent. 
 80 00 
 
 Per cent. 
 80 58 
 
 Iron peroxide - 
 
 .54 
 
 15 72' 
 
 
 
 1 34 
 
 Silica 
 
 .60 
 
 1 32 
 
 Alumina 
 
 .13 
 
 
 Lime .90 
 
 Magnesia ! .15 
 
 Sulphur ; .027 
 
 Phosphoric acid . 33 
 
 Water and carbonic acid i 17. 00 
 
 1.15 
 
 99. 677 
 
 Manganese available for chlorine 
 
 100. 11 
 
 At Woodstock station, Calhoun county, Alabama, about 2,000 tons 
 of manganiferous ore, containing 36 per cent, metallic iron and 23 per 
 cent, manganese, were mined for the Woodstock Iron Company, of 
 
MANGANESE. 
 
 553 
 
 Anuiston, Alabama, for making spiegel iron. The production has ceased; 
 no ore was mined in 1883 or 1884. The deposits at Candutchkee, Clay 
 county, have never been mined. In Dixon county, Tennessee, there 
 are more extensive deposits, but not rich enough to be used for the 
 manganese alone. 
 
 Recently an effort has been made to obtain manganese from the de- 
 posits known to exist in Arkansas. The following history of these de- 
 posits is due to Mr. A. M. Evans, general superintendent of the White 
 River Mining Company : The discovery of manganese ore in Arkansas 
 was accidental. About thirty years ago a Colonel Martin, of Tennessee, 
 bought lands in Independence county, and finding pieces of manganese 
 ore, had them analyzed, and called the attention of the iron masters in 
 England to the discovery. The civil war put a stop to further opera- 
 tions. The deposits lay untouched until three years ago, when Mr. 
 E. H. Woodward began working them, and now several companies 
 are engaged in the enterprise. The ore, which is black oxide of man- 
 ganese, occures in "pockets" in an ellipitical belt of land, the major axis 
 of which extends for 15 miles through Independence and Izard counties, 
 beginning 3 miles from Batesville. Its minor axis is from 6 to 8 miles 
 long. The ore is found resting upon Silurian limestone. Much of it is 
 on the surface, and the cost of mining is said to be very small. The 
 following are analyses, the first of a picked sample, the other three 
 samples of carloads : 
 
 Analyses of manganese ore from Arkansas. 
 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 
 Per cent. 
 62 Oi; 
 
 Per cent. 
 49 06 
 
 Per cent. 
 y> 26 
 
 Per cent. 
 55 02 
 
 Metallic iron 
 
 1.05 
 
 3 04 
 
 3.52 
 
 2.05 
 
 Silica 
 
 1 00 
 
 4 00 
 
 
 2 00 
 
 
 .01 
 
 .12 
 
 .098 
 
 . 15 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dp to the present little has been done in sending >the ore to market, 
 but after an era of prospecting, several companies have been organized 
 and mining operations have actually begun. It is probable that not 
 more than 5,000 tons have ever been mined from these deposits. The 
 Ferromanganese Company, of which Mr. E. H. Woodward is president, 
 has mines about 12 miles from Batesville ; it employs some twenty men, 
 with eight or ten teams, and has shipped about 50 tons of ore. The Ar- 
 kansas Manganese Mining Company, composed principally of Messrs. 
 W. C. Whitthorne, John C. Brown, and Jerome Hill, all of Tennessee, has 
 made some shipments of ore to Saint Louis, and is preparing for ex- 
 tensive operations. Mr. A. M. Evans represents a corporation known 
 as the White River Mining Company. This company has shipped about 
 200 tons of ore. The White River Mining and Transportation Company 
 controls a very large body of manganese lands, and has commenced 
 operations. Besides the companies named, the firm of Hunton & Gibb, 
 of Batesville, is making preparations for active work. The industry is 
 
554 MINERAL RESOURCES. 
 
 in the experimental stage, and many questions remain for decision by 
 practical tests before the true importance of the new field can be de- 
 termined. 
 
 There are many deposits in Virginia which once gave promise of great 
 value but, for one or another slight objection, are not mined. Aside 
 from the usual considerations of the percentage of manganese, amount 
 of ore, cost of getting it out of the ground, freight to a manufacturing 
 center, etc., is the one of whether the possible impurities will prevent 
 its use in the manufacture of steel. For the other uses of manganese 
 the supply from the eastern States fully equals the demand. But the 
 attempt to use some of these eastern ores in steel making has not been 
 markedly successful so far, because of the phosphorus which the ores 
 contain. A small amount of this substance in steel renders it " cold 
 short," that is, brittle when cold, and more than counteracts the benefi- 
 cial effect of the manganese. Heretofore Spanish iron ore, containing 
 small amounts of manganese and remarkably free from phosphorus, 
 has been used for steel. The analyses given of the Arkansas ore indi- 
 cate that it may not contain too much phosphorus to act as a valuable 
 substitute for the imported ore. If this proves to be true it is probable 
 that Arkansas will exert a powerful influence on the whole industry, 
 whether the ore can be brought to market as cheaply as the Virginia 
 ore or not. It is evident from the amount of capital invested that the 
 necessary tests will soon be made. 
 
 Manganese minerals are again met with on the Pacific slope. The 
 following information has been furnished by Mr. C. G. Yale: Manganese 
 is found in heavy deposits in California and Nevada and occurs in greater 
 or less quantity in the Rocky Mountain region. The only deposit that 
 has been worked to any extent is on Red Eock island in the bay of San 
 Francisco, concerning which nothing further is to be said than was given 
 in " Mineral Resources of the United States, 1882," no ore having since 
 been mined from this or any other manganese deposit on the Pacific 
 coast. The following comprise the other localities in California where 
 the mineral has been observed : Near AngePs Camp and at Railroad 
 Flat, Calaveras county; abundantly at Corral Hollow, Contra Costa 
 county; near Saucelito and Tomales, Marin county ; Sweetlaud, Nevada 
 county ; Mount Saint Helena, Napa county ; at Argentine and Mum- 
 ford Hill, Plumas county ; near Colton, San Bernardino county ; Bernal 
 Heights, near the city of San Francisco ; at several places in Santa 
 Clara and Sonoma counties ; and near the town of Columbia, Tuolumne 
 county, where pieces of ore weighing 100 pounds or more have been 
 picked up on the surface of the ground. 
 
 Foreign sources. The manganese ore occurring in Nova Scotia has an 
 important bearing on American industries on account of its exceptional 
 freedom from iron, which makes it valuable for neutralizing the green 
 tint imparted to glass by iron. According to an article by Mr. Edwin 
 Gilpin, read before the Royal Society at the Ottawa meeting, this pure 
 pyrolusite is found in Hants, Colchester, Pictou, and Cape Breton coun- 
 
MANGANESE. 
 
 555 
 
 ties, in quantities sufficient for profitable mi n ing. Some of these ores 
 are said to contain 95 per cent, manganese dioxide and mere traces of 
 iron. Small amounts are regularly imported by glass manufacturers at 
 prices quite out of proportion to native ores. 
 
 In Germany, Sweden, and liussia local deposits are used by iron 
 manufactuiefs, but when particularly pure ores are desired all these 
 countries import from the rich deposits in Spain and Portugal. Car- 
 thagena, Huelva, Maibella, and Bilboa are the principal shipping ports, 
 and England particularly obtains large amounts of ore from these 
 points. 
 
 Production. The statistics from many of the small mines of Virginia 
 and Xorth Carolina are practically inaccessible. It is therefore impos- 
 sible to determine exactly the total quantity mined, but the amount for 
 1883 and 1884 can be stated as 18,000 long tons to a very clo>e approxi- 
 mation, of which 8,000 tons were mined in 1883 and 10,000 in 1884. Of 
 this amount Virginia furnished fully three-fourths, Arkansas a fifth, and 
 the balance was contributed by Georgia and North Carolina. In former 
 years Virginia furnished nearly all the manganese mined in this country. 
 The following table gives the actual number of tons obtained from the 
 Crimora mine, which furnishes by far the largest part of the Virginia 
 supply : 
 
 Production of the Crimora mine, Virginia. 
 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 Priorto 1869 
 
 Long tons. 
 5 684 
 
 May 18C9 to February 1876 
 
 280 
 
 February, 1876, to December 1878 .. .. 
 
 2 326 
 
 December, 1878, to December, 1879 
 December, 1879, to December 1880 .. 
 
 1,602 
 2 353 
 
 December 1880 to December 1881 
 
 2 3 9 7 
 
 December, 1881, to April 1882 
 
 165 
 
 April, 182, to December, 1883 
 
 4,841 
 
 December, 1883, to November 19, 1884 
 Total 
 
 8,473 
 28 051 
 
 
 
 The production of manganese ores in foreign countries has always been 
 much greater than in the United States. In 1874, the production in 
 Germany was given as 18,725 long tons; in Austria, 4,937 long tons; 
 the Huelva district, in Spain, 48,207 long tons ; in England, 6,552 long 
 tons. In the latter country the production has diminished markedly; 
 thus in 1882, 1,548 long tons, with a value of 3,907, were mined in Great 
 Britain. In 1881, Portugal produced 9,906 long tons. The production 
 in Italy for three years ending 1879, as furnished by American Consul- 
 General Richmond, was : 
 
 Production of manganese ore in Portugal. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Long tons. 
 
 Value. 
 
 1877 
 
 6 812 
 
 $40 597 
 
 1878 
 
 6 655 
 
 48 256 
 
 1879 
 
 5 705 
 
 35 065 
 
 
 
 
556 
 
 MINERAL RESOURCES. 
 
 Value* During the year 1883 the price of black oxide of manganese 
 in the United States ranged from $11 to $16 per ton, according to the 
 percentage of manganese. The total value of the year's production was 
 about $120,000. The price declined in 1884, and manganese ore con- 
 taining 75 per cent, manganese dioxide is now worth $12 per ton at the 
 mines, or 27 cents per metallic unit delivered at Pittsburgh or Johnstown. 
 The total product of 1884 may also be valued at $120,000. The cost of 
 mining varies from $5 to $10 per ton in the eastern States. It is claimed 
 that the Arkansas deposits which occur near the .surface can be mined 
 for $1.25 per ton. 
 
 Imports. Manganese ores are imported from l^ova Scotia, as already 
 mentioned, for use in the manufacture of glass. Some manganese also 
 finds its way into this country in the form of iron ore containing about 
 20 per cent, manganese. It is brought from Carthagena and Marbella 
 as ballast by vessels seeking cargo. The importations from 1869 to 1884, 
 inclusive, are given in the following table : 
 
 Oxide and ore of manganese imported and entered for consumption in the United States, 1869 
 
 to 1884 inclusive, 
 
 Fiscal years ending June 30 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 Value. 
 
 1869 
 
 Pounds. 
 
 $11, 864 
 
 1870 
 
 
 10 685 
 
 1871 
 
 
 12, 321 
 
 1872 
 
 
 9 768 
 
 1873 
 
 1,226 157 
 
 12, 466 
 
 1874 
 
 1 507 448 
 
 16 992 
 
 1875 
 
 1, 119 893 
 
 16, 300 
 
 1876 
 
 386 408 
 
 5 805 
 
 1877 
 
 1,326 136 
 
 15, 747 
 
 1878 
 
 3 068 634 
 
 31 571 
 
 1879 
 
 554 372 
 
 12,094 
 
 1880 
 
 1 864 968 
 
 19 825 
 
 1881 
 
 1, 283, 457 
 
 20, 432 
 
 1882 
 
 2 225 936 
 
 38 879 
 
 1883 
 
 1, 425, 274 
 
 28, 952 
 
 1884 
 
 1 151 531 
 
 24 326 
 
 
 
 
 The imports in 1884 were classified as 
 
 
 Pounds. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Ore 
 
 1 000 095 
 
 $19 989 
 
 Oxide .... 
 
 151 436 
 
 4 337 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 1 151 531 
 
 24 326 
 
 
 
 
 Exports. England has been a consumer of American manganese ore 
 since its mining was first commenced. The ore is used in the manu- 
 facture of chlorine. The following is the value of the exported ore 
 from 1869, which was practically the beginning of manganese mining 
 in this country, to the present time : 
 
MANGANESE. 557 
 
 Value of manganese ore exported from the United States, 1869- to 1884 inclusive. 
 
 Fiscal years ending June 30 " 
 
 Value. 
 
 Fiscal years ending June 30 
 
 Value. 
 
 1869 
 
 $43 382 
 
 1875 . . 
 
 $2 261 
 
 1870 
 
 56, 125 
 
 1876 
 
 1,030 
 
 1871 
 
 7 760 
 
 1878 
 
 3 569 
 
 1873 
 
 41, 075 
 
 1883 
 
 6,165 
 
 1874 
 
 9,939 
 
 1884 
 
 1 802 
 
 
 
 
 
 Utilization. The uses for manganese ores may be grouped under two 
 heads : (1) those in which the oxygen combined with the manganese is 
 used, and (2) those in which manganese itself is sought. For the first 
 group only ores which are rich in manganese dioxide are used. When 
 heated strongly or treated with powerful acids, this substance serves as 
 a convenient source of pure oxygen. More frequently it is used as an 
 "oxidizing agent," that is, to give up oxygen to some other substance, 
 rather than to furnish oxygen in the elementary form. Thus chlorine 
 and bromine are prepared by this oxidizing action of manganese dioxide 
 in the following way : It is extremely difficult to separate these elements 
 from others with which they are ordinarily in combination; it is com- 
 paratively easy, however, to obtain the compound of chlorine known as 
 hydrochloric or "muriatic" acid from ordinary salt by treatment with 
 sulphuric acid. When this substance is warmed with manganese 
 dioxide, oxygen from the latter combines with the hydrogen of the acid, 
 leaving part of the chlorine free. Large amounts of manganese are 
 used annually for this purpose, in England particularly. The manga- 
 nese is converted by this process into manganese chloride, which serves 
 as a convenient substance from which all the other salts of manganese 
 can be made. A brown and a black pigment can be obtained indirectly 
 from it by heating it in contact with air. A green pigment is made by 
 heating manganese carbonate, obtained from the chloride, in closed 
 vessels. The beautiful violet color which manganese gives when fused 
 with phosphoric acid salts led to the manufacture of a violet pigment 
 called manganese or Kurnberg violet, from these same chlorine residues. 
 "RosenstiehPs green," obtained from this source, is used somewhat for 
 printing on paper. It has been found that certain of the salts corre- 
 sponding to manganese chloride hasten the oxidation of linseed oil. Thus 
 when linseed oil is boiled with manganese dioxide, the addition of man- 
 ganese borate aids in the desired oxidation. The most important use 
 of these waste residues from the chlorine manufacture is in preparing 
 potassium and sodium permanganates. Formerly native manganese 
 dioxide was fused with potassium chlorate and potassium hydroxide, 
 but the finely pulverized oxide obtained from manganese chloride is 
 easier to convert into permanganates. This permanganate of. potassium 
 is used not only for purely chemical purposes, such as the preparation 
 of specimens and the oxidation of various substances in analytic 
 chemistry, but also for technical purposes in determining the value of 
 
558 MINERAL RESOURCES. 
 
 iron ores, in bleaching leather and textile febrics, for the preparation 
 of oxygen according to Motay's process, and for sanitary purposes as 
 a powerful disinfectant. But these uses do not consume all the 
 manganese chloride which continually results from the manufacture of 
 chlorine. It is customary, therefore, to reconvert manganese chloride 
 by Weldon's process into a substance capable of oxidizing hydrochloric 
 acid. By this means the same manganese is used repeatedly. Were 
 it not for this, the demand for manganese ores would probably be more 
 than doubled. Bromine is made in a similar way, and about one-fifth of 
 the manganese ore mined in the United States is used at Pomeroy and 
 other places on the Ohio river, in the West Virginia and Ohio salt district, 
 for making bromine. Thus far no attempt has been made to regenerate 
 the manganese so used in America. Until recently nearly all the native 
 ore was used for one or another oxidizing purpose in this country, or 
 shipped, for similar use, to England. Meanwhile large amounts of 
 manganese were imported to furnish manganese to the Bessemer steel 
 works. There has been prejudice against American ores on account of 
 the phosphorus they contain. Within the last few years, however, the 
 manufacture of steel has consumed the greater part of the native ore. 
 In just what way manganese proves advantageous in making steel has 
 been an interesting subject of discussion, but one in which it is ex- 
 tremely difficult to obtain facts 5 partly because steel manufacturers 
 are not ready to reveal the secrets of their industry, and also because 
 there are great differences in the views held by authorities. The fol- 
 lowing will serve to indicate at least the main features of this subject ; 
 further information will be found in the treatises on metallurgy by 
 Percy, and in " Steel, its History, Manufacture, and Uses," by J. S. 
 Jeans, from which much of what follows has been taken : 
 
 It was known in quite early times that certain iron ores furnished 
 pig iron from which particularly good steel could be made; it was 
 shown, later, that this ore contained oxides of manganese, but it was 
 barely suspected that it was the manganese which gave the improved 
 character to steel, until, in 1839, Josiah M. Heath found as the re- 
 sult of many experiments that when a small amount of manganese 
 is introduced into steel of poor quality in the melting pot,- the steel 
 is uniformly improved and can be welded to iron with facility. The 
 enormous change which this discovery effected in the English man- 
 ufacture of steel is sufficient testimony to_ the correctness of Heath's 
 claim that the quality of poor steel is improved by the addition of 
 smal! amounts of metallic manganese. It became possible by its aid 
 to dispense with Eussian and Swedish iron and use the inferior English 
 iron. The use of manganese became general, and it has been calculated 
 that a saving in the cost of steel amounting in all to $10,000,000 had been 
 effected by 1855. When the Bessemer process of making steel was 
 introduced it was found that the finished metal contained as much 
 phosphorus as the pig iron from which it had been made. It was "cold 
 
MANGANESE 559 
 
 short/' and the effort was made to add some substance which would 
 overcome this objection cither by removing the phosphorus or by counter- 
 acting its effects. For several years Bessemer was unable to do this, 
 and was obliged to use pure Swedish pig iron in his process. In 1856 
 Robert Mushet added to the iron made in a Bessemer converter a small 
 quantity of cast iron containing manganese, and found that good steel 
 could thus be made from very impure cast iron. He recommends adding 
 from 1 to 5 per cent, manganese to the metal, according to the degree 
 of hardness desired in the resulting steel. This process immediately 
 became a general one, and now a certain amount of pig iron containing 
 manganese is always introduced just before Bessemer steel is finished. 
 In the manufacture of open -hearth steel also, manganese is used, so 
 that at present manganese in the form of an alloy with iron is always 
 added to Bessemer and open-hearth steels before these are finished. 
 But as to the exact function of manganese many opinions have, been 
 expressed. Both Heath and Mushet proposed to add nearly 3 per cent, 
 of manganese, but usually steel is found to contain less than 1 per cent.; 
 it is therefore evident that the larger part finds its way out of the iron 
 again, and if it produces any beneficial effect this must be sought in 
 some reaction which it aids during its removal, by which the steel loses 
 some impurity. It has been shown that sulphur can be removed to a 
 considerable extent when manganese is introduced into a Bessemer 
 converter. The majority of metallurgists believe, however, that the 
 great, benefit is due to the removal of oxygen from the finished steel. 
 It is impossible to distribute the air of the blast perfectly through the 
 molten metal, and hence some oxide of iron will be formed in one por- 
 tion of the steel before all the carbon has been removed from another; 
 the manganese introduced will oxidize more readily than iron, and 
 will reduce any oxide of iron that is formed. The oxide of manga- 
 nese is either blown out of the converter in a flocculent mass or 
 unites with the slag, and thus leaves the steel in a more homogeneous 
 condition. The amount of phosphorus in steel is not changed by the 
 addition of manganese, but it seems that its deleterious effect- is not so 
 apparent when a small amount of manganese is present. According 
 to Mushet nothing is gained by adding manganese to steel which con- 
 tains no impurities. The present opinion seems, therefore, to be that 
 manganese is valuable (1) in deoxidizing steel, (2) in aiding the re- 
 moval of sulphur, and (3) in counteracting the effect of phosphorus. 
 The best form in which to introduce manganese into steel would un- 
 doubtedly be that of the pure metal; but manganese is so difficultly 
 fusible and oxidizes so readily that it is impracticable to reduce it from 
 its ores ; pure manganese, therefore, is never used. It is much easier to 
 reduce a mixture of the oxides of manganese and iron and thus obtain 
 an alloy of these metals, which is usually called u spiegel iron ' 7 when 
 the manganese is less than 15 or 20 per cent., and u ferroinanganese " 
 
560 MINERAL RESOURCES. 
 
 when it exceeds this percentage, though in practice the terms are some- 
 times used indiscriminately. 
 
 Manufacture of spiegel iron is carried on largely in Germany, France, 
 and England, and lately has become a feature of American steel works. 
 The following account of its manufacture is taken by Jeans from an 
 article by Forbes in the Journal of the British Iron and Steel Institute : 
 The ores used for making spiegel iron vary in the different countries. 
 In Germany it is made entirely from manganiferous spathic carbonate 
 of iron; in Russia it is reduced from ferruginous oxides of manganese; 
 and in Sweden it is produced by smelting a mixture of knebelite and 
 manganiferous garnet, uoth of which minerals are compound silicates 
 of iron and manganese. In one point, however, the methods all agree; 
 namely, that in all these ores the oxides of manganese and iron, if not in 
 actual combination as compound silicates or carbonates, are at any rate 
 in a very intimate admixture with one another, and therein lies one of 
 the most important features connected with this manufacture. Until 
 the year 1872, wherever true ores of manganese had been added to the 
 usual charge of a blast furnace with the expectation of obtaining spiegel 
 iron rich in manganese, it was found as a general rule tnat only a small 
 fraction of the manganese combined with the iron, the major part being 
 carried off in the slag. For this reason, when it was desired to pro- 
 duce a cast iron containing much manganese it was deemed requisite 
 that this metal should be added to the charge in the shape of some 
 strongly ferruginous compound, thereby facilitating the process of re- 
 duction, since a mixture of the two oxides (of manganese and iron) is 
 much more easily reduced to the metallic state, and so enabled to 
 unite with the iron, from the rest of the charge, than oxide of man- 
 ganese alone, which, unless the heat is very intense and the reducing 
 action of the furnace nearly perfect, is extremely apt to go into the 
 slag in the state of silicate, from which it can subsequently be recovered 
 only with great difficulty. The oxides of manganese are very much 
 less easily reduced and require more time as well as a much higher tem- 
 perature than the oxides of iron, and hence it follows that in making 
 spiegel iron particular attention should be paid to the following points: 
 
 1. The mineral used as a source of manganese should be in itself 
 highly charged with iron, so as to facilitate and insure the reduction of 
 as large an amount of the manganese contained in it as possible. 
 
 2. The charge of the furnace should be highly basic, or, in other 
 words, an excess of limestone, or preferably burnt lime, should be used. 
 
 3. The working of the furnace should be much slower than is usual 
 in iron smelting, in order to allow more time for the reduction of the 
 oxides of manganese. 
 
 4. The temperature of the blast furnace should be as high as possible, 
 using as hot a blast as can be obtained, and as coke admits of the use 
 of a sharper blast, and affords greater heat, it is to be preferred to 
 charcoal in this manufacture. 
 
MANGANESE. 
 
 561 
 
 Bussian spiegel iron is smelted with charcoa^and is known for its good 
 quality. In order to increase the amount of manganese in gray pig iron 
 which already contains 1.2 per cent, of manganese, so as to obtain spiegel 
 iron, 12 to 15 per cent, of pure native oxide of manganese (pyrolusite) 
 has been added, producing a low spiegel iron containing from 5 to 6 per 
 cent, metallic manganese. 
 
 In Sweden spiegel iron is made by smelting a mixture of knebelite and 
 manganiferous garnet containing an average of 42 per cent, iron and 13 
 per cent., manganese with equal parts charcoal and coke, the ore being 
 fluxed with 30 per cent, limestone. The ore frequently contains visible 
 particles of galena, pyrites, and zincblende, but it is stated that no sul- 
 phur is found in the spiegel iron, although the slag, which has a peculiar 
 yellow-green color when the furnace is working weir is said to contain 
 4 per cent, sulphur, and up to as much as 16 per cent, oxide of .man- 
 ganese. The ordinary spiegel iron made at Schisshyttan, Dalecarlia, is 
 superior to the average German product, and contains an average of 13 
 per cent, manganese, with about 4 per cent, carbon, or 5 per cent, car- 
 bon and silicon. Occasionally it has been as high as 17 per cent. Alex- 
 ander Keiller, the manager of these works, informed Forbes that he 
 was, in 1872, producing spiegel iron which averaged 15 per cent, man- 
 ganese, with only 2.5 per cent, carbon, but that this metal was altogether 
 different in appearance and could not be made to assume the crystal- 
 lized, bladed, reflecting fracture peculiar to spiegel (specular) iron, and 
 from which its name is derived. The characteristics of good spiegel 
 iron are thus described : (1) A highly crystalline structure with large 
 and smooth cleavage planes ; (2) a tendency to iridescent tarnish, and 
 (3) a chemical analysis showing 10 to 12 per cent, metallic manganese, 
 which is quite sufficient for ordinary purposes, about 4 per cent, com- 
 bined carbon, less than 1 per cent, silicon, not more than 1 per cent, 
 phosphorus or copper, and only traces of sulphur and other elements. 
 Uncombined carbon in the form of graphite should not be present. 
 
 The following analyses of spiegel iron represent the character of the 
 best kinds imported into New York in 1868, 1869, and 1873 : 
 
 Analyses of imported spiegel. 
 
 
 18 
 
 38. 
 
 ise 
 
 "' 
 
 ' 18' 
 
 rs. 
 
 Iron 
 
 Per cent. 
 85 57 
 
 Per cent 
 84 455 
 
 Percent. 
 
 84 1 9 2 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 84 869 
 
 Percent. 
 
 Percent. 
 
 Manganese 
 
 9.142 
 
 10 625 
 
 10 5G8 
 
 10 223 
 
 11. 130 
 
 10.22 
 
 Copper 
 
 032 
 
 0' J 4 
 
 036 
 
 031 
 
 279 
 
 .20 
 
 Nickel and cobalt 
 
 .005 
 
 .005 
 
 004 
 
 002 
 
 
 
 Silicon 
 
 OG8 
 
 368 
 
 268 
 
 384 
 
 
 
 Carbon 
 
 5 048 
 
 4 304 
 
 4 907 
 
 4 461 
 
 
 
 Sulpbur . . . 
 
 
 002 
 
 
 001 
 
 
 
 Phosphorus 
 
 037 
 
 044 
 
 104 
 
 027 
 
 039 
 
 06 
 
 Aluminum 
 
 082 
 
 045 
 
 032 
 
 012 
 
 
 
 Calcium 
 
 015 
 
 016 
 
 021 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 99 999 
 
 99 898 
 
 100 062 
 
 100 010 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
562 
 
 MINERAL RESOURCES. 
 
 Subjoined are some further analyses of spiegel iron given by Hackney 
 in the "Proceedings of the Civil Engineers, April, 1875:" 
 
 Analyses of other foreign spiegels. 
 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 No. 4, 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 Iron ...... 
 
 Per ct. 
 89 527 
 
 Perct. 
 
 86. 000 
 
 Per ci. 
 
 83 777 
 
 Per ct. 
 
 Per ct. 
 83.08 
 
 Per ct. 
 
 Per ct. 
 75. 100 
 
 Per ct. 
 
 70. 34 
 
 Per ct. 
 65.81 
 
 Manganese 
 
 5.619 
 
 8.500 
 
 11 782 
 
 12. 000 
 
 12.30 
 
 18. 870 
 
 20. 350 
 
 23.48 
 
 28.70 
 
 Carbon 
 
 4 410 
 
 4 00 
 
 4 538 
 
 4.500 
 
 3.90 
 
 4.500 
 
 3.800 
 
 5.31 
 
 5.28 
 
 Silicon 
 
 .161 
 
 1.10 
 
 041 
 
 .130 
 
 .54 
 
 1.050 
 
 .254 
 
 .09 
 
 .01 
 
 Phosphorus 
 
 .047 
 
 288 
 
 084 
 
 .075 
 
 .08 
 
 .102 
 
 .029 
 
 .37 
 
 .38 
 
 Sulphur 
 
 .017 
 
 .03 
 
 . 010 
 
 .010 
 
 Trace. 
 
 Trace. 
 
 .010 
 
 Trace. 
 
 Trace. 
 
 Copper 
 
 
 04 
 
 015 
 
 .002 
 
 
 .063 
 
 Trace. 
 
 Trace. 
 
 Trace. 
 
 
 288 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 100. 069 
 
 99 958 
 
 100 247 
 
 
 99.90 
 
 
 99. 543 
 
 99.59 
 
 100. 18 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. Swedish spiegel. Authority: G-. J. Snelus, Journal Iron and Steel Institute, 1874, page 76. 
 
 2. Rhenish spiegel iron, from Spaeter .and Wirth, Coblentz. Analyst : A. Willis. 
 
 3. Landore spiegel iron. Analyst: E. Riley. 
 
 4. Landore spiegel iron. Analyst: A. Willis. 
 
 5. West Cumberland spiegel iron. Authority : G. J . Snelus, loc. cit., page 73. Analyst : G. J. Snelus. 
 
 6. Dowlais spiegel iron. Authority: G J. Snelus, loc. cit. Analyst: W.Jenkins. 
 
 7. Spiegel iron made at Schisshyttan iron works, Sweden. Authority : D. Forbes, Journal Iron and 
 Steel Institute, 1874, page 467. 
 
 Nos. 8 and 9. Spiegel iron from Illyria, Austria, made by the Krainischen Eisen-Iiidnstrie Gesell- 
 schaft. Authority : D. Forbes, loc. cit. Analysts : Of No. 8, M. Lill ; of No. 9, H. Sturm. 
 
 The percentage of spiegel iron which is introduced into the Bessemer 
 converter or into open-hearth steel varies between 1 and 5 per cent, 
 according to the amount of manganese in the spiegel iron, and also 
 according to the condition of the iron. If the elimination of carbon has 
 been quite complete more spiegel iron will be necessary to combat oxi- 
 dation and leave the desired quantity of manganese in the finished 
 product. As has been said, a large part of the manganese is driven 
 out of the iron into the slag, but usually about 0.25 per cent, (from 0.1 
 to 0.8 per cent.) remains in the iron. In an example by Mr. Snelus 251 
 pounds of spiegel iron containing 8.88 per cent, manganese was added 
 to 72 cwts. of pig iron. If no manganese had been lost 22.288 pounds 
 of this metal would have been found. But only 7.28 pounds were 
 actually found, showing that 15 pounds, or about two-thirds, had been 
 removed, leaving steel containing 0.104 per cent, manganese. 
 
 The following determinations of the quantity of manganese in various 
 kinds of steel are given by Kessler in Dingler's Polyteclmische. Journal: 
 
 Amount of manganese in steel. 
 
 Steels. 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 
 437 to 438 
 
 Bochuiu cast steel 
 
 0. 312 to 317 
 
 
 327 to 332 
 
 Manganese steel of Ludwif in Berlin 
 
 0. 303 
 
 
 035 
 
 Hoerder steel 
 
 0. 107 to 0. 170 
 
 Cannon steel (Terre Noire) 
 
 240 
 
 Common steel (Barroin) 
 
 0. 240 
 
 Hail steel (Creusot) 
 
 550 
 
 Kail steel (Petit Gaudin) 
 
 0.560 
 
 Kail steel (Terre Noire) 
 
 860 
 
 Rail steel (Seraing) 
 
 0.650 
 
 
 
MANGANESE. 568 
 
 It has been found beneficial in making soft steel to add 1 per cent, 
 of manganese j but as spiegel iron contains 4 to 5 per cent, carbon, 
 too much of this latter substance would be introduced into the steel if 
 spiegel iron were used to furnish the manganese. An alloy called " ferro- 
 manganese," containing a larger proportion of manganese and no more 
 carbon, is therefore necessary. 
 
 Ferromanganese. In general, when the amount of manganese in iron 
 exceeds 20 per cent., it is no longer called spiegel iron, but ferromanga- 
 nese; the distinction is due, however, not so much to the proportion of 
 manganese to iron, but to the process of manufacture. Spiegel iron is 
 made in the blast furnace, and this has been the method of preparing it 
 since its first use in the iron industry. But no matter what proportion 
 of manganese ore is used, it is extremely difficult to introduce more than 
 10 per cent, of manganese when a flux with considerable silica is used. 
 When a greater proportion was desired it was the custom until recently 
 to resort to one or another modification of a process originated by Bes- 
 semer, in which the desired reduction of manganese ores is effected in 
 crucibles. This process, as first introduced on an industrial scale by 
 Prieger, of Bonn, consists in heating a mixture of manganese dioxide, 
 small lumps of cast iron, powder, lime, glass, and charcoal in a graphite 
 crucible. The higher the temperature the richer is the resulting alloy 
 in manganese, so that it is practicable at the highest temperature of a 
 reverberatory furnace to obtain an alloy with 60 per cent, manganese. 
 A process invented by W. Henderson, of Glasgow, and largely used at 
 Terre Noire, dispenses with crucibles. An intimate mixture of manga- 
 nese carbonate, iron oxide, and powdered charcoal is heated red hot for 
 several hours in the reducing flame of a Siemens furnace. By this 
 means a metallic sponge is obtained. By raising the temperature to 
 white heat, the sponge melts, giving ferromanganese containing 20 to 
 30 per cent, manganese. Several patents obtained in late years contain 
 only unimportant modifications of these processes. But since 1873 the 
 use of coke in blast furnaces and a highly basic slag has made it possi- 
 ble to produce ferromanganese containing 60, and even 80, per cent, of 
 manganese by the blast-furnace process. The use of coke aids in ob- 
 taining a temperature sufficiently high for the reduction of manganese, 
 and the basic slag does not carry off much manganese with it. It was 
 formerly the custom to use manganese dioxide in the blast furnace, but 
 this is reduced to manganic oxide in the upper part of the furnace by 
 carbon monoxide from the reduction going on below. This causes such 
 overheating of the throat of the furnace that the gases cannot be col- 
 lected. The manganese ores are therefore reduced to manganic oxide in 
 a separate furnace. 
 
664 
 
 MINERAL RESOURCES. 
 
 The following analysis will show the constitution of ferromanga- 
 nese : (a) 
 
 Analysis of ferromanganese. 
 
 
 Percent. 
 
 Manganese ... 
 
 69.64 
 
 Iron 
 
 23 45 
 
 Carbon . 
 
 6.21 
 
 Silicon 
 
 .28 
 
 Copper 
 
 .14 
 
 Phosphorus. ....... .. .. 
 
 .06 
 
 Sulphur 
 
 Trace 
 
 
 907T 
 
 The manufacture of spiegel iron and ferromanganese in the United 
 States. Up to the present time the greater part of the spiegel iron used 
 in the Bessemer steel process in this country has been imported from 
 Europe. The largest quantity imported in any one year was 25,000 
 tons. In 1870 the manufacture of spiegel iron was undertaken by the 
 New Jersey Zinc Company, of Newark, New Jersey, which has furnaces 
 each 20 by 7 feet, with a combined annual capacity of 5,000 long tons. 
 The spiegel iron made by this company is said to be equal to the best 
 that is imported, and is therefore readily sold. The following are two 
 analyses of it : 
 
 Analyses of American spiegel iron. 
 
 
 Percent, 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 Iron 
 
 83 250 
 
 83 23 
 
 Manganese 
 
 11. 586 
 
 11.67 
 
 Phosphorus 
 
 196 
 
 19 
 
 Silicon 
 
 .367 
 
 .99 
 
 Carbon 
 
 4.6 2 
 
 4.02 
 
 
 
 
 
 100. 031 
 
 100. 10 
 
 It is said that pig iron quite rich in manganese is made at several 
 furnaces in the United States, but not of a quality that will justify its 
 use as spiegel iron. In 1875 the Bethlehem Iron Company and the 
 Cambria Iron Company commenced to make spiegel iron from Spanish 
 ores. In the same year the Woodstock Iron Company, of Anniston, 
 Calhoun county, Alabama, undertook to make spiegel iron from the 
 Alabama ores. The manganese ores which they used contained some- 
 what over 20 per cent, metallic manganese ; these were smelted with 
 iron ore containing 58.25 per cent, iron, 8.56 per cent, manganese, and 
 1.42 per cent, phosphorus. Samples of the product, taken for analysis 
 on the following dates, were found to have the following composition : 
 
 a Hofmann'u Entwickelung der Chemie, page 849. 
 
MANGANESE. 
 
 Analyses of splegel iron from Woodstock, Alabama. 
 
 565 
 
 
 December 
 10, 1875. 
 
 January 
 6, 1876. 
 
 February 
 1, 1876. 
 
 February 
 3, 1876/ 
 
 
 Per cent 
 
 85. 11 
 
 Per cent. 
 85 98 
 
 Per cent. 
 80.37 
 
 Per cent. 
 73.86 
 
 
 10. 18 
 
 8 14 
 
 14 33 
 
 20 69 
 
 Carbon 
 
 3.66 
 
 4.83 
 
 4.94 
 
 4 32 
 
 
 .95 
 
 88 
 
 38 
 
 93 
 
 Phosphorus .... 
 
 .10 
 
 .17 
 
 .18 
 
 .17 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 100. 00 
 
 100.00 
 
 100. 20 
 
 99.97 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The enterprise has not proved remunerative at this place; about 
 2,000 tons of manganese ore were used in all. No spiegel iron was 
 made here in 1883 or 1884. A successful attempt to make spiegel iron 
 was made at the Bessemer works, in Pueblo, Colorado, in 1883. At 
 present the chief producers of spiegel iron are: The Edgar Thomson 
 (Carnegie Brothers) Steel Works, the Bethlehem Iron Company, the 
 Cambria Iron Company, the Brier Hill Iron and Coal Company, the 
 Lehigh Zinc and Iron Company, and the Passaic Zinc Company. 
 
 The manufacture of ferromangauese was attempted some years ago 
 at the Diamond furnace, in Georgia. It did not prove successful. The 
 only other attempt to utilize native manganese ores in the production 
 of ferromanganese was made in August, 1884, at the Edgar Thomson 
 Steel Works, at Bessemer, Pennsylvania. At this time, blast furnace 
 A began making ferro manganese instead of spiegel iron. The product 
 is said to contain from 80 to 90 per cent, of metallic manganese, and 92 
 per cent, has been reached. The daily product is from 45 to 50 tons. 
 Besides supplying their own steel plant, Carnegie Brothers are thus en- 
 abled to supply the open-hearth furnaces of neighboring steel works, 
 and it is probable that this new departure will materially lessen, if not 
 suppress, the importation of ferromangauese. 
 
 Hddfield^s manganese steel. In ordinary steel the proportion of man- 
 ganese seldom exceeds 0.5 per cent., and 1.5 per cent, is the maximum 
 which has been added in the ordinary processes of steel manufacture. 
 Recently, however, Mr. Robert Hadfield, of the Hadfield Steel Foundry 
 Company, Sheffield, England, has claimed that steel containing from 7 
 to 30 per cent, manganese is harder, stronger, denser, and tougher than 
 ordinary steel, even when the latter has been forged and rolled, and in 
 addition he believes this steel to possess properties which will make it 
 exceedingly valuable for many purposes for which ordinary steel is not 
 now used. In order to make this steel, melted ferromanganese (Mr. 
 Hadfield recommends that containing 80 per cent, manganese, and as 
 low as possible in carbon, silicon, and other foreign bodies) is added to 
 iron which has been nearly or quite freed from carbon, or to molten 
 steel. The mang^fiese is thoroughly incorporated by stirring, and the 
 steel is poured into ingots or other suitable molds. The percentage 
 of ferromanganese to be used must be varied according to the use 
 
56f> MINERAL RESOURCES. 
 
 to which it is to be put. No absolutely exact proportions can be 
 given. To produce a steel suitable for armor plates, sufficient ferro- 
 mauganese to give 10 per cent, of manganese in the steel should be 
 added; for wheels, axles, or railroad plant, say 11 per cent.; edge 
 tools, 12 per cent. It is claimed that the metal when melted is very 
 thin and mobile, casts without rnisruuning, does not settle as much 
 as ordinary castings, and does not draw, particularly at the junc- 
 tion of the thin and thick parts. The steel is said to be tough 
 without forging, rolling, or hammering. An ingot with 9 per cent, 
 manganese which had not been forged was bent 1J inches in 2J feet 
 before breaking. Hammered samples from this ingot gave a tensile 
 strength of 42 tons (94,080 pounds) and 20.85 per cent, elongation. 
 Besides unusual toughness the steel is very hard ; specimens containing 
 9 to 10 per cent, manganese can be drilled, etc., but not so readily as 
 ordinary steel, while it is practically impossible to drill or turn those 
 containing higher percentages. An ax made from 19 per cent, steel cut 
 through f -inch iron. If future investigation of such manganese steel 
 shows that it can be made regularly with the properties claimed for it, 
 there is little doubt that it will be a valuable addition to the varieties of 
 hard steel now in use. 
 
 Other alloys of manganese. Alloys of copper, such as brass and bronze, 
 may be rendered denser and harder by the addition of manganese; if 
 more than 8 per cent, of manganese is added its presence is indicated 
 by the gray color of the alloy, which then becomes brittle. A beneficial 
 effect is also observed when manganese is added to bronze or brass 
 which is impure from the presence of copper oxide ; manganese oxide 
 is formed, which rises to the surface and may be removed. These alloys 
 of manganese have received considerable attention in England in 
 late years and have come into quite extensive use in the place of gun 
 metal for main bearings, top and end brasses, crank pins, etc., on large 
 steamers, and it is probable that the extension of the manganese inter- 
 ests will be in this direction during the next few years.