forty-two; in 1827, ninety-five, with an output of 216,000 tons, the
kingdom's make being 690,000 tons from 284 furnaces. This quantity in
1842 was turned out of the 130 Staffordshire furnaces alone, though the
hot-air blast was not used prior to 1835. Some figures have lately been
published showing that the present product of iron in the world is close
upon 19-1/2 million tons per year, and as iron and its working-up has a
little to do with the prosperity of Birmingham, we preserve them.
Statistics for the more important countries are obtainable as late as
1881. For the others it is assumed that the yield has not fallen off
since the latest figures reported. Under "other countries," in the table
below, are included Canada, Switzerland, and Mexico, each producing
about 7,500 tons a year, and Norway, with 4,000 tons a year:--


Year. Gross Tons.
Great Britain........ 1881 8,377,364
United States........ 1881 4,144,254
Germany.............. 1881 2,863,400
France............... 1881 1,866,438
Belgium.............. 1881 622,288
Austro-Hungary....... 1880 448,685
Sweden............... 1880 399,628
Luxembourg........... 1881 289,212
Russia............... 1881 231,341
Italy................ 1876 76,000
Spain................ 1873 73,000
Turkey............... -- 40,000
Japan................ 1877 10,000
All other countries.. -- 46,000
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