of heartwood of oak squaring 16 inches by 3 feet in height, standing
upright, joined together very perfectly, and kept in close juxtaposition
by a double band of iron straps joined by bolts. The object of this
wooden bed was to deaden, in a great measure, the effect of the shock
transmitted by the anvil-stock.

NEW EIGHTY-TON STEAM HAMMER AT THE ST CHAMOND WORKS.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--TRANSVERSE SECTION.]

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--PLAN.]

[Illustration: FIG. 3.--PROFILE VIEW.]

[Illustration: FIG. 4.--GENERAL PLAN OF THE FORGING MILL.]

[Illustration: FIG. 5.--DETAILS OF THE TRUSSAND SUPPORT FOR THE CRANE.]

_The Anvil-Stock_.--The anvil-stock, which is pyramidal in shape, and
the total weight of which amounts to 500 tons, is composed of superposed
courses, each formed of one or two blocks of cast iron. Each course
and every contact was very carefully planed in order to make sure of
a perfect fitting of the parts; and all the different blocks were
connected by means of mortises, by hot bandaging, and by joints with
key-pieces, in such a way as to effect a perfect solidity of the parts
and to make the whole compact and impossible to get out of shape.

The anvil-stock was afterwards surrounded by a filling-in of masonry
composed of rag-stones and a mortar made of cement and hydraulic lime.
This masonry also forms the foundation for the standards of the hammer,