and they are now blooming the whole of their make, about 125 tons a
shift, or about 300 ingots every twelve hours, by such means.

The machinery at Darlington is not adapted for rolling off in one heat;
nevertheless they have rolled off direct from the ingot treated in the
"soaking pits" a considerable number of double-head rails; and the
experience so gained proves conclusively that with proper machinery
there will be no difficulty in doing so regularly. The quality of the
rails so rolled off has been everything that could be desired; and as
many of the defects in rails originate in the heating furnace, the
author ventures to predict that even in this respect the new process
will stand the test.

Many eminently practical men have witnessed the operation at Darlington,
and they one and all have expressed their great surprise at the result,
and at the simple and original means by which it is accomplished.

The process is in course of adoption in several works, both in England
and abroad, and the author hopes that by the time this paper is being
read, there may be some who will from personal experience be able to
testify to the practicability and economy of the process, which is
carried out in the manner now to be described.

A number of upright pits (the number, say, of the ingots in a cast) are
built in a mass of brickwork sunk in the ground below the level of the
floor, such pits in cross-section being made slightly larger than that
of the ingot, just enough to allow for any fins at the bottom, and
somewhat deeper than the longest ingot likely to be used. In practice
the cross section of the pit is made about 3 in. larger than the large
end of the ingot, and the top of the ingot may be anything from 6 in. to