Iron in Ancient India c9.s3.7

c9.s3.7

Dr. Scott who forwarded the specimens of wootz to Dr. Pearson from Bombay described that wootz was used "for cutting iron on a lathe, for cutting stones, for chisels, for making files, for saws, and for every purpose where excessive hardness was necessary." Wootz, however, could not bear anything beyond a very slight red heat, which made it work very tediously in the hands of smiths. There is very little of chemical importance in Dr. Pearson's paper, and he was quite mistaken, as will be shown below, in thinking "we may without risk conclude that it (wootz) is made directly from the ore and consequently that it has never been in the state of wrought iron," the actual process being just the reverse, viz. carburisation of wrought iron. Faraday and Stoddart had also examined wootz.