The Viscosity Of Blast-Furnace Slag.

WOOLSEY McA. JOHNSON, Hartford, Conn. (written discussion).¬When ;we regard the number of British thermal units running into the billions that-must be applied to metallurgical slags in the United States, we cannot but conclude that the physical chemistry of-slags is a very important subject when measured in dollars and cents. A further contemplation of the subject shows us that it has been hitherto treated in too purely a practical manner. It is needless to comment at length on the cost of these heat units and on the cost of fluxes to produce these metallurgical slags, for, it amounts to tens of millions of dollars annually. Accordingly, this research is of value to the country. But we must,all balance our results against our efforts. Therefore, while the speaker is unwilling to criticise unduly this meritorious research, lie does criticise it in the interest of the profession for the reason that it seems to him too highly theoretical. The article is much too, scientific to produce results at a minimum cost. Let us explain our meaning. It has been said that there are always two sides to a question. It may be further said that there are always three sides to a question, the two extremes and the middle ground. In any industrial research there are the highly theoretical side, the purely practical side, and the theoretico-practical side. To study a slag and be practical in the studying, there is something needed that represents in the laboratory (or in microcosm) what actually happens macrocosmically in the blast furnace. There is such a thing as the art of metallurgical research occupying the middle ground between theory and practice.