All of them are useful in
their several ways. No one of them is best for all purposes. The claim
of "rust-proof" is no more to be taken seriously than "fire-proof." We
should rather, if we were finical, have to speak of "rust-resisting"
coatings as we do of "slow-burning" buildings. Nature is insidious and
unceasing in her efforts to bring to ruin the achievements of mankind
and we need all the weapons we can find to frustrate her destructive
determination.
But it is not enough for us to make iron superficially resistant to rust
from the atmosphere. We should like also to make it so that it would
withstand corrosion by acids, then it could be used in place of the
large and expensive platinum or porcelain evaporating pans and similar
utensils employed in chemical works. This requirement also has been met
in the non-corrosive forms of iron, which have come into use within the
last five years. One of these, "tantiron," invented by a British
metallurgist, Robert N. Lennox, in 1912, contains 15 per cent.
Pages:
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417