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     THE IRON FOUNDER.
  IRON is employed in three states, each
having peculiar properties, by which it is
applicable to various purposes; the first
is cast iron; the second wrought, or mal-
leable iron; and the third is called steel.
In a cast iron manufactory there is a large
furnace. As soon as the 'metal is melted,
the founder takes a ladle full of the liquid
for the purpose of casting some article,
the form of which is moulded out in stiff
sand. It must be readily conceived that
this business requires great strength, and
a constitution that will bear a vast degree
of heat. In summer time it is very labori-
ous, and the men who are employed are
obliged to have a plenty of beer. The fur-
nace is filled with ore and charcoal or coke.
The metal is generally made so hot that it
will keep boiling for some time in the sand.
For chimney backs, hearths of ovens, fronts
of stoves, and other small articles, the
founder takes the metal out of the receiver
in large ladles, from which he pours it
into moulds of fine sand. For the more
intricate cases of Iron foundry, moulds are
'formed of loam or clay, which are made
nearly as the mouldings of plaister for
busts, &c.