THE SMITH.

A Smith is one who works on iron, and who from that metal manufactures a vast variety of articles useful in the arts of life, and of
great importance to domestic comfort.

The smith is one of those workmen whose assistance becomes necessary even in a rude state of society, and in the first dawnings of civilization : it is not easy to point out when the occupation of the smith was distinguished as a distinct branch of trade, but we learn from the scriptures, that such persons had existed at a very early oeriod, for they are there distinguished as workers in iron.

There are at the present time, several branches in this trade : some are called blacksmiths ; of this class is the man represented in the plate : others are called white-smiths, or bright smiths ; these polish their work to a considerable degree of nicety ; some include in their business bell hanging, which is now carried to great perfection ; others are chiefly employed in the manufacture of locks and keys.

In the smith's shop there must be a forge, an anvil and block, a vice fastened to an immoveable bench, besides hammers, tongs, files, punches, and pincers of different sorts.

The forge is the most prominent article, a sort of furnace, intended for heating metals so hot as to render them malleable, and fit to be formed into their various shapes. The back of the forge is built upright to the ceiling, and is enclosed over the fire place with a hovel' which leads into the chimney to carry away the smoke. In the back of the forge, against the fire-place, is a thick iron plate with a pipe fixed to it to receive the nose of the bellows. The bellows is behind the forge, and is worked by means of a rocker, with a string or chain fastened to it, which the smith, or his labourer, pulls. One of the boards of the bellows is fixed, and by drawing down the handle of the rocker, the moveable board, which is also the upper one, rises, and by means of a weight on the top sinks again ; and by this alternate motion, the fire is raised to the desired degree of heat.

In the front of the forge, but a little below it, is a trough of water, which is useful for wetting the coals to make them throw out a
greater heat ; the water serves also for cooling the tongs, with which the smith holds the heated iron, and which in a short time becomes too hot for him to grasp : in this trough also the smith hardens his iron by dipping it while red hot.

Iron is hammered or forged two ways: either by the force of the hand in which there are sometimes several persons employed, one
holding and turning the iron, and hammering likewise, while the others hammer only with what are called sledge hammers, or it is done by the force of a water-mill, which raises and works several enormous hammers; under the strokes of these the men have only to present the large lumps of iron, which are sustained at one end by the anvils, and at the other by iron chains fastened to the ceiling of the forge. This last method is employed in the largest works, such as the making of anchors of ships, which weigh several thousand pounds.

In lighter works, such as we have in the plate, namely, in the making of stoves, shovels, gridirons, tripods, &c. &c. a single man is
sufficient to hold, to heat, and to turn the iron with one hand, while he strikes it with the other.

The several heats given by smiths to their iron are called the blood-red heat, the white heat, and the welding heat.

The blood-red heat is used when the iron has already acquired its form and size, but wants hammering, only to smooth and fit it for the file.

The white heat is used when the iron has not its form and size, but must be forged into both.

The welding heat is required when two pieces of iron are to be united.

The welding of cast steel and cast iron, has been in this trade attended with considerable difficulty, and indeed has been by some persons deemed impracticable; but late experiments have demonstrated that not only cast steel may be welded to iron, but that cast iron may be united to itself, with much more ease than has been commonly imagined. The method now adopted for welding cast-steel to iron, is not to heat it to so high a temperature as it is necessary to heat iron for welding, as the iwelding heat of steel is considerably below that of iron. Cast iron bars, it is now found, can also be united by the use of a proper fluxl glass of borax is usually preferred, their ends being previously enclosed in a wrought-iron tube, and heated to a proper degree, the tube serving as a mould to prevent the fixed cast iron from falling asunder during the operation.

The uppermost surface of the anvil, on which a smith hammers his iron, must be very fiat and smooth, and so hard that no file will
touch it. At one end of the anvil is a hole in which may be placed a strong steel chisel, or spike ; on this a piece of red hot iron may be laid, and cut in two with a single stroke of the hammer. Anvils are sometimes made of cast iron, but the best are those which are forged with the upper part made of steel. The whole is usually mounted on a firm wooden block.

The vice fixed to the bench, serves to hold any thing upon which the smith is at work, whether it requires filing, bending, or riveting.
There are hand vices and small anvils, which are occasionally used in the more delicate operations of this business.

Square and flat bars of iron are sometimes twisted for ornamental work ; this is done by giving the metal a white heat, fixing it in the
vice, and turning it with the tongs.

Iron rails before bouses are generally made of cast-iron, which is run from the ore, and neither requires nor will bear the hammer :
it is brittle and will not readily yield to the file. It is the business of the blacksmith to make the upper rail to receive these bars, and
to fix them into the stone-work.

It would be impossible to enumerate all the articles manufactured by the smith ; they are of all kinds, and of almost all values. Steel
stoves have been made, at Brodie's manufactory in Carey-street, of several hundred pounds value ; and a more interesting sight
cannot be well viewed, than the store-rooms of our large furnishing ironmongers.

A journeyman smith will earn from three to five shillings per day ; but those who work on the fine polished articles will earn much
higher wages.