James Nasmyth to Faraday   21 May 1847

Bridgewater Foundry, Patricroft, near Manchester, May 21st, 1847.

My dear Sir

It was with the greatest pleasure I received your valued note¹ by the hands of M. Le Chevalier Cavalli and was most happy in endeavoring to pay him all the attention in my power and furnishing him with such information as he was more particularly in quest of in reference to the main object of his visit. I found him to be a very intel[l]igent man and altho I am but an indifferent linguist what with such scraps of French and Italian and the occasional use of the Chalk and pencil and above all with the help of that sort of free masonry which is natural to all lovers of usefull knowledge - we contrived to get on very well and I trust he was so far satisfied he is about to order some of our hardened tools and a small Steam Hammer the power and capabilities of which I had much pleasure in exhibiting to him. I need not say how much gratified I shall always feel in having a like opportunity to show any little attention in my power to any of your friends or correspondents when visiting these quarters[.]

I am happy to report to you most satisfactory progress with my Steam Hammer and Steam pile driver both of which are now established machines and now in extensive employment in all quarters of the Globe[.] We are now in hand with No 205 Steam Hammer and No 48 pile driver² so you see I have not let these happy thoughts rest as mere thoughts but sent them forth in material form to do mankind some good service

Our patent agents in the united states are making the St Hammers by the dozn and being honest fellows send us over with great regularity the proceeds or rather our stipulated portion.

The pile driver has been at work some time on a glorious undertaking namely Damming up the Nile! so as to render all lower Egypt quite independent of the amount rise of the river and furnish the means of Irrigating the whole of that most (when watered) fertile land in the world. if this great work succeed they may then have a nice little innundation every afternoon! and with the bright sun of that glorious old land provide as much corn as feed all the poor of the world and some of the rich into the bargain³. It affords me the highest gratification to find my schemes coming to play important parts in such noble undertakings[.] The gratification in this respect is beyond all price and experience.

Another pile Driver is at work on the piles for the great Railway Bridge at Newcastle upon Tyne having driven the bearing piles down to the rock through 38 feet of gravel and quick sand on which the great piers rest and also made the coffer dams to shut-out the water while the stone work is done. this job is now about over - while another machine is just set to work at Berwick on Tweed in the same way but for a much more extensive bridge[.] Two are just ready to sail for St Petersburgh to drive the foundation of a vast arsenal⁴ - and another now loading on the canal barge for Birkenhead Docks to shut out the Mersey till its presence is again wanted[.] I am ashamed of bothering your valuable attention with all these matters, but as you were among the first to see the value of the principle of this curious mode of employing momentum for this important purpose, I thought it might interest you to know that your good oppinion [sic] of it has been confirmed in actual practice in the most full manner - from 3 to 7 minutes according to the nature of the soil is the time required to drive a pile of 50 feet 35 feet into the ground! 24 to 30 Hours is about the average for the same performance by the old pile head & battering system. so much for employing momentum in its right condition for certain purposes[.] My pile heads are actual[l]y neater after being driven than before. such is the result of a Blow from a massive hammer (35 Cwt.) with 3 foot fall - 80 blows per minute and the whole apparatus sitting the while on the Shoulders of the pile and going down along with it, hammering like, I wont say what, all the way down.

I continue pursuing my intimate acquaintance with the structure of the Lunar surface and find more and more to interest me in it⁵. it is real[l]y a magnificent object and full of the most exciting interest when sedulously studied. I hope to show you some results of these pleasant afternoons ere long - do you know of any scientific Journal that would admit a paper with some Illustrations? living as I do out of the great world but in a very busy little one here I am not in communication with any one who could put me in the way of having some of my investigations recorded in proper form. I should feel deeply obliged if you could name to me any Journal that would think fit to receive a communication now and then which I hope might be worth their paper and space⁶.

But for the profound regard I have for the value of your time I had all but intruded myself on your attention once or twice of late to beg the favor of your permitting me to try what I think might be a rather interesting Experiment in relation to a great mystery - namely the cause of Hardening of Steel than which there is not a process of more value to mankind I know of⁷ - civilization rests on it alone[.] What I want to get at is one or two new facts by varying the ordinary process. First Expt. or question - I want to ask Nature is what is the Effect in respect to Hardening or otherwise when a bit of steel wire (at usual hardening heat) is plunged into cold water, while the Steel wire in question is at the time part of a pretty powerfull galvanic circuit[.]

Has such state of circumstances any Effect on the steel as regards Hardening?

If the Experiment has never been made, it would be well to make it as it might lead to something interesting, perhaps important, and as it is an Experiment that can be made with Ease (perhaps) if Mr Anderson could with your permission permit me to try it some afternoon when he is quite at leisure when I am in town it would indeed be a vast favor to me as I am not possessed of the apparatus. The hardening of steel is so complete a mystery as yet so far as I know that it is by such novel or out of the usual way of treatment that we may hope to stumble on the End of the thread of some interesting facts[.]

I am very much ashamed of thus inflicting such a long winded letter on you and pray your forgiveness[.]

Believe me I am | with the most sincere respect | yours most truly | James Nasmyth

M. Faraday Esq