In 1862 Fleck passed a mixture of steam, nitrogen and carbon monoxide over red-hot lime, whilst in 1904 Woltereck induced combination by passing steam and air over red-hot iron oxide (peat is used in practice).
The outcrop of a metalliferous vein frequently manifests itself as a line of rocks stained with oxide of iron, often honeycombed and porous, the " gossan " or " eisen-hut," the iron oxide of which results from the decomposition of the pyrites, usually present as a constituent of such veins.
It is present in variable amounts in limestones of all kinds, although its white ness may there be masked by the presence of iron oxide and other coloured substances.
The French bauxites are of fairly constant composition, containing usually from 58 to 70% of alumina, 3 to 15% of foreign matter, and 27% made up of silica, iron oxide and water in proportions that vary with the colour and the situation of the beds.
The iron oxide of which the ores of iron consist would be so easily deoxidized and thus brought to the metallic state by the carbon, i.e.
