hot gas cylinder, C, and further into the well,
W. The plunger may be compared to a finger and the cylinder to a
glove, while the well may represent a hole into which both are thrust
in order to reduce the thickness of the glove. With huge tongs the
cylinder, fresh from the furnace, is placed in position, but just
before the plunger presses into the red hot cup, one of the workmen
empties into the latter a little water, so as to partially cool the
bottom and prevent its being thrust out by the powerful plunger. Oil
is also used plentifully, so that as the plunger works slowly down the
red hot mass, it is surrounded by smoky flames. It presently forces
the cylinder into the well, and when the end of the stroke is reached,
a stop piece is inserted through an opening in the upper part of the
well, so as to arrest the edge of the cylinder while the reverse
action of drawing out the plunger is proceeded with. Directly the
finger is drawn out of the glove--in other words, immediately the
plunger is raised out of the cylinder--the latter drops down below
with a heavy thud, still in a red hot condition.

[Illustration: FIG 3.]

This operation of hot drawing is repeated again and again in rams of
diminishing size until the cylinder assumes the diameter and length
required. This hot drawing leaves the surface of the metal marked with
longitudinal lines, not unlike the glacier scratches on a rock, albeit
they are straighter and more regular. But the next operation not only
obliterates these markings, and gives the metal a smooth surface like
that of polished silver, but it also confers upon the material a
homogeneity which it did not before possess, and without which it
would never bear the pressure which it is destined to withstand when
finished. This operation consists in a final application of the
hydraulic ram while the metal remains perfectly cold, instead of red
hot, as in the previous cases.

As the result of these various hydraulic operations, we have a
perfectly formed cylinder closed at one end, and we now follow it into
another department of the works, when its open end is once more
brought in a furnace to a red heat. The object of this is to make the
metal soft while the shoulder and neck of the vessel are formed. To
accomplish this, the heated open end of the cylinder is laid
horizontally upon a kind of semicircular cradle, and is held there by
tongs handled by two men. Another workman places over the open end a
d