L. Clemandot has devised a new method of treating metals, especially steel, which consists in heating to a cherry red, compressing strongly and keeping up the pressure until the metal is completely cooled. The results are so much like those of tempering that he calls his process tempering by compression. The compressed metal becomes exceedingly hard, acquiring a molecular contraction and a fineness of grain such that polishing gives it the appearance of polished nickel. Compressed steel, like tempered steel, acquires the coercitive force which enables it to absorb magnetism. This property should be studied in connection with its durability; experiments have already shown that there is no loss of magnetism at the expiration of three months. This compression has no analogue but tempering. Hammering and hardening modify the molecular state of metals, especially when they are practiced upon metal that is nearly cold, but the effect of hydraulic pressure is much greater. The phenomena which are produced in both methods of tempering may be interpreted in different ways, but it seems likely that there is a molecular approximation, an amorphism from which results the homogeneity that is due to the absence of crystallization.

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