These barrels were at first sent in the bored and ground state, in large quantities; their apparent low price and great beauty quite captivated some of the “Brums,” so that for a period they were all the rage; and the Belgians began to boast of the extensive trade they were doing. But nothing in this world runs smooth. “The best laid schemes of mice and men oft gang agee;” and so it was with the Belgian importations. Our proof was not exactly to their liking, or perhaps the iron was not equal to the proof; losses and discoveries began to accumulate: “Too soft, by far,” says one; “They are all plated,” says another; “Filed it through, by jingo!” exclaimed a third; “Common iron, by all that’s wonderful!” protested a fourth; “Oh, twisted iron, under such inimitable Damascus!” growled a fifth: in short, steel over iron turned out to be the secret of the whole business. It is very probable that such facts as these soon established the inferiority of “the beautiful Damascus and arabesque” of the Belgian manufacturers; and they have, I trust, disappeared for ever from the English market: at least, they are not held in estimation by those qualified to judge. Their advocates have for years adduced the fact, that the Belgian laws required guns to be twice proved; and our old laws not requiring this, they had certainly a tangible argument; but our improved proof laws have now removed that anomaly, and certainly our proof is now much superior, even to that of the Belgians: so much so, indeed, that I have now before me a letter from a Belgian barrel maker, who, in reply to the inquiry why he did not send any more barrels, says very truly, “your English proof is too severe.” A very carefully conducted experiment on at least twenty best Belgian barrels, satisfied me of the indisputable fact, that at least nineteen out of the twenty were plated, and principally on twisted iron of the softest description; as was shown by eating it entirely away, by a lengthened immersion in a solution of the sulphate of copper. This may be done in the course of a few hours, leaving the Damascus, and the arabesque plating comparatively untouched. The production of that extremely beautiful figure has to be effected by using metals of considerable dissimilarity in their state of carbonization; the iron evidently being entirely decarbonized before mixing with the steel, and the steel even appearing extremely soft; although, no doubt, much of this would be effected during the heating of the barrels to solder with brass: and it is well known this cannot be done, except by heating them to nearly a white heat.