Thirty years' progress in the electric furnace

There has been so much written about the electric furnace since it entered into regular commercial use about 20 years ago that the presentation of a paper on the subject treating it in a general way is not apt to be interesting. But a promise to attempt the preparation of such a paper having been given, it was thought that there might be some interest attaching to a review of the development of some furnaces during the past 30 years. Moreover, it is often useful to look back over ground that has been covered in order to obtain suggestions as to the best direction to be taken in attempting further advances.