A direct current arc was run between ultrapure graphite electrodes dipped in ultrapure water for 1 to 20 h. The graphite residue collected at the bottom of the water trough was analyzed for iron content by a conventional spectrographic method. It was found, in the first few experiments, that the iron content in the graphite residue was fairly high, depending on the duration of the arcing. The experiment was repeated initially six times, and the results showed large variations in iron content [50 to 2000 parts per million (ppm)] in the carbon residue. In the second series of experiments, which were done with the water trough fully covered, the amount of iron in the carbon residue decreased significantly (20 to 100 ppm). Here also there were large variations in the iron concentration in the residue, although the experiments were performed under identical conditions. Whether iron is really being synthesized through transmutation from carbon and oxygen as suggested by George Oshawa or is getting concentrated to different degrees through some other phenomenon is not currently clear. The iron in the carbon residue was also analyzed mass spectrometrically for the abundance of its various isotopes, and the results were more or less the same as that of natural iron. Besides iron, the presence of other elements like silicon, nickel, aluminum, and chromium was also determined in the carbon residue, and it was found that the variation of their concentrations followed the same pattern as that of iron.