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By HENRY FA

HENRY FAY (communication to the Secretary*).-In reply to the discussion of my paper, I wish to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the Chairman and the various gentlemen who have taken part. I regret that others have not offered criticism, for honest differences of opinion often lead to the truth, and suggest new lines of work. An experiment has been made which bears on Prof. Sauveur's discussion and which helps to emphasize the conclusion that cementation is not a factor in the hardening of: the surface. Dr. Langenberg, of the Watertown Arsenal, has heated for me, in vacuo at 1,000° C., a piece of the metal containing a hard surface. The microstructure shows uniform distribution of carbon throughout the metal, showing that no carbon has been added to .the surface and heating in vacuo has prevented any oxidation of the surface.

Jan 6, 1917

JOHN W. BELL (communication to the Secretary*).-I have to thank Mr. Merrill not only for his very kind remarks, but for the weight of his implied opinion that the work accomplished probably has an important practical aspect. I think there is a distinct although unuttered impression among engineers, that it will be time enough for them to begin to take an interest in the law of crushing when it emerges from the cloud of violent and even vituperative controversy that has hovered over it during the last 6 or 7 years. I have a very confident feeling that as the result of the work done by Mr. Gates, by me and by Messrs. Mitchell, Baily and Cockfield, who so loyally helped me to obtain the necessary data, at least the practical law of crushing has emerged; that it is ready and available for use by our fellow engineers, and that it will help them to unravel a number of the many practical problems they are con¬stantly confronted with. In regard to Mr. Gates' discussion, I would indeed like to believe that McGill could claim, as a minor achievement, the credit which Mr. Gates so generously bestows of having established the "law" of crushing. I think that more work would be required to establish this claim in the, strict sense of the word, as there is a fairly large gap between the coarse and fine crushing results. I am not worried about that gap, because the reason for it is quite clear to me; at the same time I-think it will be well to bridge it by a series of tests, and I am bound to admit that the testing machine is the most promising machine right at hand to work with, although whether the minute amounts of power required to crush small quantities of rock can be so accurately integrated as to insure high accuracy in the final result is still a question in my mind. If we had an Amsler-Laffon machine I would certainly try it. Mr. Gates' remarks about choke crushing are extremely interesting. He compels me to wonder, too. It is a new and probably a very important factor to be considered in this connection. I am in perfect accord with Mr. Gates about the desirability of the determination of crushing constants, because when this is accomplished the efficiencies (not relative mechanical, but real efficiencies) of different types of rock-crushing plants in any part of the world will then be comparable. For this reason it would, seem desirable that the American Institute Committee should not only consider ways and means for accom-

Jan 6, 1917

The State Mining Bureau of California under the direction of Fletcher Hamilton, State Mineralogist, is starting a field campaign to report on the economic minerals of California, which have an important industrial and military bearing on the present war situation. Particular interest and value attaches at the present moment to our available supplies of chrome, coal, iron, magnesite, manganese, molybdenum, quicksilver and tungsten. Trained geologists and engineers of the Bureau's staff are being sent, out to obtain information with relation to the latest developments. Advance notices will be sent to the local newspapers, from time to time, of the arrival of the engineers in the various districts. All persons interested in the minerals mentioned are earnestly urged to cooperate with the State Mining Bureau by meeting the field men while in their districts or by communicating direct with the State Mineralogist at his office in the Ferry Building, San Francisco. The State Mining Bureau has just issued Bulletin No. 72 on The Geologic Formations of California. It was written by Prof. James Perrin Smith of Stanford University, and contains a complete bibliography and resume of all of our present knowledge relative to the geological formations occurring in California. It also contains much previously unpublished data, and six tables showing geologic columns. It covers 41 pages.

Jan 6, 1917

LINN BRADLEY, H.' D. EGBERT and W. W. STRONG (communication to the Secretary*).--In the discussion of the paper, a request was made for a further explanation of the curves given on Chart I. In preparing the curves given on this chart, a typical blast-furnace top gas having the following composition by weight was assumed: Per Cent. C02 21.00 CO 24.00 Hz 0.25 CH4 0:25 N2 54.50 For any given top-gas temperature, Curves A, B, C, D, and E indicate in British thermal units the sensible heat lost in cooling the top gas to 60° F. by wet-cleaning methods. Top-gas temperatures are plotted as abscissae, sensible heats above 60° F. in British thermal units are plotted as ordinates, and separate curves are drawn for top gases carrying various amounts of moisture. For any given stove exit-gas temperature, curves A1,-B1, C1, D1, and E1, indicate in British thermal units the sensible heat carried out of the stoves by the moisture which is left in the top gas when it is dry-cleaned and enters the stoves hot. This moisture is removed when the gases are wet-cleaned and the sensible heat which it carries out of the stoves is therefore saved. As before, separate curves are drawn for top gases carrying various amounts of moisture. The curves in Fig. 1, therefore, indicate graphically how much more sensible heat is conserved by cleaning the top gases by the dry-hot method than is conserved by cleaning the top. gases by a cold-wet method and thus removing the greater part of the moisture carried by them. They also show of how little moment it is from a heat conservation standpoint whether or not the moisture carried by the top gases is removed before they enter the stoves. That wet cleaning secures the removal of this moisture and is thus to be recommended from a heat conservation standpoint is an argument often advanced by advocates of wet cleaning. The curves of Fig. 1 show how fallacious such an argument is.

Jan 6, 1917

EDWIN M. CHANCE (communication to the Secretary?).-The subject of miners' lamps. has long interested me and it would seem that the thought that has been given to it by the Bureau of Mines, and the users

Jan 6, 1917

By Van Der Muelen P. A.

SOME time ago, the writer received from W. 0. Borcherdt, Manager of the, works of the Bertha Mineral Co. at Austinville, Va., several specimens of a dense yellowish slag-like material, containing cavities showing clear needle-like crystals, and representing a product formed by the fumes of zinc oxide and basic lead sulphate from the oxide furnace, attacking the firebrick lining of the flues. The matrix, which is of a greenish-yellow color, is made up chiefly of an amorphous glass, carrying numerous crystals, the latter being well-defined, clear, and transparent, but colored a very light yellow by small amounts of ferric oxide. A number of the crystals were carefully separated from the matrix and tested with the blowpipe. They have a fusibility of about 2, yield a globule of lead and a coating of lead oxide before the blowpipe on charcoal, and contain some zinc. Their hardness is 5 to 6. 1 Fig. 1. Under the microscope the crystals appear to be made up of a prism, with narrow faces, and a fairly large pinacoid, but unfortunately show no terminal faces (Fig. 1). Between crossed nicols they gave parallel extinction in. the three planes containing the crystallographic axes, and are therefore orthorhombic. The index of refraction is high. A number of the best crystals were measured on the reflection goniometer, the angles given below representing the average of measurements made on different individuals. mm = 46° 52' mb = 66° 34' a:b:c = 0.4334:1 :?

Jan 5, 1917

DAVID COLE, El Paso, Tex. (communication to the Secretary*).-I notice that Mr. Callow takes issue with me on certain points I have previously contributed to the Transactions, to which I would reply," follows: Regarding Inspiration: Mr. Callow's refinements of gravity methods made just prior to the advent of flotation in the Southwest were intended to be "down to the minute," and the gravity flow sheet for Inspiration ores which he brought out at that time as the result of his long campaign of experimentation was regarded by many as the last word in wet gravity work. It was not my intention to discredit this good work when I said "he threw small light on slime treatment." "Minus 200 mesh," however, is not-synonymous with "real slime." Repeated treatments by gravity methods will result in the separation of a very large percentage of the fine granular sulphides in sizes much finer than 200 mesh, and I gave him due credit for that. The unavoidable losses were made in the "real" slime which I mentioned in the paragraph which Mr. Callow refers to as my "statements on page 1871," and his refinements were not a solution to the real slime problem. Mr. Callow has called attention to the fact that his best results at. Inspiration in gravity work were obtained on Joe Bush ore and he presents a table, viz., Tests Nos. 68, 71, and 72; and asks us to consider and compare these results, made by his refined gravity methods, with the results obtained by 'flotation methods in the new mill "during the second half of 1915 and in August, 1916." Of course, the ore treated in the mill was what happened to come. It was not Joe Bush ore, and therefore comparisons of detail figures are of no value. In regard to Mr. Callow's statements under the caption "Callow Cells Adopted by Arizona Copper Company," I would say that those who have been sufficiently interested to read my paper and' his remarks will notice what amounts to contradictory statements on several points which I cannot allow to go unchallenged. I was on the ground constantly and got my information at first hand. The tables published were the official ones. Mr. Callow was not present during the period and has been laboring under that disadvantage.

Jan 5, 1917

D. F. HEWETT, Washington, D. C. (communication to the Secretary*).-I am not prepared to discuss the metallurgical use of manganese in the form of alloys. In connection with other work for the U. S. Geological Survey, however, I have been investigating incidentally, for about 5 years, the American as well as other sources of manganese. There are some conclusions that come out of this investigation that may interest those whose greatest interest lies in the use of the alloys. From a geological point of view, most manganese ore deposits may be regarded as concentrated masses of manganese oxides, as there are few masses of the other manganese minerals that are rich enough in manganese and low enough in silica to warrant smelting. The deposits of the Huelva district, in Spain, which are largely manganese carbonate and silicate, are exceptions to this statement. Some deposits of manganese oxides, such as those of Russia and Cuba, are bedded with ancient sediments, and although they are clearly concentrated under unique conditions, the source of the manganese cannot be determined. Probably 60 per cent. of the world's production of manganese ore, or 95 per cent., if that of Russia be excluded, is derived from the superficial parts of deposits that have undergone weathering and enrichment near the surface. In other words, the situation with the manganese ore supply is such as it would be with regard to copper, if instead of being derived largely from deep zones of deposits of deep-seated origin, such as veins, it were derived solely from the zone of secondary enrichment. Manganese oxide occurs in all rocks but is most abundant in igneous rocks, of which, according to Clarke, it forms an average of 0.10 per cent. It also forms 0.05 per cent, of the average limestone, but only traces are present in shales and sandstones. It is interesting that although many commercially important manganese deposits occur in rocks that are but slightly richer in manganese than the average, the most important deposits occur in rocks of unusual character that are much richer in manganese than the average. Thus, the most important deposits of India and Brazil overlie or occur near masses of rocks that contain excessive amounts of manganese garnet and pyroxene.

Jan 5, 1917

For the year ending February, 1918 PRESIDENT PHILIP N. MOORE ST. Louis, Mo. PAST PRESIDENTS WILLIAM L. SAUNDERS NEW YORK, N. Y. L. D. RICKETTS NEW YORK, N. Y. FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT SIDNEY J. JENNINGS NEW YORK, N. Y. TREASURER GEORGE C. STONE, NEW YORK, N. Y. SECRETARY EMERITUS ROSSITER W. RAYMOND, NEW YORK, N. Y. SECRETARY BRADLEY STOUGHTON, NEW YORK, N. Y.

Jan 5, 1917

By William Newnam

WHEN Hugh Lee Pattinson discovered, in 1829, that the crystals formed during the slow cooling of molten lead were poorer, and the remaining liquid richer in silver, than the original lead, an important step was made in the metallurgy of this metal. Being the first process applicable to the desilverization of low-grade lead bullion, it soon found its way into all European countries having such a product to treat, thereby effecting the saving of many ounces of silver annually which previously had been thrown away. The old hand process was expensive, as viewed from the standpoint of more modern methods; the labor was great anti the tonnage was small, but on the other hand the results were fairly, satisfactory. This process flourished for some time after the introduction of the cheaper Parkes process in 1852 and it is still in use in a few European smelteries. Only one notable improvement was made on the original process, that of Luce and Roan at Marseilles, France. It consisted in the application of steam for stirring and the tapping of one-third of the liquid lead, through perforated plates covering the tap holes flush with the bottom of the kettle, thus leaving two-thirds in the form of crystals in the original kettle. This modification considerably lowered the operating costs as it permitted of much larger kettles, an increased tonnage and eliminated much of the slow, hard labor of the hand process.. The Luce and Rozan process has persisted in its original form to the present clay. Stephen Tredinnick, English born, spent most of his years around the Luce and Rozan plants at Marseilles and elsewhere in Europe, coming later to Eureka, Nev., in 1878, to operate the Luce and Rozan plant at that point. Mr. Tredinnick was a competent Luce and Rozan operator and being devoted to the process he firmly believed that with modifications the costs could be so lowered as eventually to supplant the Parkes process.

Jan 5, 1917

Single orders 2.5 c. Pamphlets 10. c. each in lots of three or more. Pamphlets 5 c. each in lots of fifty or more. These prices prevail for orders for pamphlet, of the same or different titles. The pamphlets listed on the following sheets are advance copies printed to facilitate discussion at the meetings of the Institute. They are offered for sale at the reduced prices given above as long as the supply, lasts. This list is published in the Bulletin in order that members may have the first opportunity to secure pamphlets, which sometimes are in such great demand that the supply is exhausted before the wants of members can be supplied. The following list includes only a fraction of the pamphlets that have been published by the Institute. Any other paper published by the Institute may be obtained for the price of $1, except those published in Volume XXXI, which are rare.

Jan 5, 1917

CHARLES CATLETT, Staunton, Va. (communication to the Secretary*). -I hesitate to discuss in general terms a paper such as Mr. Wysor's, which bears evidence of so much careful and detailed investigation, yet it is the broad possibilities which his paper presents that are really attractive and his cautious conservatism may make us unappreciative of these possibilities. Mr. Wysor calls attention to the fact that the iron-ore mixture which he uses, carrying 0.28 per cent. of potash, is probably above the average. No doubt this is true, but on the other hand it may be very much less than the mixture at some blast furnaces or very much less than would be the case with special mixtures bearing the question of potash in mind. Unfortunately, iron ores are not ordinarily examined for potash, and with the ordinary analyst there is opportunity for very considerable error in the determination. The 10th Census gives 270 complete analyses of iron ore, on the accuracy of which we may rely. Of these, there are 21, or 8 per cent., that carry more potash than Mr. Wysor's mixture; 14 of these carry approximately twice as much, or more; eight carry approximately three times as much, or more; three carry approximately five times as much; one carries over seven times as much. It may be worth while to take some of the ores that are known to be high in potash and consider the possibilities in the light of Mr. Wysor's investigations.

Jan 5, 1917

Organization Place Date 1917 American Electro-Chemical Society Detroit; Mich. May 2-5 American Waterworks Association Richmond, Va. May 7-11 American Institute of Electrical Engineers New York City May 18 America' Society of, Mechanical Engineers Cincinnati, Ohio May 22-25 American Iron and Steel Institute New York City May 25-26 ' Interstate Oil Mill Superintendents Association. Augusta, Ga. May (last wk.) Electric Power Club Hot Springs, Va. June 11-14 Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education .... Evansville, Ind. June 19-22. American Institute of Electrical Engineers Hot Springs, Va. June 25 American Society for Testing Materials Atlantic City, N. J. June 26-30

Jan 5, 1917

Upon nomination of the President, _the following Committee on Membership was appointed: Karl Eilers, Chairman, Arthur. S. Dwight, Lewis W. Francis, Louis D. Huntoon, Arthur L. Walker. The following resolution was then unanimously passed: WHEREAS, the integrity and life of this nation is dependent upon its ability to successfully defend itself against foreign aggression and attack, and WHEREAS, it is necessary that the nation he properly prepared to the end that our untrained patriotic volunteers he not uselessly slaughtered and our country disgraced and defeated, be it therefore RESOLVED: That the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Mining Engineers believe that compulsory universal military training should be at once instituted and that adequate, complete and immediate preparedness, should he provided. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That, we believe that thorough and complete preparedness in the army, the navy and the industries of the country is vital; anything less is unsatisfactory and inefficient and may result in disaster to the nation.

Jan 5, 1917

By Ligon Johnson

ONLY the acute phase of the smelter fume problem is new. The problem itself is older than the Christian era. While both lead and copper were mined and crudely smelted ; on: 3,000 years ago, it was not until the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles, which occurred but shortly before the beginning of the Christian era, that there was any evidence of smelting operations on a scale sufficiently large to permit a fume problem. Around Huelva, Spain, are found more than 30 million tons of slag from lead smelting conducted there by the Romans. Pliny tells us that more than 20,000 slaves were employed in the Iberian mines. Extensive mining and smelting by the Romans in England and Wales were coincident with the Iberian proceedings. These metallurgical operations were upon a sufficiently large scale to produce marked results both upon the surrounding country and the smelter workers, but, as they were those of a conqueror upon conquered soil, conducted by slaves, imperial Rome failed to recognize that such a thing as a smoke problem did or could arise, and whatever fume question there may have been at that .time remained a question only to those who had no chance to answer any phase of it. The smelting operations of the Romans extended over about 400 years, and little is "recorded of lead and copper smelting from that time until the 16th century. From the revival beginning at this period up to the present century, the growth of smelting has been comparatively gradual. In Great Britain, smelting was conducted almost wholly in localities where metallurgical operations were of paramount importance, and the communities that grew up in smelter localities were due to and dependent upon the mines and smelters. This fact had much to do with the comparative freedom of British smelting from burdensome fume litigation and legislation. To a lesser degree these conditions applied to the German operations which, when coupled with the further fact that most of the early German operations were to a greater or less degree fiscal workings of Prussia, Saxony and Brunswick-Hanover; accounts for

Jan 5, 1917

Mr. Address Member ,is hereby proposed by the undersigned; as a Associate Junior Member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. Signatures of three Members or Associates. Place of birth Year of birth Education, when, where and how acquired, with degrees, if any. A technical education is not requisite for membership. Dates Please give record of experience on following page with dates; for example, in the form used by "Who's Who In America" and similar publications.

Jan 5, 1917

Hermann A. Keller was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Mar. 23; 1860. He received a preliminary education at the gymnasium of Darmstadt, in Germany, and subsequently entered the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1881. After serving for a few months as an assistant instructor in mining and metallurgy at the University, he went to Leadville, Colo., where he became, at first, assayer and chemist, and in due time (1886) superintendent of the Arkansas Valley smelting works. In 1888, he was appointed metallurgist of the Globe works at Denver; in 1889, superintendent of the Philadelphia works at Pueblo; and in 1891, superintendent of the Parrot works at Butte, Mont., where he remained until 1896, in which year he was employed to reconstruct the smelting plant of the Mountain mines at Keswick, Cal. In 1897, he opened an office as consulting engineer in San Francisco; and from this time on enjoyed a wide practice both as metallurgical and as mining engineer. In the former capacity, Mr. Keller had already distinguished himself by the invention of the Keller mechanical roasting furnace employed at the Parrot works in Butte and the Germania works near Salt Lake. He was a frequent contributor to the technical journals, and he collaborated in the preparation of the chapter oil "Bessemerizing" in Dr. Peters's work, "Modern American Copper-Smelting." It is a curious coincidence that these two friends and collaborators died at almost the same time, Keller in Arizona and Peters in Massachusetts on the 16th and 17th of February respectively. The latter years of Mr. Keller's life were largely given to the examination and development of mines in all parts of the world-Alaska, Chile, Germany, etc. He finally established his professional headquarters in New York City. His death was caused by an underground locomotive accident at Clifton, Arizona, on Feb. 16, 1917.

Jan 5, 1917

The Institute would he glad to purchase from any Member a copy of the Bulletin for May, 1914.

Jan 5, 1917

MARCEL R. DALY (communication to the Secretary?).-The fundamental disagreement between Eugene Coste and the writer proceeds essentially from the contradictory views they hold on the origin of petroleum. This difference cannot be bridged, nor can inorganic and organic theories be discussed here. The writer has suggested that the proper thing in such a case would be to agree to disagree. Coming to the detailed objections further presented by Mr. Coste, the writer feels that, in the main, they take their source in a wrong interpretation of the theory, and the writer is sometimes too generously invested with views that are not his own. 1. The only requirement for the theory is that the oil proceeding from organic remains be distributed in a water-laden sediment, and that this sediment be submitted to the increasing compression due to the continuous accumulation of superimposed strata, which would tend to squeeze out the liquid contents (p. 1152). This squeezing out would be further aided by the distortion of the strata (p. 1148, a). Nothing here makes impossible the slow formation of the oil, if this is considered necessary, as the piling up of the strata in the syncline would require by itself a protracted length of time, and, further, the squeezing-out process is a slow one. Possibly the formation of the oil may even continue during part of the process of distortion. But the mode of formation of the oil and the time and temperature required for it are left to the chemist to decide. The diastrophic theory, which is essentially a theory of motion and accumulation dependent on the laws of mechanics, is not directly concerned with them, provided the general points heretofore outlined be agreed upon. Perhaps it would be wise not to claim too many "eons" for the formation of the hydrocarbons, if the statement made by Sir Boverton Redwood is correct that "the coral reefs of the Red Sea are charged in places with recent petroleum, formed in that torrid climate from the swarming organisms occupying the shallow pools."1

Jan 5, 1917

The paragraphs quoted, regarding Mr. Hoover's appointment as chairman of the newly organized food board of the United States, are taken from the editorial page, of the New York Times for April 13: ?The country is fortunate in commanding the services of Herbert C. Hoover as Chairman of the newly established Food Board. This is n, problem of first importance. Few realize the extent to which American food stuffs will enter into the decision of the war, and it is doubtful if it has occurred to many minds as yet that we shall have to deny ourselves what we have regarded as necessaries in order to keep our European allies supplied. " Mr. Hoover is one of the leading mining engineers of the country. At the outbreak of the war he put his private affairs aside to become the head of the American Commission for Relief in Belgium. He has had an experience that perhaps no other man has ever had, covering the raising of money and the purchase and distribution of supplies on a large scale; He has been brought into close relations with the neutrals and the belligerents on both sides. By them all he is recognized is one of the best executives brought to the fore by the mar. Mr. Hoover is in a position now to place abilities and experience at the service of his country. He will come back with comparative data that will enable him to measure resources and deficiencies accurately. This appointment gives renewed assurance of our Government's grasp of the problems of war and its resolve to apply, business principles to their solution."

Jan 5, 1917