Search Documents

By F. F. McINTOSH

STEEL is a general name applied to the alloys of iron and carbon. These alloys always contain , other elements such as manganese, silicon, sulfur, and phosphorus. Manganese and silicon are usually considered to be alloying elements. Sulfur and phosphorus are regarded as impurities. Tradition has damned them both and, in addition to classifying them as impurities, has established the general impression that many of the ills of steels are the result of the presence of one or both of these elements. Metallurgists are inclined to question the soundness of this tradition. The fact that one blast-furnace plant is devoted entirely to the production of ferro-phosphorus which is used to rephosphorize basic open-hearth steel, and that sulfur is added to many heats of steel, indicates that these so- called impurities might also be classed as alloying elements, and that the tradition which damns them may not be altogether fair and well founded. A critical search through the technical literature on the effect of phosphorus on steel will disclose many references to its harmful effect. Most of these are general in character, but there has been a strong tendency to accept this traditional belief in the harmful effect of the element.

Jan 1, 1926

By H. E. Nold

ThE raw materials of the ceramic industry are mostly clays. This raw material is ground, water is added and the mixture pugged into a moist, plastic, rather stiff mass. From this mass the desired units of manufacture are made (bricks, hollow building tile, sewer pipe, etc.). These units are dried; then placed in kilns and heated until the desired degree of vitrification is obtained. For firing ceramic ware, two distinct types of kilns are used; namely, periodic and continuous tunnel. Periodic Kilns Periodic kilns are those ordinarily seen in a brick plant. They are either round or rectangular. The raw, dried, formed ware is piled or set in the kilns to depths frequently exceeding 10 ft. The kiln is heated until the ware is matured, then gradually cooled sufficiently to allow men to remove the ware; then the cycle is repeated. The time duration of the cycle may be more than two weeks. In order that heat can be distributed uniformly throughout the pile or setting, the units are placed so as to leave open spaces or flues throughout the pile for the passage of the hot gases. Each kiln is provided with a number of fireboxes (usually 10 or 12) spaced equally in the outside wall. The fireboxes may be equipped with flat or inclined grate bars or they may have no grates at all (dead bottom). Down-draft kilns are most used. In these the hot gaseous products of combustion from the fireboxes are deflected upward by bag walls just inside the fire zone. From the top of the kiln the gases are drawn down through the setting, off through holes in the kiln bottom, and conducted to a stack or stacks. In up-draft kilns the fireboxes are usually set somewhat lower. The hot gases are drawn inward and upward through the ware and pass off from the top. Up-draft kilns find their greatest use in the firing of common brick. In either case the problem is to maintain, as nearly as possible,

Jan 1, 1934

By Charles E. Weaver

During the past few years there has been considerable activity in prospecting for oil and gas in several parts of western washington. From time to time seepages of oil or emanations of gas have been reported from various places. Several companies have been organized for the purpose of drilling, but only a part of these have actually begun operations. In certain localities very small seepages of oil occur, but up to the present time no oil or gas in commercial quantities has been obtained. In order to determine the conditions which may be favorable or unfavorable to the occurrence of petroleum it becomes necessary to know the character and extent of the geological formations in which such deposits might occur. In other regions where producing wells have been developed it is possible to know what formations contain the oil and what structural conditions influence its concentration in reservoirs or zones. It is usually possible to determine those strata which contained the materials from which the petroleum may have been derived and also the position and distribution of the more porous sandstone belts into which it may have collected. Detailed stratigraphic surveys may even determine the depth at which a certain known oil-bearing zone may be tapped at any particular place. It is also possible to recognize those formations which are presumably barren of oil, as well as those which are absolutely so. In new regions far distant from any of those which are now producing or have produced in the past, it becomes absolutely impossible to foretell whether oil may exist in commercial quantities or not. Assuming that such deposits do exist, it is extremely difficult to predict at what depth the produciqg zone or zones occur. However, in prospecting in a new and unexplored region, use should be made of such laws as have been found to govern the occurrence of petroleum deposits in other well-developed fields. Such deposits in their world-wide distribution are found almost exclusively associated with sedimentary rocks. Areas composed predominatingly of igneous and metamorphosed rocks are to be rcgarded as extremely unfavorable localities for the occurrence of commercial deposits of oil or gas. Assuming that such oil deposits are

Jan 1, 1916

By F. Forward, H. Veltman, A. Vizsolyi

Activities of oxides in the ternary FeO-MnO-SiO system are calculated from data on the binaries, using the Gibbs -Schuhmann method. These activity data are used, together with thermodynamic relations, to calculate the contents of oxygen, silicon, and manganese in liquid iron, and the composition of the corresponding oxide phases in equilibrium with it. Excellent agreement was found between calculated and experimental metal compositions, indicating that thermodynamic methods, such as those presented, can supply useful data on slag-metal equilibria, and are therefore capable of wider application. When molten steel containing oxygen is treated with a deoxidizer, the product of the reaction is composed of the oxides of the deoxidizing elements together with more or less iron oxide. This assemblage of oxides is presumably very close to equilibrium with the melt since it is formed directly from elements dissolved in it. Therefore, it is likely that metal analyses corresponding to a given oxide phase composition are calculable with considerable precision where sufficient information is available on activities in both phases. The present study was made to test this hypothesis in the case of deoxidation by silicon and manganese. Here experimental data on the relationship among oxygen, silicon, and manganese in the metal phase are available, as are activity data for the MnO-SiO2, FeO-SiO2, and FeO-MnO binary systems. A further objective was to demonstrate in a specific example how gaps in the data may be filled by judicious interpolation, and how the Gibbs-Schuhmann method is applied to obtain activities in ternary systems. The rigorous derivation of the latter, requiring considerable facility in handling partial differential equations, tends to mask the real simplicity of the method, and repel the very engineers and experimenters who would benefit the most from its use. I) GENERAL PROCEDURE Deoxidation of steel with silicon and manganese results in the formation of two phases, metal and oxide. The number of components is four—Fe, Mn, Si, and 0. The phase rule then gives the number of degrees of freedom: If temperature and pressure are fixed, 2 deg of freedom remain. Consequently, it suffices to fix the concentration of two of the components of the system for all the concentrations to be determined and, at least in principle, calculable. The practical problem is then to discover a straightforward method of calculation with a minimum of trial and error solutions. The type of reactions to be dealt with are like the following: Si (in steel) + 2 O(in steel) = SiO2(in oxide phase) The standard free energy of this reaction is readily obtained from the literature, so that the equilibrium constant can be calculated by the expression: Since the metallurgist is concerned with percentages rather than activities, a real solution requires information that will permit activities to be converted to concentrations. This information is fairly adequate for the elements dissolved in molten steel, but is not available for the FeO-MnO-SiO2 oxide system. Therefore, the first step in this study was to find the relation between activity and concentration for the three oxides making up the system. The next step was the calculation of slag and metal compositions that are in equilibrium with one another. As shown by the phase rule, it is sufficient to assume the values of two composition variables in order to calculate the rest. But which two are picked makes a vast difference in how difficult the calculation turns out to be, so that it is necessary to make preliminary trial of several routes to find the easiest one. A convenient method is to begin with the slag, and to pick FeO concentration and that of one of the other oxides. Starting with the relation between oxygen dissolved in the liquid steel and FeO in the slag permits a good first estimate to be made of the oxygen content of the steel in equilibrium with FeO, because the iron content being fairly close to 100 pct, Fe has an activity close to unity. Using this first estimate of oxygen activity, approximate values of the manganese and silicon contents of the melt are readily calculated from the appropriate equilibrium constants. A minor correction for the depar-

Jan 1, 1963

By P. R. Bradley

NO thought had been given to deep level mining at the Alaska Juneau mine prior to 1930, but in that year a prospect winze was started and continued for 1000 ft. vertically below the main haulage or adit level. The point at which this winze was started was selected entirely by the prevailing physical conditions, such as proximity to established workings, convenience, and the presence overhead of a substantial pillar of dimensions sufficient to lo¬cate the sheave wheel and loading pocket. It was, therefore, with some surprise that the unusually high-grade ore found just below the collar of the winze persisted, with certain vari¬ations, to a full depth of 1000 ft. vertically. Likewise this unusually high-grade ore was found to persist on the various crosscuts driven on levels at 200-ft. vertical intervals. To be brief, this deep level work found richer ore than any yet found in the mine over like areas, and inasmuch as the area was sufficient to plan for extensive deep level mining, plans for such work were given extended consideration.

Jan 1, 1936

By D. V. Carter, Dan C. Williams, John R. Coombs

Exploration was active in East and East Central Texas during 1944. Ten oil fields were discovered during the year, of which four show promise of development. The discovery wells of the Sand Flat and Tyler, South fields were drilled to a depth greater than 10,000 ft., and the latter field now produces from the Pettit at a depth of 9890 ft. The Sand Flat well was plugged back to the Paluxy. The other two fields are Glen Rose producers near 8000 ft. The Pickton field produces from the Bacon Lime and Winnsboro from the Rodessa section. The Eylau field, Bowie County, was significant as the first Smackover production in Texas. Magnolia drilled a test in the Concord field, which topped salt. The most extensive and significant development in the district was the Carthage gas-condensate field. It expanded from the 8000 acres of last year to an estimated 190,000 acres, or about 300 sq. miles, and is not defined as yet. The first oil production in the Carthage area was made from the Travis Peak in 1944 in the Rogers Lacy's Cameron Lumber Company well No. I, on the northwestern side of the field. The New Hope field, Franklin County, scored the largest number of completions during 1944 with 24, bringing its total number of wells to 27. Two more pays were opened and produced as dual completions with the older horizons. The Manziel field, Wood County, had 19 new wells added during the year, for a total of 29, while the Pittsburgh field, Camp County, reached a total of 23 wells by completing 14 new ones. Material shortages and drilling restrictions dropped the total number of producing wells completed in the district from 171 during 1943 to 141 for 1944. Abandonments increased from 531 during 1943 to 609 for 1944. Of this number, 479 were in the East Texas field. Subsidy payments had very little effect in the district and it was mostly a few of the old fault-line fields that had any wells to fall within the requirements for subsidy payments. The prices of crude oil remained constant in the district except for increases as a result of subsidy payments. Production and Probation Wartime demands called for increased allowables for many fields, consequently the condensate and oil production for 1944 increased to 190,016,180, which is up 6.9 per cent over 1943. The East Texas field, of course, remained the principal producer of the district, accounting for 134,768'499 bbl. during the year, or 71 per cent of the district total production of condensate and oil. The field topped its own 1943 production by 4.8 per cent and became the first field in the world to produce 2 billion barrels of oil. The Hawkins field remained the second largest oil producer in the district, with 13,317,088 bbl. for the year, a drop of 6.8 per cent from 1943, while Van field was third with 11,635,708 bbl. The

Jan 1, 1945

By Gilbert E. Doan

WHEN metallurgists and other engineers meet their college classmates or former teachers, the conversation will frequently become reminiscent and finally turn to engineering education. These graduates have tested the value of their college training in the hurly-burly of the outside world so respectful attention is due their opinions, which, strangely enough, fall into two opposite categories. A member of one group expresses a deep-seated conviction that engineers should have a fuller foundation of physical chemistry, another asks for a more thorough training in mathematics, others wish a more thorough grounding in refractories, a series of courses in petroleum engineering, or in electric welding. Each alumnus of this group

Jan 1, 1937

By T. H. Aldrich

(San Francisco Meeting, October, 1911.) THERE are two conditions generally prevailing upon the earth-those within atmospheric influence, tending towards oxidation, and those away from atmospheric influence, tending towards reduction. Practically all mineral substances from mines of any depth are in a reducing condition. Since the cyanide process, in order to dissolve silver or gold, requires that the prevailing conditions under which it operates shall be oxidizing, and the materials usually acted upon being of a reducing character, it becomes necessary to supply oxygen to the solution carrying the cyanide. This oxygen is usually supplied through the medium of dissolved air in the solution, or through the medium of various chemical compounds, which upon combining with the solution or the ore give off a part of their oxygen. Strange as it may seem, practically all mineral substances are partly soluble in water, especially water carrying alkali or cyanide. The greater the surface exposed and the finer the material is ground, the greater will be the rate of dissolving of the reducing agents from the ore into the cyanide solution. In most cases, if the solution carrying the ore particles is agitated with air, the air will dissolve into the solution faster than will the reducing-agents; but in some cases the reducing-agents will dissolve more rapidly on account of easy solubility or greater surface exposed. It is a dissolving race between the oxygen from the air and the reducing-agents from the ore, and if the reducing-agents predominate, cyanide will not dissolve the gold from the ore. In many cases it will dissolve some of the gold, because in a mass of irregular shape some of the gold particles might be exposed upon the outside surface of a particle of rock;' but if the solution had to penetrate through cracks, the side-walls of which were lined with reducing-agent-

Feb 1, 1912

By D. A. Farmen

INTRODUCTION In early 1978, engineering personnel at The Carter Mining Company began using photogrammetry coupled with a computer modeling technique to aid in mine planning efforts. The decision to develop this approach was based on the following needs: 1. A method to accurately capture excavated quantities for reporting purposes, 2. A method to produce accurate up-to-date maps for planning purposes, and 3. A computer-based mine-planning technique that would be compatible with techniques used in the past. The system developed utilizes a photogrammetric contractor to provide thousands of aerially-surveyed data points for input into the computer system. Each month the Rawhide and Caballo mines are flown by the photogrammetric contractor. The terrain of the active pit area is digitized and punched out on computer cards. This information is read into The Carter Mining Company's computer facilities, and an updated two-dimensional topographic grid model of the pit is generated. This surface is used to generate quantities moved during the month, to update isopachs, and to update quantities contained in fixed block progression polygons used for forecasting purposes. The system has greatly reduced the amount of manhours spent in field surveying and provides a useful tool for expeditiously evaluating many different forecast cases. It also provides the

Jan 1, 1983

By J. J. Brown

Wilkes-Barre Meeting, Julie, runs., THE ore-hearth was the earliest type of furnace used in smelting Mississippi Valley lead-ores, which are very pure, and low in silver-content. The first smelters made no attempts to recover lead from the smoke; and since about 15 per cent. of the lead -in the charge escaped in this manner, early practice with the hearth was decidedly wasteful. At most of the large smelting-plants blast-furnaces with auxiliary roasters were substituted for the hearths long ago. But, upon the introduction of the Lewis and Bartlett bag-process for collecting fume, the ore-hearth was used by companies engaged in the manufacture -of pigments, simply on account of the large percentage of fume made by it. In fact, the extraction of lead was kept down by the use of hot blast and other devices. During recent years, however, several smelting companies have realized that the preliminary roasting of galena for the blast-furnace is not economical, and have, therefore, replaced the roasting-furnace with a modification. of the old Scotch hearth, in which a large percentage of the lead in a charge is recovered directly as pig-lead, while the remainder passes partly into fume and partly into slag low enough in sulphur to be charged into the blast-furnace without further treatment. The results obtained have proved so satisfactory, both As to recovery and operating-expense, that one eminent metallurgist has predicted the universal use of the ore-hearth on non-argentiferous ores. The-ore-hearth, thus employed as an adjunct to a blast-furnace plant, is rather a desulphurizer than a smelting-furnace proper,-the chief object being to make a blue slag suitable for the cupola-furnace. Hence, no special care is taken to obtain from it a large lead-extraction. * Head of Department of Ore Dressing and Metallurgy, Oklahoma School of Mines and Metallurgy, Wilburton, Okla.

May 1, 1911

By Elihu Thompson

The subject of welding by electricity has been so recently and so ably treated by Sir Frederick Brsmwell before the Institution of Civil Engineers* as to render evidently superfluous there-statement on this occasion of many facts and considerations which might be appropriately advanced, had they not been so well discussed in his paper already. The electrical arts grow rapidly in these days—a fact which is strikingly illustrated in the development of electric railways. In

Jan 1, 1891

By Worthen Bradley

A BETTER understanding of what is happening in the domestic quicksilver industry, and what is likely to happen, can be had after reviewing some of the highlights of the past four years. Hitting the high spots in chronological order, they are: February 1939-Army and Navy Munitions Board starts investigation on civilian and war needs of certain "strategic materials," including quicksilver, with a view to recommending stock piles. Every known producer is canvassed by the end of the year.

Jan 1, 1942

By J. W. Dougherty

THE Hollinger gold mine is in the Porcupine mining division, District of Cochrane, in the northern part of the Province of Ontario. The adjacent town of Timmins, with a population of 25,119, lies 490 miles by railway north of the city of Toronto. GEOLOGY The property is situated on the northwest limb of a major syncline, which pitches northeast at approximately 50°. The principal rocks of the Hollinger area are of pre-Cambrian age and consist of altered, schistose, Keewatin lava flows intruded by stocks of schistose, quartz-feldspar porphyry generally assigned to the Algoman period. The structure of the Keewatin series is extremely complex as a result of close folding and some faulting. The schistosity, trending north 70° east and dipping steeply to the southeast, is most highly developed along a subsidiary anticline in which the major porphyry bodies occur. The ore bodies, which exhibit three principal structures, consist of quartz veins and associated pyritized wall rock. Some lodes are com-posed of en echelon veins, others exhibit a main quartz body with branch-ing stringers and a third consists of a single definite lead. Gold, in a coarse visible form, may be confined to quartz in some ore bodies but in others it is finely divided and is found not only in quartz but also asso-ciated with pyrite in the adjacent wall rock. In many veins the dis-tribution of gold is such that there are several ore sections, separated by areas of low-grade material, in the same vein although its physical appearance remains unchanged.

Jan 1, 1940

By W. J. PRIESTLEY

WHEN during the war the Navy Department decided to build an armor-plate and gun-forging plant of its own at South Charleston, W. Va., one of the most important units of the equipment proposed was a 14,000 gross ton forging-press to be used for forging, bending, and rectifying battleship armor-plate and making hol¬low forgings for large caliber guns. A press suitable for doing this kind of work was put into operation in the fall of 1921 and was operated successfully on armor-plate and large forgings until the closing down of the ordnance plant following the Limitation of Armament Conference held in Washington, February, 1922. PURPOSE OF THE PRESS There are three methods by which armor-plate can be made, namely, hammering, forging, and rolling the ingot. Each method produces a different result in the mechanical working of the steel. The hammer was eliminated as impractical from an operating standpoint. The first armor-plate made in this country was worked under a hammer at the Bethlehem Steel Co., between the years 1891 and 1893, but was superseded by forging when the large press was completed in 1893. Harry T. Morris of the Bethlehem Steel Co. informs me that the 1.25-ton steam hammer began operations in 1891 and was in operation for about two years. The Carnegie Steel Co. and the Midvale Steel and Ordnance Steel Co. also forged armor-plate. Certain European manufacturers rolled the plates from large slab ingots, after removing the sink-head and giving the body of the ingot a light pass under a hydraulic press. While rolling accomplished more mechanical work on the surface of an armor plate, forging, on the other hand, resulted in a greater amount of work in the interior of the plate. Either type of equipment involved an enormous expendi¬ture, so it was deemed advisable to adopt the method which would make it possible to use the equipment for more than one purpose. Since g large rolling-mill could be used only for the single operation of rolling armor-plate, a press was decided on, for the reason that it might be designed so as to forge armor, as well as bend and rectify it, and also be used in the forging of ingots for large caliber guns, both in the form of hollow forgings and also solid shafts.

Jan 1, 1926

By Frederick Burbridge

The Morning silver-lead-zinc mine of the Federal Mining & Smelting Co. is about 'two miles northwest of Mullan, Ida. The lode is a metasomatic fissure vein. The orebody is approximately 2000 ft. long within the bounds of the property and varies in width from knife edge stringers to 50 ft. It has been developed to a depth of 3600 ft. and stands nearly vertical in Revett quartzite, which .strikes north 65" west. The high-grade veins and lenses are generally mixed with waste (siderite, quartz, and quartzite). The average grade of ore to sorting plant in 1921 was 4 oz. silver per ton, 8.6 per cent. lead, and 4.1 per cent. zinc. Wall rock stands only a short time without timbering. The minimum angle of gravity flow is 45". The ratio of waste sorted out to ore is 6 per cent. No gases are generated underground and temperature has no influence on mining operations. Fresh air is forced down the air raise and up the main shaft. Drifting and Stoping Main drifts 12 ft. wide and 13 ft. high are driven every 200 ft. (vertically) and are connected by raises 125 ft. apart. These raises consist of three compartments (chute, tramway, and timber slide) and are for the purpose of ventilation, access, and hoisting supplies to stopes. Ground is stoped between raises. Chutes are placed every 25 ft. for drawing off ore broken in stopes. Waste for filling is obtained from waste raises off the stope in walls or waste is dumped from the level above down the chute compartment of raises, which is bulkheaded so that waste can be drawn off at any floor as required. Timbering Posts and caps for square sets (varying in diameter from 6 to 24 in.) are cut to length in a sawmill on the surface. No preseratives are used. Timber is taken on a flat car along drifts to a raise nearest the working place and hoisted as required. Practically no timber is salvaged for

Jan 1, 1925

By B. Fitch

This paper deals with the behavior of sedimenting suspensions. More particularly, it treats, in as organized a manner as possible, the body of knowledge, theoretical or empirical, by which one predicts the behavior of miscellaneous swarms of particles in suspension. Such knowledge is necessary for precise and economical design of equipment. While the behavior of a single spherical particle settling through an infinite sea of quiescent fluid is well understood, practical sedimentation processes are almost always concerned with particles of assorted sizes, densities, and shapes, in such concentration that there is profound particle interaction. Such swarms of particles are observed to settle in any of four markedly different manners. Which one they follow is governed by particle interaction. It is determined largely by the dilution of the suspension, and the relative tendency of the particles to cohere. TYPES OF SEDIMENTATION The relationship between the different modes of sedimentation is shown paragenetically in Fig. 1. The left side of the diagram represents particles having little tendency to cohere; the right side represents particles for which interparticle cohesion is large compared to the settling force. The vertical axis represents dilution. As seen in the diagram, sedimentation is divided into three broad fields or regimes. At high dilutions there exists a regime here named 'clarification.' Particles in clarification may settle either individually, or by collecting into separated floccules. Thus there are two different possible modes of settling in the clarification regime. It is characteristic c~f this regime that there will be no clear line of demarcation between settling suspension and a supernatant. Faster particles settle out ahead of slower ones. In batch tests there develops a gradation of both particle sizes and pulp density due to progressive depletion of the largest particles from any given pulp level.

Jan 1, 1962

By Edward L. Vickers

The Pacific rim countries, comprising more than half the globe, represent a complex mix of developed and developing nations. The area comprises a large segment of the industrialized world. Within its boundaries are also found many of the world's greatest mineral resources largely concentrated in the less developed countries. The conflicting objectives of these developed and developing nations are giving rise to changes in the traditional patterns of world resource development. Powerful political and socio-economic factors affecting the world today are having a great bearing on natural resource developments in the Pacific basin. New forms of partnerships have been emerging in developing nations which have had a great impact on the mining com- munity, lending institutions, as well as political relations. The United States and Japan have been substantially responsible in the past for the development of natural resources in this area of the world. Their role, however, is undergoing significant metamorphosis. The rapidly changing economic and social environment in the developing countries is producing new tensions which affect future collaboration between producers and users of natural resources. To understand current problems, I believe, it is worthwhile to examine historical trends in this area which may help defining alternatives facing us in the future. In modern times the United States was the first country in the Pacific basin to start development of resources on a massive scale. It began with the major exploration of the mineral-rich west of the United States and extended significantly later into Latin America and Australia. In the early 1950's, Japan became a significant

Jan 1, 1976

By B. F. Tillson

There is a dearth of information on the economic threat of silicosis. Even the insurance companies and rating bureaus are in a quandary, and the majority of them avoid any action that will stir up an awakened public consciousness of the serious nature of this industrial hazard. Individual claims for $100,000 are now common in silicosis lawsuits. Because of ('hidden costs," in lowered plant efficiency, the total cost of this disease to industry is probably four times its apparent direct cost. The direct costs vary with the labor policies of the employer and with the labor legislation in force. Direct costs may originate in three ways: (1) voluntary assumption by the employer of medical expenses and loss of earning power of stricken employees; (2) state enforcement of industrial disease compensation acts; and (3) awards or settlements after suits in common law. Examples are offered in the last two classifications. In the Rand, South Africa, compensation laws are in effect and in approximately 20 years prior to 1932 about $65,000,000 has been awarded for silicosis and an additional liability of $34,000,000 incurred, or an average of about t5,000,000 per year. During 1932 silicosis compensation on the Rand was about $6,000,000. No figures are available for the direct capital or operating costs for preventive measures there, nor for the additional "hidden costs." It might be reasonable to assume that silicosis has cost the gold-mining industry of South Africa twenty to twenty-five millions of dollars per year. It is estimated that common-law silicosis claims have, in the last few years, aggregated $50,000,000 in New York State alone and have exceeded $300,000,000 in the United States. Attention is called to the involved nature of the insurance situation for industrial diseases in contrast to accidents. The indeterminant, insidious nature of silicosis makes it particularly difficult to predict necessary insurance premiums and reserves. The serious hazard of this disease was not properly appreciated by either insurance companies or industrialists, so sufficient study has not been given its causation, prevention, detection, treatment, and compensation. Therefore legal difficul-

Jan 1, 1934

By R. P. Rothwell

THE first difficulty mentioned is that in some instances two or more beds of coal separated by sandstone or slate rocks of considerable thickness in one part of a basin, are found running together in another part. Of course, we may happen to strike first the part of the basin where there is but a single seam, and in this case the bed would appear to divide into two or more branches within a short distance. Such cases are not rare in the anthracite coal-fields. I would suggest as an explanation of this phenomenon the gradual sinking of the peat-marsh-the embryo coal-bed-on one side, and the moving forward of the marsh, so that on one part of the bed the formation of peat would still be progressing, while another part, being under water, would be covered with mud and sand. Thus we have different portions of the same bed of different ages. Now if the sinking of the marsh be stopped for a time, the bed will become thicker in the portions left exposed, and if the sinking now changes in direction, so that the part that had previously gone down com¬mences to rise, we should have the phenomenon of a bed, continuous throughout, with one portion overlying another, and separated from it by rock strata. These are exactly the conditions observed in splitting beds. While one side of the lake is sinking, and the peat-marsh moving on in that direction, the other side may be rising,

Jan 1, 1873

By C Gunther

The term metamorphism as commonly used means any change in a rock in either form or composition, from whatever cause. By metasomatism, according to Lindgren, is meant a metamorphism that involves a change in the chemical composition of a rock by the addition or subtraction of substance. Certain types of metamorphism are due to the action of mineralizing solutions, and are closely connected with ore deposition; they form, therefore, valuable guides in the exploration for ore-deposits. Other types of metamorphism are due to regional processes, and are not connected with ore deposition. By dynamo-regional metamorphism is meant a primary alteration of rocks over large areas under conditions of pressure, flow- age, and heat. This process produces schists and gneisses from either sediments or igneous rocks. It is thought that there is little migration of minerals or of elements in dynamo-regional metamorphism, and that the changes are due chiefly to recrysallization and rearrangement of original minerals in bands with their major axes oriented normal to the direction of greatest pressure. Under these conditions limestones are commonly altered to marble, and sandstones to quartzite, basic igneous rocks to greenstone or serpentine, while rocks of normal or acid com- position commonly yield the usual types of schist or gneiss. Dynamo-regional metamorphism, extending over large areas, has no connection with mineralizing processes, and is, therefore, no guide to ore deposits; while this process has certain features, such as characteristic mineral associations, in common with contact metamorphism, the results of the two processes may usually be distinguished without difficulty.

Jan 1, 1932