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By J. W. Powell, F. H. Spedding

A complete review of the use of chelating agents in the sepa ration of rare earths by ion-exchange is given as well as a concise description of the recent pilot-plant operations of the Ames Laboratory. The two chelating agents which show the greatest promise are ethylenediamine-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid and N'-(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediarnine-N,N,N '-triacetic acid. The first successful separations of rare earths by ion exchange were reported in a collection of papers which appeared in the November, 1947, issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.1'9 Some of this work was performed at the Ames Laboratory of the A.E.C., the remainder at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The processes developed at Oak Ridge, as well as some of the early Arnes methods, employed 5 pct citric acid-ammonium citrate eluant at low pH and were carried out on either H+-state or NH:-state resin beds. These techniques were successful for the separation of small quantities of either naturally occurring or radioactive rare earths and are still used for the isolation of rare-earth activities from fission products. Concentrated citrate is not economical, however, for use in moderate or large-scale rare-earth separations. For this reason, the Ames Laboratory turned its attention to lower concentrations and higher pH's in order to make more effective use of the eluting agent.10-14 Although elutions have been performed successfully over a wide range of conditions, 0.1 pct citrate at a pH of 8.0 is highly recommended for use on H+-state resin beds.15,16 Elu-tion with 0.1 pct citrate in the pH range from 5 to 9 brings about the separation of the constituent rare earths into a series of flat-topped elution bands which progress down the resin bed, head to tail, without actually pulling apart as do the rare-earth peaks which develop when trace quantities are eluted with 0.25M (5 pct) citrate at low pH's. Because of this, elution with 0.1 pct citrate at pH 8.0 do not produce pure rare earths unless sufficient quantities are present to provide developed bands which are at least several inches long on the columns. Although other eluting agents have proved more effective than citrate solutions, articles concerning the use of citric acid for separating rare earths still appear in the literature occasionally. For example, Ketelle and Boyd17 reported some further studies on the separation of rare earths with 5 pct citrate in 1951. They used 270 to 325 mesh Dowex-50 columns at 100°C and a pH of 3.28. vickery18 compared the effectiveness of a number of eluants for the separation of rare earths on NH+4 state Dowex-50 in 1952. He found that citric acid was more efficient than acetic, malic, tartaric, and aminoacetic acids. In 1953, Mayer and Freiling18 reported that citrate was inferior to malate, glycolate, lactate, and EDTA for the resolution of Sm-Eu and Y-Tb mixtures on 250 to 500 mesh, NH+4-state, Dowex-50 at 87°C. pinta20 used 5 pct citrate in the pH range 2.8 to 3.4 to obtain some rare earths for analytical work the same year. Trombe and Loriers21 reported the use of citric acid in their laboratory to separate rare earths in kilogram quantities. Lariers and Quesney22 reported some separations with citrate in 1954. They used 5 pct citrate at pH 2.8 to separate yttrium and the yttrium-group rare earths from the cerium-group rare earths. briers23 used 5 pct citrate at pH 3.2 and 90°C as late as 1956 to isolate thulium in fair purity. For the separation of tracer quantities of rare earths, Mayer and Freiling19 have recommended pH 5.00, 0.24M lactate at 87 °C on 250 to 500 mesh, NH+4-form Dowex-50. Freiling and Bunney24 have also employed lactic acid for the separation of fission-product rare earths. Cunninghame, Size-land, Willis, Eakins, and Mercer25 have reported a 4-hr separation of Y, Eu, Sm, Pm, Nd, and Pr with 1M lactic acid at pH 3.25 on Zeokarb-225 at 87°C. Stewart, et al.,26 reported separation factors for rare earths distributing between Dowex-50 and 0.25M glycolic acid. stewart27 also reported a 30-61 separation of Y, Tm, Er, Tb, and Lu tracers with buffered, 0.25M glycolic acid containing 0.05 pct Aerosol OT. The resin bed was 400-mesh Dowex-50 (X12). The pH of the ammonia-buffered eluant was 3.5. Various aminopolyacetic acids have also been used to obtain varying degrees of separation of the rare earths. In 1951, Fitch and Russell28 investigated iminodiacetic acid (IDA) and nitrilotriacetic

Jan 1, 1960

By F. L. Clerc

THE lead and zinc region of SW. Missouri is interesting, not only by reason of the value of its output, which ranges in the neighborhood of ten million dollars a year, but even more because of the facilities which it offers for the study of certain forms of ore-deposits, of which the loci and genesis are somewhat obscure. Although the mineral species found in the region are few and of common occurrence, crystallization has taken place on a generous scale, and unusual forms abound in many combinations, presenting examples of pseudomorphism, paragenesis, metasomatic replacement and the action of mineral-depositing and mineral-dissolving waters. For the mineralogist, lithologist, and specialist in certain lines of metamorphism, it has peculiar attractions, while the systematic geologist will perhaps find its chief claim to attention in the simplified problem it presents, in the study of ore-deposits. In addition to the phenomena above enumerated, it presents instances of well-developed comb-structure in the ores, fissures and faults, and slickensides-features usually associated with extensive movements in the earth's crust, and believed by some authorities to prove the deep-seated origin of the ores. In connection with these occurrences, the absence of all igneous rocks from this region is noteworthy and significant. For that reason, the simplified case presented by the Joplin region, from which these rocks have been eliminated as a factor, is specially valuable. Having had unusual opportunities to watch the development of this district, I have been deeply interested in the bearing of the revelations of the Joplin mines upon questions of universal importance to the science of ore-deposits ; and it was to my great regret that the project of a meeting of the American Institute of Mining Engineers at Joplin, proposed in 1892, was

Mar 1, 1907

By Freeman Bishop

Having obviously cleared the way for fast confirmation by the Senate Interior Committee, the Administration recently named Elburt F. Osborn, vice president of Penn State University, as director of the Bureau of Mines. Interior Committee Chairman Henry M. Jackson (D of Wash.) has moved hearings on the nomination right along, forecasting that they will end in a confirmation. Dr. Osborn not only made a good impression on the Committee, he also made it amply clear that he would be the boss of his job and have right-hand aides to help straighten out conflicts stemming from recently enacted health and safety regulations for miners. Mining engineers in the field hope this clarification can come soon. They are frankly fed up with local, state, regional and national overlapping of restrictions.

Jan 1, 1970

By R. W. Newcomb

THE constancy of calibration, and to a great extent the life, of a thermoelement is dependent on the suitability of the primary protecting tube in which the wires are mounted, particularly when used at high temperatures. An ideal thermocouple protecting tube would be com-posed of materials that would not contaminate the thermoelement wires contained in it-one that would remain absolutely gas-tight ,it all temperatures of usage, that will not be attacked by gases, or other surrounding agencies, that is not destroyed by heat, that withstands sudden and extreme temperature changes, that affords a high degree of mechanical protection and does not deform at high temperatures, that is a good heat conductor and obtainable in small diameters so as to keep down lag factors. It has not yet been possible to produce tubes of any known mate-rials that will meet all of these conditions. In selecting protecting tubes, therefore, one should be chosen the characteristics of which best fit it to the particular conditions of usage. Frequently conditions are such that two tubes have to be used, a primary gas-tight protecting tube inside of a secondary protecting tube, because certain agencies will attack the primary gas-tight tube unless it is guarded by the outside tube.

Jan 9, 1919

By THOMAS J. CLIFFORD

IN 1926, finer grinding began to be a feature of the milling practice of the Southeast Missouri lead district. Nothing since the adoption of flotation has caused greater changes and greater improvement in results. The trend toward finer grinding, with the consequent discarding of tailing at finer sizes, and consequent lower assays in lead, continued to progress until 1931, when the abnormally low price of lead brought a halt: that is, the better metallurgical results obtained would not offset the increased costs due to higher power and necessary maintenance. Since 1931 a slight tendency toward the discard of coarser tailing has taken place. , In 1926, larger rod mills i.12 ft. 1 in. by 6 ft. 6 in.) than any previously used in the district were installed in cue plant, and a new primary crushing plant, of greater capacity was built. This combination demonstrated immediately the better metallurgical results obtainable by finer grinding and all the mills now running have adopted the practice.

Jan 1, 1934

By AIME AIME

ALMOST as many attended the annual dinner this year as last, when the presence of Mr. Hoover was such an attraction that almost two-thirds more than had ever attended before were present. Only by putting the late comers at tables in the balcony could everybody be accommodated. Past President De-Golyer was the toastmaster and in opening the post-prandial exercises referred to the regrettable fact that this was the last of the long series of dinners which have been held at the Waldorf, as the hotel will be torn down to give way to an office building before another year. To the delight of the gathering "Oscar" appeared and, in a delightfully brief but characteristic speech, referred to the long association that had existed and hinted that a new Waldorf-Astoria may arise, where the Institute could continue to gather annually in an enlarged replica of the room they had met in so long. Before taking up the presentation of the medals, Mr. DeGolyer referred to the Institute's "Legion of Honor," the 34 men who have been members continuously for over fifty years. For various reasons only five of them, W. S. Ayres, F. G. Corning, Henry D. Hibbard, A. F. Schneider and Arthur Thacher, could be present. They were all seated at the speaker's table, and W. S. Ayres, 56 years a member, as the dean of the group, was called on to respond for them all. He said: "The introduction I have just received would indicate that this particular group of men to which I belong is considered by the chairman to be a group of real antiques. Possibly you are questioning the accuracy of his judgment. I hope you are, although there may be some first-sight evidences tending to substantiate the view held by the chairman.

Jan 1, 1929

By C. M. EYE

IN the spring of 1905 I was employed by Messrs. Bradley and Requa, under our fellow member, Thomas Cox, on the mill plans for the Nevada Consolidated, when an opportunity came to go to the Philippines to erect a small mill on the property of the Benguet Consolidated. This I accepted, expecting to be away eight months or so, but it was seven years before I got back. .I sailed in May, on the Coptic, having as room-mate as far as Kobe, A. E. Drucker, who was going out to Korea for the Oriental Consolidated. It was the first trans-ocean trip for either of us, and we had some rather unusual experiences. This was toward the close of the Russo-Japanese war and the Russian fleet was known to be on the way from Suez to Asiatic waters, but it was a matter of doubt whether they would risk a passage between Japan and the mainland, or take the longer but obviously safer route outside of Japan. The Coptic carried much contraband of war for Japan, so naturally did not care to meet this fleet. No definite word being available at Honolulu, we went to the Midway Islands, but the cable station there had very little information to offer, so we proceeded cautiously toward Japan. On the last afternoon out, we steamed due north at half speed for several hours, and finally sneaked into Yokohama at night, to learn that ' the Russian fleet had met the Japanese the day before and had been annihilated. We sailed over the spot in the Sea of Japan a week later, and when we got to Manila we found three of the Russian boats interned and being guarded by the monitor Monadnock and a cruiser. This was only a matter of form, as the Russians were only too glad to be there for the rest of the war, and the boats could not have gone far anyway, for they were literally shot to pieces. The Admiral's flagship had a hole within 3 ft. of the water line, for ward, through which a man could enter by stooping.

Jan 1, 1929

By Hans Lundberg

IN last year's report on the progress of geophysics, the airborne magnetometer was the featured new development. At that time only a relatively small number of surveys had been made. During 1947, the airborne magnetometer was used in making many surveys and is again one of the high lights of the year in geophysics. This report is mainly concerned with geophysics as applied to the search for minerals exclusive of petroleum. In 194,5 and 1946, the use of the magnetic method reached a peak, partly because of an active period of prospecting brought on by an active mining market, particularly in Canada.

Jan 1, 1948

By Robert S. Schecter, Mark P. Walsh, Michael J. Humenick

In recent years in situ leach mining has emerged as a viable technology for the recovery of uranium from strata in South Texas which contain relatively low concentrations of uranium ore. Because the ore bodies lie within ground-water aquifers, a significant determinant in the economics is the requirement that such aquifers be protected from contamination. Since ammonia is one of the constituents of the leach solutions now being field tested, one environmental problem to be resolved is the removal of ammonia at the end of mining. A second related question is the fate of the ammonia which is not removed by the restoration procedure. This paper considers the displacement and migration of ammonium in a flowing electrolyte with concomitant ion exchange. The ion exchange is an important feature since, during the solution mining phase, ammonium saturates the mineral exchange sites and must be removed from these sites. A mathematical model is used to simulate this process and the model is tested against the results of laborator.y experiments. It is found that the simulations are adequate if an appropriate selection of parameters is made. The model is then used to investigate the effect of cation composition and concentration of the restoration medium as well as dispersion on the overall effectiveness of the process. It is concluded that increasing the concentration of monovalent ions in a solution containing a mixture of both monovalent and divalent ions decreases the adsorption selectivity of the divalent ions with respect to all monovalent ions including ammonium. Thus increasing the ionic concentration of a restoration fluid by increasing the concentration of a nonselectively adsorbed (with respect to ammonium) ion may have a very limited benefit.

Jan 1, 1979

By Eugene Stephenson

IN most instances the fluids produced from underground reservoirs have been described as they appear at the surface, and usually it has not been necessary to distinguish between surface and reservoir phases. More recently it has become imperative to recognize the fact that changes in phase may occur between the reservoir and the receiving unit. The simple terminology of "wet" and "dry" gases and "crude petro-leum oil" served our needs fairly well in the shallow, low-temperature and low-pressure fields. It has been left to the legislatures, regulatory com-missions, and courts to decide whether a field is or was a gas field, an oil field, or both. This they have done by direct definition and also by implication. For example, in Texas:1 (d) The term "gas well" is any well (a) which produces natural gas not associated or blended with crude petroleum oil at the time of production, or (b) which produces more than one hundred thousand (100,000) cubic feet of natural, gas to each barrel of crude petroleum oil from the same producing horizon, or (c) which produces natural gas from a formation or producing horizon productive of gas only encountered in a well bore through which crude petroleum oil is also produced through the inside of another string of casing. (e) The term "oil well" is any well which produces one (1) barrel or more of crude petroleum oil to each one hundred thousand (100,000) cubic feet of natural gas.

Jan 1, 1938

By F. G. Cottrell

(New York Meeting, February, 1912.) ABOUT a year and a half ago, at the San Francisco meeting of the American Chemical Society, in connection with the excursions to local smelting-works, I had occasion to show some lantern-slides illustrating the recent commercial development of electrical methods for precipitating the suspended matter from smelter-smoke, the underlying phenomena of which were clearly brought to the attention of the technical public by Sir Oliver Lodge as long ago as 1884. In the Journal of industrial and Engineering Chemistry, August, 1911, most of these views were reproduced, together with an account of the work from its beginning up to July, 1911. To-day I wish particularly to show you some of the further developments of the work since that time; but in order to make these clear they will be prefaced by a brief abstract of the article above referred to. The removal of suspended particles, front gases, by the aid of electric discharges is by no means a new idea. As early as 1824 we' find it suggested by Hohlfeld 1 as a means of suppressing ordinary smoke, and again a quarter of a, century later by Guitard.2 These suggestions, which do not seem to have stimulated any practical study of the question, were soon entirely forgotten, and only brought to light again by Sir Oliver Lodge,3 many years after he himself had independently rediscovered the same phenomena and brought them to public attention 4 in a lecture before the Liverpool Section of the So-

Jul 1, 1912

By GEORGE L. CHRISTIAN

T HE Tonopah Extension assay office is a two- story, concrete structure on a solid foundation of andesite, situated about 100 yd. from the company's mill, so that it will not be affected by the stamps or the tube-mills; also it will not be affected by under- ground blasting. On the second floor are the mine superintendent's office and drafting and blueprint rooms. On the ground floor are the assayer's office,' mixing room, furnace room, crusher room, chemical laboratory, parting room, store room, and change and shower room for the mine superintendent, assayers, and engineers. The crusher room is outside of the main building, and has four concrete walls, thus eliminating the jar of the crusher; it is so situated that the least possible amount of dust spreads through the main building. An 8 by 10-in. jaw crusher, which crushes to ¼ in., was made by a local foundry. Attached to the top is a small galvanized-iron hopper covered with a ¼ in. screen, on to which the sample is dumped. The fines-pass through the screen into the hopper, while the oversize is dumped into the crusher. The crushed sample and fines from the screen drop down to a set .of splits suspended from an iron rod below the crusher jaws. The small sample is caught below in a small pulp pan. The rejects drop from the splits through a 2-in. pipe on to a bucket conveyor, which dumps into a galvanized-iron hopper in an upper corner of the room. The rejects drop through a 2-in. pipe to a reject bin outside the build- ing. This bin is constructed high enough for a truck to be loaded from it by means of a chute door on the side.

Jan 1, 1921

By Oliver Bowles

WAR necessities have spurred inventive genius in many fields. A grinding mill without any moving grinding parts stirs the imagination. Among the new and striking accomplishments in the heterogeneous group of nonmetallic industrial minerals is the use of an electric arc to speed up manyfold the difficult and delicate task of drilling a microscopic hole in a diamond, the hardest of all known substances. Outstanding in the field of optical research is the ability that man has developed to improve upon nature by making in the laboratory optical crystals many times larger than those usually found in rocky crevices. These are merely samples of numerous events and circumstances of noteworthy import, many of which are recorded in this review. Termination of the second World War in 1945 permits an appraisal of the effects of the conflict and the probable effects of the coming restoration of a peacetime economy on the nonmetallic mineral industries. Some industries were stimulated greatly by the war, notably mica, quartz crystal, graphite, spinning asbestos, potash, fluorspar, barite, and refractories. The large-tonnage industries connected with the building trades, however, were forced to curtail their activities, except where their products were needed for wartime construction. Their reconversion to peacetime production will not be difficult.

Jan 1, 1946

By M. F. Smith

BELOW the nose of the bainitic C curves in isothermal transformation diagrams, the rate of the austenite-to-bainite transformation usually decreases with decreasing temperature. However, in some steels and iron-carbon alloys, there is a noticeable acceleration in the initial reaction rate at temperatures just above Ms. Such speeding-up of the bainitic transformation would be understandable at temperatures just below Ms because of the catalytic effect of the martensite formed,' but the reversal in isothermal kinetics just above Ms seems quite anomalous. This behavior was observed by Howard and Cohen' in a 1.35 pct C steel and, on the basis of metallo-graphic examination, it was attributed to the formation of a thin plate-like product not belonging in the bainitic sequence. More recently, schaaber2 found two-stage reactions occurring in the vicinity of Ms in a number of steels, and suggested that the first stage might be the isothermal formation of marten-site, preceding the isothermal formation of bainite in the second stage. A decrease in the bainitic incu-

Jan 1, 1960

By William J. Robinson

What is the cummulative rate of recovery of copper from a sulfide leach dump? The technical answers to this frequently asked question may vary from "I don't know" to "quite good" from people of the same company. Management also poses this question because it plays a vital role in planning future production. The answer is difficult because of the many variables between different operations such as physical construction of the dump, topography of the original site, characteristics of dump material, mineralization and water application. Each of these factors and others have a bearing on the rate of recovery. Anaconda's method of water distribution at Butte is unique in that each dump is drilled to allow physical injection of water into the dump. The injection holes are drilled vertically on 25 ft centers from the surface of the dump. Normally, the holes are drilled 40 ft deep and cased with 4-in. PVC perforated pipe. The pipe is perforated at one-foot intervals with four 1/2 in. diam holes at 90" spacing on the pipe circumference.

Jan 9, 1972

By C. O. Brawner

Simple, specific rules for achieving slope stability in open-pit mines are impossible to devise. Each pit has a different mining program and a different set of environmental conditions, and its final slope design must be based on an individual evaluation of the actual site. The overall philosophy of pit stability, however, is tending towards a limit design concept. Since slope angle has a great influence on the economics of most open-pit mines, efforts are being made to reduce the theoretical factor of safety for slope stability to very near 1.0. (Factor of safety is here defined as shear strength/shear stress on the most probable plane of failure.) Actually, where detailed, statistically significant testing has been done and a comprehensive ground control program is being instituted to warn of movement at an early stage, safety factors as low as 1.1 or 1.2 may be justified. The cost of the necessary procedures, however, is high. There are many factors that influence stability, but this article will be confined to three-rock structure, groundwater, and blasting.

Jan 8, 1969

By Edward P. Barrett

DURING the past few years numerous references have been made in the technical press and Bureau of Mines Bulletin 270 to sponge iron' and so-called "direct metal" processes. The idea has been prevalent that sponge iron and "direct metals" are cheap commodities. In many instances it has been proposed that these processes be used to treat low-grade ores, utilizing low-grade coals as reducing agents. It is questionable whether or not high-grade sponge iron can be made from low-grade materials. Particles contain¬ing iron oxide and gangue become, upon almost complete deoxidation, particles containing metallic' iron and gangue. The possibility of mechanically separating the metallic iron from the gangue in these particles depends . on the physical characteristics of the particular ore under treatment. Some ores, in which the minerals constituting the gangue break free from the iron oxide upon crushing, may be concentrated magnetically after the iron oxides have been reduced to metal. The finely disseminated ores are least amenable to concentration. In general, high-grade sponge iron can only be made from high-grade raw materials. Sponge iron containing small amounts of sulfur can only be made from raw materials containing small amounts of sulfur or by

Jan 1, 1930

By S. E. Craig

UPON entering the Uranium Field it was a pleasant surprise to find almost absent two factors that have always been a problem to the lead-zinc miner: 1) milling cost per ton, and 2) transportation cost to the milling site. Another interesting condition was the fixed price for the product. Under such conditions it seems rather simple to calculate the economics of a mining venture when grade and tonnage of a uranium ore deposit is known. That is assuming, of course, there is a market for the ore. It has been quite generally assumed by operators that a guaranteed price carried with it a guaranteed market, a subject about which there has been a great deal of discussion in the past several months. The fixed price for uranium in crude ore, calculated to U3O8, varies only slightly in value per pound from rather low grade ore to rather high grade ore. It is by taking advantage of this slight variation in price per pound in certain ranges that miners and shippers may increase substantially the monthly returns from ore shipments.

Jan 7, 1958

By V 7. 0 / 300 dpi

LAST fall, having a number of ore samples from mine-development work carried on in spite of the "Revolution," I was forced to do my own assaying again, after a lapse of many years. This gave me an opportunity to build a furnace for crucible assaying, using wood for fuel, along lines which had been developing in my mind since the time 20 years ago, when as general factotum at a little mining camp in western Chihuahua, Mexico, I had converted a crucible charcoal furnace into one using the reverberatory principle. Wood-burning furnaces have been described in technical literature, but I believe the present application will prove helpful to those of the profession who are working in out-of-the-way places. The furnace is shown in detail in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Remembering the trouble caused by stoking my first charcoal furnace too heavily, I fired this one with but a few sticks of wood at a time. By this method I could run out a charge of 12 crucibles in 30 to 35 min., using 50 sticks of ordinary stove wood. Later I fill up the firebox, holding about 40 sticks, get everything ready, put the crucibles into the melting chamber and "fire up." Just as soon as the fire is well started the draft door is closed and the furnace allowed to heat up slowly for 5 min. Then the draft is opened (the door to the ash-pit) and the fire allowed to roar, which it does. In 20 min. from the time the fire is lighted the fire door is opened, the fire stirred along the grates, and 5 or 6 more sticks of wood thrown in. In 25 min. from the start, the draft is closed again, the cover of the melting chamber pushed back and the charges poured. The melts will be found to be perfect, and the crucibles to pour absolutely clean, if everything has gone right, as will usually be the case. A new charge may be put in, and fired with S to 10 sticks of wood at a tine, and be ready to pour within 20 min.; but it is just as well to leave the crucibles in the melting chamber a full 2.5 min. By using 10 sticks of wood to start the fire and adding 5 sticks as often as needed, which will be as soon as the last sticks fed in are in perfect combustion, the smelting can be completed in from 30 to 35 min., using from 35 to 40 sticks of wood. I consider this to be the best method of stoking.

Jan 10, 1914

By AIME AIME

The following changes of address of members have been received at the Secretary's office during the period of March 15 to May 1, 1907. This list, together with the list of changes of address published in Bi-Monthly Bulletin, No. 14, March, 1907, supplements the annual list of members corrected to Jan. 1, 1907, and brings it up to the date of May 1, 1907. The names of members who have accepted election during March and April, 1907 (new members), are printed in italics. The large number of changes of address since Jan. 1, 1907; shows the importance of publishing these changes as frequently as possible, and the Bi-Monthly Bulletin has. been selected as the means to present this information to the members of the Institute. By the simple method of cutting out these names and addresses and pasting them directly over the corresponding names in the annual list of members, the record can be kept practically up to date, and the value of the list correspondingly increased. For this purpose the changes of address have been printed only on one side of the page. The names of new members, being in italics, are readily distinguished from the others, and can be pasted in approximate alphabetical order on the margins of the pages.

May 1, 1907