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By Arthur Taggart

SOME years ago, A. M. Gaudin and one of the authors published a paper showing removal of tar acids from solution by sulfides preferentially as compared to gangues (specifically by galena as compared to quartz).1 The underlying phenomenon was classed as adsorption, and the paper went on to develop the general thesis that so far as water-soluble frothing and collecting agents in flotation are concerned, the phenomenon of adsorption is one of controlling importance. Adsorption was defined in that paper as "a process of rearrangement of a system, which results in establishing a difference in concentration, as between the interfacial layers and the bulk of the phases, of a substance or substances initially uniformly dispersed in one or several of the phases." The paper went on to develop the relation between adsorption and surface energy according to Gibbs' equation (which may be thrown into the form U/c = KdT/dc, where U = excess concentration in surface layer, c = concentration, T = surface tension, and K is a constant), and pointed out that, according to this equation, degree of adsorption and change in surface tension vary directly. The present paper offers a somewhat different definition for the term adsorption; and sets up, in sweeping terms, the generalization that simple chemical reaction underlies the functioning of the flotation reagents which control mineral collection, when these reagents are soluble in and act from solution in the water of the pulp.

Jan 1, 1930

By R. F. Mehl, C. S. Barrett, A. H. Geisler

THE mechanism by which the super-saturated solid solution of 20 per cent silver in aluminum decomposes has been reported in two previous publications. 1,2 The analysis of streaks in Laue photograms showed that thin platelike particles (the so-called Guinier-Preston aggregates) form upon {111} matrix planes in the early state of decomposition.1 The size of these particles is larger, the higher the temperature at which they form in accordance with nucleation theory;3 at all temperatures they increase in size with aging.2 When they have grown thick enough to afford three-dimensional diffraction, powder X-ray photograms show that the structure is not that of the equilibrium precipitate y but that of a transition lattice ?'. Since this is also platelike in shape and also lies upon the {111} matrix planes with the {110} direction in the matrix parallel to the {11.0} direction in ?', it seems likely that the original platelet particles are merely ?' in an early stage of formation, and thus finely dispersed. The atomic spacing and pattern on the {00.0} plane in ?' are identical with those on the {111} matrix plane to which it lies parallel, and since comparable directions in the two planes are parallel, the lattices are thus coherent at the interface; an analogous coherence has been found in aluminum-copper alloys.3 The structures ?' and y are both close-packed hexagonal and are oriented alike; they differ only in interatomic distances. Consequently, ? ' is regarded as y strained from its ordinary dimensions by the lattice coherency between it and the matrix.2 The lattice movements that transform the matrix to the equilibrium precipitate appear to be very simple.2 The mechanism of precipitation in this system is simpler and is more precisely known than that in any other system,2,4 hence the system should be a profitable one for the difficult task of correlating property changes with structural alterations. The present report provides additional studies on powder X-ray diffraction from alloys of 10 per cent, 20 per cent and 30 per cent Ag, and presents the correlation of crystallographic changes with changes in microstructure, Brinell hardness and electrical resistivity of the three alloys. PREPARATION OF SAMPLES AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The preparation of the 20.2 per cent Ag alloy has been described.2 Alloys containing 9.9 and 29.7 per cent Ag were prepared from 99.97 per cent Al and 99.99+ per cent Ag using a similar procedure. Rolled

Jan 1, 1943

By Charles E. Parsons

One of the greatest factors in our industrial development is cheap and convenient power. Long-distance electrical transmission has now reached such a stage that it is feasible, and practicable, to utilize the water-power of the country which was heretofore too remote for consideration. In all of the changes of energy from its various sources to its electrical applications, water-power stands pre-eminent in point of economy. Power-users the world over have endeavored to utilize this force in preference to any other, and until long-distance transmission was found practicable it seemed that every available water-power in this section of the country was doing its full share for the benefit of mankind. The success of each great industrial development has been clue in a greater part to some one man one who is just a step in advance of the rest in his particular field; one who is able to grasp a situation and foresee possibilities; and, above all, one who has that indomitable pluck and perseverance which sees in each obstacle one more step toward success. Such a mail is Eugene L. Ashley, for it was through his efforts that the development of the greatest power on the Hudson river was made possible. For several years prior to 1897 the various properties along the river between Glens Falls and Palmer Falls were in the hands of speculators. These men knew the value of waterrights, but they had not the ability to assemble the properties and finance such an undertaking. In 1897 Mr. Ashley began buying these water-rights, and, after two years of litigation, title mas secured to all of the properties along each side of the river, and the Hudson River Water-Power Company was organized to construct a dam and transmit power to the surrounding cities and villages. A contract was let for a dam

Jan 1, 1904

By J. L. Rodda

THE desirability of a uniformly sized abrasive for metallographic polishing has probably been recognized in a general way for a long time. Certainly all metallographers have recognized the damage that can be done to a polished surface by a piece of grit, especially if one of the softer metals, such as zinc or aluminum, is being polished. It is to be doubted, however, whether many metallographers have had any adequate idea of the particle size of the abrasives they were using or of the range of sizes encountered in any given grade of abrasive. At any rate, the descriptions of abrasives for metallographic work found in the literature are generally very meager. It was with the idea of securing an abrasive with a limited range of particle size that a study of this problem was commenced. Commercial abrasives, even when recommended for metallographic work, are made up of particles of varying sizes. One such abrasive contains some particles so fine that they remain in suspension for days and other particles so coarse that they settle at the rate of 3 in. per minute. It is evident that the coarsest particles are over 100 times the diameter of the smallest ones, or over 1,000,000 times the volume. The hopelessness of avoiding scratches under these conditions is evident. Vanderwilt1 has described a laboratory method for grading abrasives in which the elutriator is used. Le Chatelier's method, described by Goerens,2 also makes use of an elutriator. However, the elutriator is too slow for this purpose and requires too delicate a control for the range of sizes desired. The method of stirring up the abrasive in water, allowing it to settle for as given time, then drawing a measured depth off the top of the suspension, has been finally adopted as the simplest proce-dure. The largest particle in a given portion is. then determined by Stokes' law:3

Jan 1, 1931

By Eckley B. Coxe

The subject of this paper will be treated as briefly as possible under the following heads : I. The latest designs of some of the machinery used at these collieries in the preparation of coal. 11. The means employed for elevating, conveying and transporting the coal and slate in and about the breaker. 111. The means employed for raising the coal from the mines to the top of the breaker. IV. The iron breaker as a structure. V. The preparation of the coal as effected in the iron breaker. A key to the plates and the letters and numbers designating different parts, will be found at the end of the paper. I. Preparing Coal. Anthracite coal as it comes from the mines is not marketable. The "run of mine" cannot, as in the case of bituminous coal, be sold. Anthracite, being very compact and practically free from volatile combustible matter, burns only at the surface, and it is, therefore, deemed important to have the lumps as nearly of a uniform size as possible, so that between them a large amount of surface will remain exposed to the action of the air without checking the draught too much, or allowing enough air to pass to cool the coal below the ignition-point, In other words, if the pieces of coal of the size of a chestnut and smaller are mixed with lumps of the size of an egg they fill the air-passages and prevent a free draught. It has long been recognized, therefore, that one of the most important points in preparation is to have a uniform sizing, and also to make as large a number of different sizes as can be produced without too

Jan 1, 1891

By Welton Crook

UNLESS present in considerable proportion, metals of the precious-metal group-other than gold and silver-are not readily detected by the methods of fire assaying usually applied to ores and metallurgical products. Platinum, when present in small quantity, will ordinarily be reported as silver unless special methods of parting are used. Other elements occurring in the gold itself are all fluxed and slagged in the assay operation and if analyses are made on bullions the melting and slagging operations to which the bullion has been subjected may eliminate most of the associated elements. On the other hand, the analysis of precipi-tate from the cyanide treatment of gold ores may reveal the presence of many unexpected elements, such as tungsten and molybdenum. It is uncertain, however, whether many of the elements present in the pre-cipitate are derived from the ore gangue or from the gold itself. No very general survey of the distribution of metallic elements in gold seems to have been made. Rose and Newman,1 in connection with the composition of native gold, say in part as follows: Gold is occasionally found alloyed with copper and sometimes also with iron, bis-muth, lead, mercury, tin, antimony, palladium or rhodium. Rhodium gold from Mexico was found to be of the specific gravity 15.5 to 16.8 and contained 34 to 43 per cent of rhodium. The native alloy of palladium, gold, and silver from Porpez con-tains 85.98 per cent of gold, 9.85 per cent palladium and 4.17 per cent silver. Mal-donite, from Victoria, contains gold 64.5 per cent, bismuth 35.5 per cent (Louis). Dana' says that native gold is usually alloyed with silver in varying amounts, and that sometimes it also contains traces of copper and iron. Rare varieties contain palladium, rhodium and bismuth. Other authors, for instance Zeigler3 and Clark,4 give similar information. Most refer-ences on the subject agree that ordinary native golds contain, in common, the elements silver, copper and iron. After completion of the work of which this paper is a record, the conclusion is reached that all ordinary native gold probably does contain these elements and, although in certain cases other elements may be found to be present, that it is difficult to

Jan 1, 1939

By F. H. Newell

Measurements of the amount of water flowing in many of the larger rivers of the west have been made by the United States Geological Survey, and by this means the daily discharges of these rivers have been computed for a period of over two years. These measurements have been confined mainly to that part of the country commonly known as the arid region, where the rainfall is insufficient for the needs of plants most useful to man, and the supply of water, not only for agriculture, but also for mining and all other purposes, falls below the demands made upon it. In such localities flowing water has a great value, for without it many industries are impossible. Experience has shown that in the western part of the United States, over an area a little less than two-fifths of the whole extent of the country, there are great bodies of fertile land enjoying a genial climate, and in every way adapted to the support of a large population, except in the one particular of water-supply. By utilizing the water available, portions of this rich land can be rendered valnable. In other words, the laud-values rest directly upon the prospects of a continuous artificial water-supply. The same is true of many mineral lands, which require for hydraulic mining, or for the supply of concentrating-works, stanip-mills, etc., a certain water-supply, and are impaired in value if this supply is inadequate or irregular. The pressure of this need upon the mining industry is not so widespread, or in the first instance so severe as upon agriculture; but as different regions become more thickly settled, and the two industries compete for a water-supply not sufficient for both, it, is probable that the miner will suffer. But he can snspend operations with less inconvenience than the farmer. Agricuitural land, if the watersupply is not continuous, becomes a desert; on the other hand, the profit of mining is greatly enhanced by the presence of agricultural

Jan 1, 1892

By John Patek

KNOWLEDGE of the relative floatability of silicate minerals is increas-ing in importance as flotation is being applied to the concentration of nonsulfides. Many silicates are in themselves commercial products amenable to concentration by flotation. Moreover, the selective flota-tion of other nonsulfide minerals, such as cassiterite, depends largely upon the floatability of associated. gangue silicates. Differences in floatability existing between the various silicates have not been suffi-ciently appreciated; for example, the feldspars that differ greatly in floatability have generally been merely treated as "feldspar." It was the purpose of the work described in this paper to determine by experi-ment the differences in floatability between silicates; to investigate the causes for such differences, and to discover a means of predetermining approximate floatability without the necessity of experimentation.

Jan 1, 1934

By S. F. Willey

Difficulties encountered in justifying replacements for overage mobile mine equipment at the Gay mine are common to most mining operations. More critical management reviews, resulting from ever rising capital expenses, increased such difficulties. These increased difficulties are especially apparent to those who are primarily operators and are not statisticians, mathematicians or computer men. The Gay mine is located 17 mi east of the town of Fort Hall in southern Idaho. This open pit operation annually supplies the J. R. Simplot Co. and the FMC Corp. with 1.5-2.0 million tons of phosphate ore. Stripping ratios average approximately three bank cubic yards of waste per ton of ore mined. The mobile mine equipment fleet consists of ten 24-cu yd scrapers; twenty-one 30-50-ton end-dump trucks; four 3%-4%- cu yd shovels; fifteen dozers in the D-8 and D-9 classes; and three road patrols. Equipment replacement is based on the results of evaluations made on individual units.

Jan 9, 1972

By Franz Wever

The importance of the Widmanstätten structure to structure theory in metallography has been recognized by many writers.l It is a structure produced by the precipitation of a, new phase from a solid solution upon cooling as a result of changing solid solubility, and displays a characteristic appearance indicating a crystallographic relationship between the new phase and the original solid solution (Fig. 1). First discovered in 1808 by Alois de Widmanstätten2, the structure has been traced by analogy through many alloy systems. Particularly is this true of the steels. Sorby's classic work3 on the microstructure of iron and steel was in essence an attempt to explain the origin of this characteristic structure in meteoric iron. He observed in a Ressemer steel and in a cast-steel ingot structures which we now recognize as typical Widmanstatten figures.4 Osmond Observed structures in a steel ingot analog-ous to those found in meteorites. Arnold and Mc William6 obtained (and recognized) a

Jan 1, 1931

By B. M. Larsen, T. E. Brower

An increasing amount of attention is being paid to the possible influence of oxygen, in its several modes of occurrence in steel, upon some of the properties of the metal; but clearly investigations along this line are unlikely to yield significant results until reliable analytical methods for the determination of oxygen have been established. This paper presents some results of a study of an improved Ledebur method which aims to determine a definite portion of the oxygen; namely, that which presumably is present in diffusible form in the solid steel. These more or less preliminary results lead us to believe that the oxygen so determined has some significance; their presentation at this time will, we hope, stimulate discussion of, and focus attention upon, certain rather neglected aspects of the problem. Considerable work has been done recently on methods of estimating inclusions and on the vacuum-fusion method for oxygen; with results which, however, are of somewhat questionable significance. It is commonly presumed that the oxygen in a bath of molten steel in a furnace is present partly as a separate phase consisting of suspended particles of oxides or silicates, partly in solution, the latter being probably the more important. Upon addition of a deoxidizer, it reacts with some portion of the dissolved oxygen and precipitates it as additional suspended particles; the oxygen not eliminated in this way, which remains in solution in the liquid steel, may be regarded indifferently either as dissolved oxygen or as dissolved FeO. When the steel is poured, some of the suspended particles rise towards the surface, others remain trapped in the finished steel, appearing as nonmetallic inclusions in amounts corresponding usually to about 0.01 to 0.03 per cent Oz in the steel. The dissolved oxygen may be partly eliminated as CO during freezing of the ingot, but some remains either in solution or in part precipitated as FeO. Finished steels may thus contain oxygen in several forms: (1) In non-metallic inclusions which are probably quite insoluble in the solid metal at all temperatures; (2) in solid solution which at lower temperatures may be supersaturated; (3) in FeO particles produced by relief of this

Jan 1, 1932

By Nelson Severinghaus

Mineral fillers have been defined as inert materials that are included in a composition for some useful purpose. Because this definition and the scope of this review are not specific-indeed, exceptions abound-accurate total statistics are unavailable. One source estimates the total production in the United States in 1979 at 11.3 Mt (12.5 million st) valued at $534 million, averaging $49.19 per ton. Included are a broad group of minerals-asbestos, barite, bentonite, ground limestone and dolomite, clays, diatomite, feldspar, micas, silica, talc. Additional references will be made to synthetic mineral-derived fillers such as aluminum hydrate, precipitated calcium carbonate, and pyrogenic and precipitated silicas and silicates. A section on related uses at the end of this chapter covers absorbents and filters. Mineral fillers can be included in compounds to accomplish a variety of final results. Hardness, brittleness, impact strength, compressive strength, softening point, fire resistance, surface texture, electrical conductivity, and a host of other physical characteristics may be modified by the inclusion of fillers. These effects are the result of properties of the fillers, including chemical activity, hardness, particle size, shape and distribution, surface structure, color, density, and refractive index. To facilitate an overview of the mineral filler industry, this chapter will review the general usage of fillers, the inherent characteristics that intensify their utilization, and similarly their manufactured characteristics. Major using industries will then be examined in detail. Specific information on deposits and processing for industrial minerals will be found in the appropriate commodity chapter. All of these same minerals have additional significant uses based on their chemical composition or other characteristics. References will be found in other use chapters and summarized in commodity chapters. The chart in Table 1, updated from the 4th edition of Industrial Minerals and Rocks, illustrates the major mineral fillers (both natural and manufactured) and their more important end uses. Use of Mineral Fillers Archaeologists have found that more than 5000 years ago, bitumen used for mortar and waterproofing contained mineral contaminants that acted as fillers. Since that time man has added mineral products to compounds to improve certain characteristics. Perhaps the most common objective of filler usage is reduction of cost of the end product. Certainly the inclusion of a filler that costs 2¢ per 0.45 kg (lb) will reduce the cost of a plastic product whose resin costs 50¢ per 0.45 kg (lb). But the decision to use a specific filler is not that simple. It may "soak up" binder, making a compound more viscous and perhaps preventing its flow into a mold as an injection molding compound, but similarly will give good anti-sag characteristics to putty, caulking compound, or undercoating. Fillers may be incorporated to modify: 1) Cost 2) Physical characteristics 3) Flow characteristics 4) Fire resistance 5) Density 6) Heat conductivity 7) Color or brightness and opacity 8) Hardness, brittleness, impact strength 9) Deformity, viscosity, softening point 10) Processing problems 11) Electrical conductivity 12) Surface texture 13) Thermal expansion characteristics 14) Abrasion resistance

Jan 1, 1983

By E. M. Wise

PLATINUM and palladium are the most generally useful, most ductile and least rare members of the platinum family. They have many impor-tant applications in the pure state but for other applications it is fre-quently desirable to harden them and otherwise modify their properties by alloying small amounts of the other platinum group metals with them. These alloys are frequently required to withstand very drastic forming operations and to possess certain mechanical properties to fulfill specific requirements. For these reasons a knowledge of the tensile properties and annealing characteristics of pure platinum and palladium as well as their more useful commercial alloys is important to the user, and the fabricator. The present work was undertaken to fill this need. Rather brief (5 min.) annealing treatments were employed to render the data of maximum practical value and all tests were conducted upon 0.050-in. dia. wire, initially reduced 50 per cent in area by cold drawing, for the same reason. CONCLUSIONS 1. Pure (thermocouple grade) platinum reduced 50 per cent by cold drawing exhibits the following tensile properties: ultimate tensile strength, 36,000 lb. per sq. in.; proportional limit, 27,000 lb. per sq. in.; elongation, 2.5 per cent in 2 in.; reduction in area, 95 per cent. When fully annealed by treatment at 1100°C. its properties are: ultimate tensile strength, 20,700 lb. per sq. in.; elongation, 30 per cent in 2 in.; reduction in area, 93 per cent.

Jan 1, 1934

By David B. Reger

The exhaustion of oil and gas in the United States is proceeding at a rapid pace. This is especially true in fields where the light oils that furnish the most fuel for internal-combustion engines arc found, leading to a late estimate by Arnold that the petroleum resources are 36 per cent. exhausted.l The further remark by Dr. David T. Day at the New York meeting of the Institute, in February, 1916, that the operators of the country are now scarcely able to supply the ever-increasing demand for gasoline, leads the writer to believe that a determined effort will soon be made to secure deeper producing horizons in those regions that now furnish high-grade oil, and in which pump stations and pipe lines offer convenient means for the economical handling of new production. A study of Arnold's table shows further that the States that produce paraffin oil exclusively are 45 per cent. exhausted, this figure being much higher than the average of paraffin and asphalt States altogether. The most extensive of all the paraffin-oil-producing areas is the Appalachian Field, extending with the Appalachian Geo-Syncline from western New York southwestward through western Pennsylvania, western West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, where oil of high gravity is always secured. Of these States, Pennsylvania and West Virginia rank highest in the quality of their product. In West Virginia, the oil sands dip to a lower level than in any other locality in the Appalachian Geo-Syneline, the Pittsburgh Coal of the Pennsylvanian being only 50 ft. above sea level along the Nineveh Syneline at Wileyville, Wetzel County.² The very significant fact that the sands of the Mississippian and Upper Devonian Measures furnished the richest oil pools of the State along this

Jan 1, 1917

By H. Souder

The object of this paper is to bring to the notice of engineers a safety detonating fuse by the use of which misfires in blasting may be eliminated and safety in blasting operations promoted.

Jan 1, 1915

By H. I. Aaronson

The nucleation of pearlite at proeutectoid ferrite is inhibited, to an increasing extent, at the following locations: At twin boundary-nucleated ferrite, between closely spaced ferrite sideplates, and at intragranular plates. These effects are discussed in terms of the influence of transformation strain energies and of the interfacial free energy of austen-ite:ferrite boundaries on the rate of pearlite nucleation. The growth of pearlite into the interiors of austenite grains from the region of the grain boundaries is markedly restricted when low reaction temperatures and large austenite grain sizes permit the development of interlocking networks of intragranular ferrite plates. PREVIOUS investigators have made extensive studies of the interactions which occur between the proeutectoid ferrite and the pearlite reactions from the viewpoint of the mechanisms through which pearlite interferes with the nucleation and growth of proeutectoid ferrite.1-3 In the present investigation, the processes through which proeutectoid ferrite (hereafter termed simply "ferrite") can reduce the rate of formation of pearlite have been explored in some detail. A steel with a relatively low carbon content, in which the ferrite reaction can compete successfully with the pearlite reaction over a wide range of reaction temperature, and exceptionally coarse-grained specimens, which further emphasize the role of the ferrite reaction, have been employed for most of this work. A brief examination also has been made, however, of the effects of smaller austenite grain sizes upon these processes. Experimental Procedure The steel employed had the following composition: 0.29 pet C, 0.76 pet Mn, 0.25 pet si, 0,007 pet S, and 0.005 pct P. This alloy was homogenized for 48 hr at 1250°C. The investigation was performed

Jan 1, 1959

By C. V. Corless

We are living at a period of the world's history in which social phenomena are on so vast a scale, are of so profoundly soul-searching a nature, and are occurring in such rapid succession in the great world drama in which we are both actors and spectators, that, in our efforts to obtain a rational point of view in relation to them, our minds may fail to discern the simple in the complex and our understanding is liable to become confused or even overwhelmed. To the social student whose: scientific training has convinced him of the truth of the evolutionary law, Natura non facit salium, it is neither the vast scale of the events, their deeply soul-stirring nature, nor their rapid succession that matters so much, as the discovery of the underlying principle or law in accordance with which the disintegration and reintegration, which are the two aspects of social evolution, or indeed of evolution everywhere, are occurring. He is most deeply concerned in seeking an answer to the question: Have we in the present great and perplexing upheavals in human society, whether regarded in Central Europe, in Russia, in Great Britain, or in America, a really new cause at work, or, have we, though on a very large scale, merely new manifestations of the working out of an old principle? When we think of the appalling struggle in Europe, into which the world's greatest exemplar of democracy was finally drawn, no one has any hesitation in admitting that the great conflict was fundamentally a life-and-death struggle for self-preservation and self-propagation on the part of autocracy. The variations we meet with in the statement of the cause of the war arise mainly from differing distances of perspective; but in the last analysis all agree that the autocratic system of political gov ernment, which found its very soul and center in Prussian despotism, was consciously arrayed in a final "world-power-or-downf all" struggle against a love of freedom which was steadily widening and deepening throughout the world, and particularly throughout those parts of the world where this love of freedom and justice hasfound expressionin democratic institutions. It is not irrelevant to our discussion to recall in passing that this most imposing structure ever conceived by the human mind as an instrument of tyranny is lying today an irretrievable mass of ruins, completely over-

Jan 1, 1920

By Thomas Lane Carter

The history of mining in South Africa differs somewhat from that of other countries in the part taken by the aborigines in the development of the mineral deposits. The Spaniards in America, and the fortune-seekers of Australia and New Zealand, found large numbers of natives in these new countries, but the inhabitants did not become willing or efficient workers in the mines which the white men started. The Kaffirs of South Africa have not shown the same antipathy to labor, nor do they show any signs of dying out in the presence of the white man's civilization. They are a virile race, and so far the vices of civilization have not killed them. While it is true that the brain and skill necessary for the exploitation of the mineral resources of this sub-continent have been supplied by the white race, it is also a fact that most of the rough labor in the development of the mining industry of South Africa has been done by the Kaffirs. The Kaffir tribes differ greatly in their mental and physical capabilities. Compare, for instance, a Zulu of Natal with a Bechuana, or a Xosa of Cape Colony with some of the degenerate tribes of Central or East Africa, and you will find that they have little in common, save that their skin is black and that they do not believe in clothes. As a general rule, the tribes in the milder, healthier climates are far superior, both in mind and body, to the Kaffirs brought up in the hot malarial sections of Central Africa; and it naturally follows that the black men from the temperate zones of the country are much finer workmen than the degenerates from less favorable sections. It is universal in South Africa to speak of the Kaffirs as " boys." No matter if he is 90 years old, the Kaffir is always a a boy," and in this paper the word " boy " is synonymous with Kaffir.

Jan 1, 1909

By Henry S. Munroe

The earliest accounts we have of Japan represent the country as having great mineral wealth, especially of precious and useful metals. Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, in the thirteenth century, writes of "Zipangu:" " They have gold in greatest abundance, its sources being inexhaustible. The king does not allow of its being exported. To this circumstance we are to attribute the extraordinary richness of the sovereign's palace. The entire roof is covered with a plating of gold.. .. The ceilings of the halls are of the same precious metal; many of the apartments have tables of pure gold of considerable thickness, and the windows also have golden ornaments." Marco Polo also gives an account of an unsuccessful Tartar expedition against Japan, prompted by the supposed great wealth of the country. Columbus also, as well as many other explorers, were attracted and encouraged by these prevalent reports of the wealth of the islands of Zipangu. Kaempfer, writing in 1727, speaks of the great mineral wealth of Japan, and especially of the abundance of gold, which, he says, is found in many provinces. The Portuguese and Dutch, while they had trading-posts in Japan, furnished tangible evidence of the truth of the early reports. Between 1550 and 1639 the Portuguese merchants sent home from Japan nearly three hundred million dollars' worth of bullion, most of which was gold. As the relative value of equal weights of gold and silver was then six to one, while in Europe, at the same time, it was nearly twelve to one, the exchange of silver bullion for gold was by no means an unimportant part of their Business. After the Portuguese, the Dutch continued the exportation of bullion, and the exchange of silver for gold, though with less profit, as the relative value of gold increased with the demand. Between 1649 and 1671 the Dutch traders sent home over two hundred million dollars in bullion, of which, however, nearly two-thirds was silver. In 1671 the Japanese government, alarmed at the rapid rate at which the precious metals were leaving the country, issued an edict forbidding the exportation of gold or silver, under heavy penalties, which had the immediate effect of stopping this trade. Besides bullion, copper formed at this time a most important article of export. According to Dr. Geerts,* who has examined the old

By J. Ruzicka

In creep testing, material is subjected to a constant load, preferably at a constant temperature, and its rate of deformation is measured. The method of loading can be of various types but in this paper only creep testing under tensile load will be considered. The ordinary tensile test is essentially a comparison test in conditions that frequently hear little or no relation to those under which the test material is to be used in service. The purpose of creep tests is to measure the strength of the test material at slow rates of deformation that more nearly approach the rates realized in service. One purpose of this paper is to illustrate that the creep test, in addition to its value as a service test, is superior to the ordinary tensile test as a sensitive tool for the comparison of certain metals in investigative testing. The other purpose is to describe equipment having distinctive features of design that make it especially suitable for such tests. Representative data obtained with this equipment on a group of rolled zinc-base materials are given. These data are compared with those from practical comparison tests of the creep type on weatherstrip fabricated from the same group of materials. The comparison illustrates the value of the fast creep test and of the equipment. The Equipment The creep equipment consists essentially of a tank containing a constant-temperature oil bath in which the creep of 14 specimens, loaded by means of levers, is measured by means of one movable extensometer. Figs. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate its general construction and appearance. Constant-temperalure Oil Balh.—A common constant-temperature bath requiring only one temperature-controlling equipment for a number of specimens was chosen as the best means of fulfilling the requirements of low cost and compactness. In addition, this allows the testing of a group of specimens under identical temperature conditions.

Jan 1, 1937