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By H. H. Power, C. H. Pishny

When an oil operator becomes a party to a proration agreement he may wonder, with good cause, whether production prorated .today is merely deferred until tomorrow or whether oil might be lost. Various types of evidence obtained from production records when studied quantitatively are of great assistance in arriving at definite conclusions. A study of individual examples cited in this paper leads towards some solution of the problem, particularly when they are considered in the aggregate. Many production curves on various pay horizons were studied. A disappointingly large number of these were of contributory value, but inconclusive. However, there were enough curves of similar type from the Wilcox sand at Earlsboro, Bowlegs, Seminole City, the Cromwell horizon at Little River, and the Simpson dolomite at Valley Center, Kansas, from which reasonably definite conclusions were drawn. Assuming that deferred production is later made up with no increase in ultimate recovery, a curve (Fig. 1) shows the normal flowing and pumping life of a composite well, contructed by the family curve method. The initial production of the well shown is 1700 bbl. daily and the allowed production is 25 per cent. On this basis the average daily allowed rate for the first month is 425 bb1., or the area BCDE, which is equivalent to the area AFDG under the normal decline curve. The potential production for the second month is 1500 bbl. and the allowed production 375 bbl. daily. By this procedure a potential curve for each succeeding month is obtained (points A, H, I, J and K). If the well is opened it should produce somewhere near its potential curve for a short period and then decline at a more rapid rate than the potential curve. This theoretical analysis is basic. Actual examples exhibiting all points raised by the ideal curve are rare. Proration in the Mid-Continent area has been effected mostly by leases rather than by individual wells; hence a well may produce any

Jan 1, 1931

By Curtis L. Graversen, J. H. Hamilton, John C. Nixon, John R. Lewis

RECENTLY there has been much speculation concerning the advantages of using oxygen enriched air or pure oxygen in pyrometallurgical processes. The advantage of using oxygen in the iron blast furnace and elsewhere in ferrous production metallurgy has been given careful consideration and, as a result, several experiments have been tried and a number of papers have recently appeared on this subject.1.2 The use of oxygen in nonferrous smelting likewise poses interesting problems, therefore any experimental data obtained in this area should likewise be of general interest.3 Ashcroft4 in 1933 claimed to have obtained improved results when copper concentrates were roasted in pure oxygen. However, his' paper gives neither data nor experimental details. A few years ago a research program was started in this laboratory which had for its objective the determination of the mechanism of oxidation of metallic sulfides under varying conditions. To date we have studied the oxidation of galena, 5 sphalerite, and chalcocite. It is a well known fact that copper sulfide minerals are oxidized slowly by weathering agents, so that the sulfides of copper which find their way into a tailing pond are gradually changed into watersoluble and acid-soluble compounds. Commercially, the oxidation of copper sulfide minerals is accomplished by roasting them at elevated temperatures in air using a suitable (usually multiple-hearth) roaster. Most copper smelters are equipped with such roasters. In this phase of the study we were especially interested in determining the effect of temperature on: (I) the air oxidation of chalcocite and (2) the oxidation of chalcocite using commercial oxygen. The amount of sulphur removed as sulphur dioxide, the percentages of water-soluble copper, and of acid-soluble copper were determined for the air oxidation tests. In the tests using commercial oxygen, the percentages of sulphur dioxide, water-soluble copper, acid-soluble copper, water-soluble sulphur and acid-soluble sulphur were determined. For these experiments the temperature was varied from 250 to 700°°C. EXPERIMENTAL Preparation of Chalcocite (Cu2S) Natural chalcocite is not pure. Minerals such as bornite, covellite, and chalcopyrite may be present. It was decided, therefore, to prepare some chalcocite in our own laboratory. An intimate mixture of sulphur and finely divided metallic copper in the ratio of 4 g of copper to I g of sulphur was prepared. To this was added a slight excess of

Jan 1, 1948

By William Hilliard

IN any manufacturing business, it is of vital importance that the management should know the exact cost of the units of production. Without such knowledge, a company can sell blindly in the open market, obtaining the best prices it can in competition with other firms, and manage perhaps to continue in business for a time; but at any moment, and especially in a period of falling prices, such a firm is at a loss to know exactly at what point it can sell at a profit and exactly how much it is losing per unit if it sells below that point. Furthermore, it is necessary not simply to know the exact total cost per unit, but to know definitely all the different-factors which enter into that cost. A firm manufacturing pocket knives had been doing a profitable business for many years when it began to earn smaller and smaller profits, until there was scarcely any profit at all being realized. Being unable to determine exactly what its future policy should be, it called in experts who studied the past records carefully and followed out for a period a better cost, system. Investigation then showed that on several different kinds of knives in common use, a small profit per unit was being made. On a number of special kinds of knives, of which the firm was very proud, it had been forced to cut prices under the pressure of outside competition and had believed that a small profit per unit was still being made on that product, while a detailed cost analysis showed that a loss was being incurred on each knife of that kind produced. It then became clear that the company must either give up the special line and concentrate wholly on the cheaper knives and extend their sales to territory not yet developed; or expand its plant and produce more of the higher grade knives and thus lower the cost per unit enough to make money on the higher grade knives also, if conditions warranted such expansion. Investigation revealed that the market for large quantities of the high-grade -knives was decidedly uncertain and that the most promising move would be to manufacture only the less expensive knives on a larger scale. That plan was carried out and the concern began again to make a better profit.

Jan 1, 1932

By Henry F. Cooper, Scott E. Blouin

Large jacking test procedures that have been applied to obtain static in-situ rock properties (Ref. 1) have shown that the in-situ rock modulus and strength can be considerably less than what would be obtained from laboratory tests on intact samples. This trend is also expected to be true for dynamic properties, but few dynamic in- situ rock property tests have been conducted. During the past several years, high explosive test procedures have been developed to simulate the airblast and direct induced ground motions (Ref. 2) produced by nuclear explosions . These test procedures load large volumes (up to 10 7 f t3) of the earth with stress levels sufficiently high to produc5 feet of particle displacement over surface areas up to l0 5 ft2. This paper discusses some of the data obtained, and the implications of these results for our understanding of the dynamic response of in-situ rock. DESCRIPTION OF TEST PROCEDURES As shown in Fig. 1, the High Explosive Simulation Technique (HEST) consists of a cavity of uniform height bounded on the sides by a soil berm, above by an overburden of uniform thickness, and below by the test bed on the earth's surface. Horizontal racks of detonating cord are placed in the cavity and detonated at one end of the test bed. This detonation produces an explosive wave that propagates across the test bed, loading the earth with an overpressure pulse that decays with time because of the compression and lifting of the overburden. Since 1964, there have been approximately 40 such tests on test bed areas ranging from a few hundred to l0 5 sq ft., simulating peak overpressure conditions between about 100 and 6000 psi and specific impulses between a few and over 100 psi-sec.

Jan 1, 1971

By G. R. Mansfield

THE third year of Government exploration f or potash by the U. S. Geological Survey and-the U. S. Bureau of Mines under the authorization of the act approved June 25, 1926 (Public 424-69th Cong.) is drawing to a close. The results thus far obtained are thought to be sufficiently interesting and satisfactory to justify the presentation of a brief preliminary account of the work. REVIEW OF EARLIER EXPLORATION The general geologic similarity of the Permian basin of Texas and New Mexico to the potash field of Germany had long ago suggested the possibility of the presence of potash salts somewhere in that basin, but petroleum exploration was then making little headway there and the necessary data could not be obtained. The discovery by Udden in 1912 of potash in brine from the Spur well in Dickens County, Texas, was the first direct evidence of its presence. In 1915-17 the U. S. Geological Survey drilled a test well with standard tools at Cliff side near Amarillo, but failed to find potash. Nevertheless, an observer has been kept in the field, at first in cooperation with the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology but since 1922 by the Survey alone, to `secure data and samples from oil and gas tests. Since the discovery of oil in Reagan County in 1923 exploration by drilling has been rapidly extended to many parts of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The identification of the potash-bearing mineral polyhalite was first announced by the Geological Survey in June, 1921, the material having come from cuttings from the Bryant well in Midland County and the Burns well in Dawson County, Texas. Successive discoveries and announcements of similar purport aroused widespread interest in potash exploration, which culminated in the action by Congress already noted.

Jan 1, 1929

By Samuel B. Christy

Jan 1, 1889

Jan 4, 1976

By William E. Ford, Edward Salisbury Dana

Normal phosphoric acid is H3P04, and consequently normal phosphates have the formulas R3PO4, R3(P04)2 and RPO4, and similarly for the arsenates, etc. Only a comparatively small number of species conform to this simple formula. Most species contain more than one metallic element, and in the prominent Apatite Group the radical (CaF), (CaCI) or (PbCI) enters; in in the Wagnerite Group we have similarly (RF) or (ROH).

Jan 1, 1922

INTRODUCTION It has been impossible for the student, the practicing engineer, and the geologist to find all of the essential elements of mineral appraisal and mineral economic analysis in a single text. Indeed, the most recent texts on mine evaluation are over 20 years old. Many of the basic principles of mine sampling and evaluation have not changed over the ensuing years, but with the advent of the digital computer the entire scope of mineral evaluation has been expanded to encompass superior techniques that heretofore were not possible when using manual methods. The old manual methods for ore reserve computations and the techniques for assignment of area of influence to drill-hole samples are now as antiquated as the Model-T Ford. With the computer making possible solutions that had not been practicable in terms of time and effort, it is important for the practicing explorationist and mining engineer to understand many of the new concepts and principles that can be applied with the resolving power of the computer. Many practicing mineral industry professionals have been disappointed by certain computer programs and thus have some reservations about computers being able to solve their very real problems. Often the gap between the practicing engineer and the ivory tower theoretician applying modern computer techniques is too broad to be bridged with scattered, fragmented publications. PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF TEXT It is the intent of this book to update and to unify a great many scattered reference works used in the mineral industry today. The ensuing pages are addressed both to the professional already working in the mineral industry who needs information on computerized methods as well as to the serious student seeking to grasp the fundamentals and modern techniques of mineral appraisal and feasibility. These techniques are based on sound mathematical principles and theory, with the computer as a tool-but a very essential tool-for the solution of the problems involved. The computer can be of value only if it is programmed by those having sufficient expertise to use its inherent problem-solving capability, and the output is interpreted by those who are sufficiently acquainted with its operation to understand the data it produces. In the pages that follow the author intends to outline in considerable detail all the essen-

Jan 1, 1980

By V. H. Wilhelm

The trend initiated in January 1936, of stabilized gasoline prices, increased demand and extraordinary drilling activity, continued in California during the year 1937. Crude prices were maintained during the year at the highest level since September 1930. Wildcat activity with resultant new discoveries and development of proven acreage were greater than in any year since 1928. Many fields in California in former years have been produced at full capacity, with consequent loss of reservoir energy, but at the present time continued activity is maintained to develop adequate reserves, so that production in these fields can be taken at a rate to correspond with good operating practice. Naturally, this good operating practice will be influenced to some degree by gas outlets and, in certain instances perhaps, by oil outlets. In any event, these last two controlling features will result in favorable rather than detrimental operation. In fields producing from great depths, ultimate production will be practically limited to the flowing and compressor life of the well, since there is as yet no economical method for pumping wells below depths of approximately 7000 ft. Experience has shown, however, that such pumping difficulties will be overcome and that production secured by pumping will add some to reserves established on the flowing life of the wells. California continued to operate under voluntary curtailment, but with unlimited transfers of allowable between various fields. Even though there was at all times considerable production above the Umpire's established quota, a constantly increasing demand reduced storage during the year. This increasing demand was due mainly to the rapid rise in Pacific foreign shipments from May to September. It is questionable, however, whether this favorable condition will be maintained over a prolonged period. (See Fig. 1.) Field Discoveries The great drilling activity during the year resulted in the discovery of three new fields in the San Joaquin Valley, as well as many extensions

Jan 1, 1938

By Harry E. Cross

Kiln Products commissioned a Waelz kiln 4 metres in diameter by 75 metres long, in South West Africa in March, 1969, to recover nine in a form suitable for the production of electrolytic zinc. The raw material consists of a mixture of zinc silicate concentrates and zinc rich tailings purchased from an adjacent zinc mine - the mixture containing 20% to 25% zinc. The chemical composition of the ore is tabulated and the initial test results are described. Due to the comparatively low temperature at which the ore starts softening the kiln has certain unusual features to enable the temperature to be controlled within the necessary limits. A detailed description of the kiln, the starting-up problems and present operating conditions and results are presented.

Jan 1, 1970

By Fred W. Gordon

Apart from the character of pig-iron to be manufactured, other than that it shall be well reduced and open-grained, the selection of the materials should be such as to produce it at the lowest cost. As a rule, the sources of fuels and limestones are not so extensively varied as those of the ores. Many Eastern furnaces are now using Lake Superior ores, and but recently a part of the supply came from foreign ports. It is, however, of the highest importance that the character of fuels and limestones, as well as ores, should be carefully considered in determining their value and making judicious selection among those available. The formulas here offered are based upon the assumption that the heat-requirements for a given mixture are measured by a constant required by the oxide of iron, added to that required for a unit of slag, multiplied by the weight of that slag per unit of iron. The heat-requirements for oxide of iron per unit of pig-iron made are assumed to be 2854 centigrade units. This is taken from the careful analysis of Sir Lowthian Bell, and, so far as the writer is able to determine, is very nearly correct. Dividing this by the quantity of heat that may be evolved and utilized within the furnace per unit of carbon, determines the quantity of carbon required per unit of pigiron ; and if to this be added the quantity of carbon absorbed by the pig-iron, the total requirements in carbon are determined, on the assumption that pure oxide of iron is reduced with pure carbon by the ordinary process of the blast-furnace. Calculating the quantity of slag that would be made from a given mixture of ores, smelted with a given impure fuel and fluxed with a given impure limestone, multiplying this weight of slag by the heat-requirements of its unit (taken at 1050 C. H. U.), and dividing the product by the heat-units evolved and utilized within the furnace per unit of carbon, will determine the quantity of carbon required per unit of pig-iron for the slag.

Jan 1, 1893

By William Firmstone

ON the 19th December, 1833, a patent was granted to F. W. Geisenheimer, for smelting iron ore with anthracite. In his claim he says: "Sixthly, though I cannot, and do not, claim am exclusive right of the use of heated air, for any kind of fuel, nevertheless I believe to have a right to claim the use of heated air, applied upon, and in connection with, the said principle and manner discovered by me, to smelt iron ore in blast-furnaces with anthracite coal, by applying a blast of air in such quantity, velocity, and density, or under such pressure, as the compactness, or density, and the continuity of the anthracite requires, as above amply and fully described and illustrated." Dr. Geisenheimer made experiments in smelting iron ore with anthracite at the Valley Furnace, near Pottsville, but he failed to carry out to good practical results the principles enunciated in his patent. In the Journal of the Franklin Institute for February, 1838, a communication was published that was made by Mr. George Crane, of the Yniscedwyn Iron Works, South Wales, to the British Association, in September, 1837. On the smelting of iron with anthracite coal, Mr. Crane states therein, that he began the use of an¬thracite with hot-blast on the 7th February, 1837, in a cupola blast-furnace, 41 feet high, and 10' feet across the boshes ; product, 34 to 36 tons a week. Mr. Crane goes on to say, "It may not be uninteresting to be informed in what matter the idea first occurred to me of applying a heated blast to anthracite coal. One evening, after I had placed a piece of it upon my parlor fire (which had before been made up with bituminous coal), and had allowed it to arrive at a red heat, upon applying as fierce a blast to this piece of coal as I could raise from a pair of bellows, I noticed a black spot or mark

Jan 1, 1875

By Lewis M. Haupt

IT has given me great pleasure to read, in the papers recently published by this Society, the discussions on the subject of Technical Education, which were developed at the joint meeting held at the Franklin Institute in June, 1876; and since it was impossible for me to be present, I desire to improve this my first opportunity of adding the weight of my testimony and experience to what has been so ably presented by others. It is a subject about which the people need to be kept agitated, that their views may expand with the demands made for a higher and more thorough education. It is the public at large, the capitalist, the manufacturer, and the laborer, who are to be benefited more or less by this elevation of the standard of our professional schools, and it is but just, therefore, that the schools should look to them for the means with which to accomplish so desirable an object. It is no doubt to the interest of a metallurgist to employ a skilled laborer who will prevent waste by properly proportioning his materials ; by regulating the supplies of air and fuel ; by arranging his plant in the most economical manner, and by disposing of his products to the greatest advantage. The engineer is benefited by selecting for an assistant a person able to determine the values of his factors of safety for the same materials in different forms and positions, avoiding expensive suits for damages and cost of reconstruction; he should be able to so locate a road as best to fulfil the requirements of a through traffic, and yet develop local industries. But I need not multiply instances to show what all will readily concede, viz.: the advantages of a theoretical education ; that was fully demonstrated at the previous special meeting, but it is still an open question whether the practical instruction should precede, accompany, or follow the theory.

Jan 1, 1877

By T. D. Yensen

Discussion of the paper of T. D. YENSEN, presented at the New York meeting, February, 1916, and printed in Bulletin No. 110, February, 1916, pp. 483 to 512. JOHN A. MATHEWS, Syracuse, N. Y.-Concerning the critical composition of the steel containing 2.50 per cent. of silicon, I may say that 12 or 13 years ago we made some of these alloys. They. were not as pure as the alloys made by Mr. Yensen, nor were they melted in vacuo, but one of them contained exactly 2.50 per cent. silicon, and about 0.25 per cent. carbon. It gave us no trouble whatever in hammering to a billet or rolling into bars, nor even when rolling into ¼ -in. wire rods. The steel in question was practically free from everything except carbon or silicon and contained no manganese sulphur or phosphorus worth mention. The alloy containing 2.50 per cent. of silicon worked perfectly well, as well as one containing 0.5 per cent. silicon, and it seems to me that further work should be done by Mr. Yensen on the physical properties of alloys at this seemingly critical change point. W. E. -RUDER, Schenectady, N. Y.-We -have made silicon steels of practically every composition and have never obtained any material under 5 or 6 per cent. of silicon which was brittle. This may be due, of course, to the presence of carbon, in some of the 'commercial materials, and I presume that Mr. Yensen would argue that the: presence of this carbon might prevent inter-granular brittleness. However, all of our silicon steels, up to 5 per cent. of silicon, by treatment in hydrogen at temperatures near the melting point, can be made to show inter-granular brittleness. Furthermore, the material made brittle in this way could be restored by treating at the same temperature in hydrogen containing a hydrocarbon vapor. I discussed this matter some years ago in a paper on inter-granular cement. It therefore appears likely to me that Mr.

Jan 5, 1916

By F. E. Lucas

This paper is offered with considerable diflidence, since some of the statements made may not agree with the opinions of other members of the Institute. What I give is the result of some years of experience in the operation and construction of coke-ovens, and observation of plants in America and Europe. Although my title is " The Manufacture of Coke," I have found it impossible to do justice to the subject without touching on a number of points which, while not strictly involved in the making of coke, yet are of paramount importance from an economic standpoint. There are, indeed, many points of interest, on each of which a separate paper of considerable length might be written, but the scope of my paper will permit me only to touch lightly some of them, in the hope that what I say will promote a full discussion on the whole question. Those of us who are interested in the manufacture of coke are under an obligation to the American Institute of Mining Engineers, which has opened its meetings to the discussion of this subject. I do not believe that there is any question to-day more worthy or more in need of discussion. When geologists and mining-men tell us that, at the present rate of consumption, our coal-fields will be exhausted in a few generations, me should welcome any means that will conserve these deposits as far as possible, and give us the greatest amount of heat or power from every ton mined. I shall try to show that much can be done in this direction through the by-product coke-oven, and that it should stand second to none as an economic factor in the industrial world. I shall here deal exclusively with the by-product oven, except for the comparative statement I hare prepared, showing the saving to be effected by coking in by-product instead of beehive orens. It should be borne in mind that this comparison

Jan 1, 1913

By J. V. N. Dorr

DEADWOOD and the Black Hills were familiar names to me from childhood, for. I had an uncle who was among the earliest eastern investors there and I used to hear of the Uncle Sam mine and its rich ore back in the eighties. The spring of my junior year at college, in 1893, brought me an offer of summer work at the Deadwood & Delaware smelter, in Deadwood, and full of the thrill of the long journey from New Jersey, I went out as chemist and stayed four months. Within a week or two of my arrival, I went through the tragic experience of seeing an associate drink cyanide by mistake and die within a few moments. I shall never forget the horror of feeling that my lack of knowledge of an antidote might be responsible for his death, but I found later that the solution he drank was so strong that nothing could have been done. A year after graduation, when I had settled down to chemical research work in New York, an offer came to go back to the smelter in Deadwood, and within a few days I was again tramping down "the Gulch" with my lunch bucket and putting in the standard assay office shift of that day, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a half-day off on Sundays. During my absence East, the D. & D. smelter had been changed from a pyritic smelter, using native pyrite, and Homestake concentrate to matte the siliceous gold ores, into a copper-matting smelter using copper ores brought from Butte, over the newly-completed Burlington rail-road. The work was interesting, and the laboratory offered many opportunities for making improvements. I remember also undertaking experiments at home on a new method of gold precipitation for the chlorination process and leasing a mine in Strawberry Gulch that promised great things, but soon petered out.

Jan 8, 1927

THROUGH the courtesy of the Southern Appala-chian Coal Operators' Association, a joint meeting of the Southern Appalachian Efficiency Associa-tion and local members of the A. I. M. E. and A. S. M. E. was held at Knoxville, Tenn., on Nov. 12. In introduc-ing the subject and stating the object of the meeting, H. Foster Bain, speaking for the. Institute members, said "Shoveling coal is the largest job of hand labor re-maining in this country, with the exception of the mis-cellaneous work on the farms, and even there nearly all the big jobs are now performed with the help of machines. The men in the coal mines, by hand labor, dig, each year, more cubic yards than were taken out of the Panama Canal. It has been a natural ambition of engineers, operators and men alike to follow here the characteristic lead of American industry and to substi-tute as far as possible the work of machines for the work of men; to promote the latter to the position of con-trolling and directing mechanical power rather than being themselves the machines that lift the coal from the floor of the room into the mine car. "Handling materials is one of the regular jobs of mechanical engineers, and the American Society of Me-chanical Engineers maintains a Materials Handling Division for discussion of the technical problems con-cerned. Having in mind the excellent results that had flowed from application of mechanical power and de-vices to these problems in factories, port terminals, warehouses, and other above-ground plants, the Me-chanical Engineers began to consider the possibility of introducing similar methods underground. Individual-ly, many were called upon to design, erect and operate machines for such use and at once they found them-selves faced by many novel conditions and difficulties. The Division thereupon planned a general meeting in New York in March, 1926, for consideration of problems and progress in this field. The Mining Engineers. and representative coal operators were invited to attend and

Jan 12, 1927

By William Firmstone

On the 19th December, 1833, a patent was granted to F. W. Geisenheimer, for smelting iron ore with anthracite. In his claim he says: " Sixthly, though I cannot, and do not, claim an exclusive right of the use of heated air, for any kind of fuel, nevertheless I believe to have a right to claim the use of heated air, applied upon, and in connection with, the said principle and manner discovered by me, to smelt iron ore in blast-furnaces with anthracite coal, by applying a blast of air in such quantity, velocity, and density, or under such pressure, as the compactness, or density, and the continuity of the anthracite requires, as above amply and fully described and illustrated." Dr. Geisenheimer made experiments in smelting iron ore with anthracite at the Valley Furnace, near Pottsville, but he failed to carry out to good practical results the principles enunciated in his patent. In the .Joozcrnal of the Franklin Institute for February, 1838, a communication was published that was made by Mr. George Crane, of the Yniscedwyn Iron Works, South Wales, to the British Association, in September, 1837. On the smelting of iron with anthracite coal, Mr. Crane states therein, that he began the use of anthracite with hot-blast on the 7th February, 1837, in a cupola blastfurnace, 41 feet high, and 10 feet across the boshes ; product, 34 to 36 tons a week. Mr. Crane goes on to say, "It may not be uninteresting to be informed in what matter the idea first occurred to me of applying a heated blast to anthracite coal. One evening, after I had placed a piece of it upon my parlor fire (which had before been made up with bituminous coal), arid had allowed it to arrive at a red heat, upon applying as fierce a blast to this piece of coal as I could raise from a pair of bellows, I noticed a black spot or mark

By Lewis M. Haupt

IT has given me great pleasure to read, in the papers recently pub lished by this Society, the discussions on the subject of Technical Education, which were developed at the joint meeting held at the Franklin Institute in June, 1876; and since it was impossible for me to be present, I desire to improve this my first opportunity of adding the weight of my testimony and experience to what has been so ably presented by others. It is a subject about which the people need to be kept agitated, that their views may expand with the demands made for a higher and more thorough education. It is the public at large, the capitalist, the manufacturer, and the laborer, who are to be benefited more or less by this elevation of the standard of our professional schools, and it is but just, therefore, that the schools should look to them for the means with which to accomplish so de sirable an object. It is no doubt to the interest of a metallurgist to employ a skilled laborer who will prevent waste by properly proportioning his ma terials ; by regulating the supplies of air and fuel; by arranging his plant in the most economical manner, arid by disposing of his products to the greatest advantage. The engineer is benefited by selecting for an assistant a person able to determine the values of his factors of safety for the same materials in different forms and positions, avoiding expensive suits for damages and cost of reconsiruction; he should be able to so locate a road as best to fulfil the requirements of a through traffic, arid yet develop local industries. But I need not multiply instances to show what all will readily concede, viz.: the advantages of a theoretical education ; that was fully demonstrated at the previous special meeting, but it is still an open question whether the practical instruction should precede, accompany, or follow the theory.