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By A. C. Fraker, H. H. Stadelmaier

In the systems Mo-Fe-C, Mo-Co-C, and Mo-Ni-C the phase boumdaries of the cubic Ij carbides were determined at 1000°C and the variation of the lattice parameter with composition was measured. In the system Mo-Fe-C a single ternary carbide, Mo3Fe3C, was observed. In Mo-Co-C and Mo-Ni-C two new n phases of the type M12C were found: Mo6C06C and Mo6Ni6C. At 1000°C they coexist with the M6C phases MO3-4,CO3-2C and Mo3-4Ni3-2C, respectively. Mo3C03C and Mo4C02C are not separate phases but parts of a single M6C phase region, and the same is true of Mo3Ni3C and Mo4Ni2C. THE n carbide structure type has been known since it was determined by westgren' in 1933, yet reliable information on phase compositions of this type is ap-parently scarce. The following selection of suggested formulas illustrates the extent of the confusion con-cerning compositions: W2-3Fe4-3C,1W6Fe6C,2 W2_4Fe4-2C,3 (W,Fe)6C,4 Tj.-W4Co2C and nz-W6Co6C,5 n1-W3Co3C and n2-w4Co2C,5 W3C03C and w6Co3C2,7 MO3Fe3C,8n2-M04Fe2C,9 (MO,Fe)6C,4 MO3CO3C,8 n2-MO4CO2C.9 Many of these compositions obviously overlap, some disagree in carbon content. The use of the designations 77, and n2 is not consistent. There is uncertainty whether two carbides M6C coexist or whether there is only one M6C with a wide range of substitution of one metal for the other. The existence of M12C seems questionable altogether if one ignores the results of a neutron diffraction study of W6Fe6C supporting that particular metal to carbon ratio.'' More reliable information is available for the iso-typic oxides studied by Nevitt,11 Nevitt, Downey, and orris," and Meussner and carpenter.l3 That n car-bides and oxides are structurally identical, particularly with respect to the location of the metalloid atom, has been demonstrated clearly by Stadelmaier and Meussner14 and also by Parthe, Jeitschko, and sadagopan.15 Therefore the present paper, which attempts to establish the phase boundaries of n defini-tively for three carbon systems, has implications for the whole family of filled Ti2Ni types. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The samples were prepared in two stages. Pellets weighing 3 g were compacted from powders of the elements and presintered in a closed tube of fused silica that had been evacuated to lO-4 mm Hg. This was fol- lowed by arc melting the sintered samples under argon. Remelting the button once was sufficient to produce homogeneous specimens. The metal powders had the following minimum purities in wt pct: molybdenum 99.5, iron 99.0, cobalt 99.7, nickel 99.9, graphite 99.94. Carbon determinations by the gas volumetric method were obtained from thirty-one of the one hundred samples in the annealed condition. They were limited to compositions that were critical to placing a boundary line in the isothermal sections. The carbon losses were comparatively low and averaged less than 1.5 at. pct. For annealing, the samples were sealed in tubes of fused silica evacuated to 10-4 mm Hg. The annealing schedule was 20 hr at 1250°C followed by 150 hr at 1000" ±10°C. For the water quench the silica glass tubes were broken mechanically to speed the quench. The specimens were examined in the as-cast and annealed condition by standard metallographic techniques. Some of the as-cast and all annealed samples were studied by X-ray diffraction using a 114.6-mm powder camera with filtered Co radiation. The lattice parameters of the n phases were determined by graphic extrapolation to 8 = 90 deg on a plot against sin2 8. It is estimated that the maximum error in the lattice parameters is ±0.002A.. The phase fields were determined by the disappearing phase method, relying on X-rays for phase identification and on microscopy to detect small amounts of a phase. RESULTS Pertinent information on the binary side diagrams has been summarized by Hansen and Anderko16 and Elliott17 and will not be discussed further. Photomicrographs documenting the equilibria at 1000°C have been selected to avoid redundancy due to the similarity of the three systems. Thus there will be only one picture showing an equilibrium with Mo2C, and so forth. Molybdenum-Iron-Carbon. An isothermal section of most of the Mo-Fe-C system at 1000°C is shown in Fig. 1. No attempt has been made to distinguish between a and y iron or to determine their phase boundaries. A conspicuous absence is the phase Fe2 1Mo2C6 with the Cr23C6 structure, supporting the suggestion by Krainer4 that it decomposes by annealing at high temperatures. The only ternary phase is found in a narrow range around Mo3Fe3C (MO43Fe43C14). A microstructure with a two-phase mixture of Mo + n is seen in Fig. 2. The variation of the lattice parameter of n with the estimated composition is shown in in Table IA. The phase diagram does not agree with the results of Kuo9 who reported n2-Mo4Fe2C. Our lattice parameter Varies from 11.095A at the iron-rich end to 11.140Å at the molybdenum-richoend of the phase field whereas Kuo9reported 11.26Å for Mo4Fe2C. We are in agreement with the older work

Jan 1, 1970

By Kidd, Robert L.

INASMUCH as galena and sphalerite flotation concentrates are being produced that contain over 95 per cent galena or sphalerite, it is not unreasonable to believe that a flotation concentrate assaying at least 80 per cent of native gold can he secured provided the gold is free. As yet, little if any fundamental information has been published concerning the flotation of free gold either alone or in the presence of sulfides. So far, we are unable to make as complete a separation of gold from sulfide minerals by flotation as is possible in, the separation of one sulfide from another by this method. An introductory study of the flotation of several free gold ores has been made in our Utah laboratories. For this study three general types of gold ores were chosen, namely: (1) Quartzite containing 0.26 oz. gold per ton in which no base metals are present; (2) sulfide ore (2.04 oz. Au; 1.31 oz. AO containing pyrite as the only sulfide present and the gold free; and (3) oxidized ore (1.10 oz. Au; 0.70 oz. Ag) from an oxidized zone of the vein from which sulfide ore (No. 2) was taken; little sulfide iron was present.

Jan 1, 1932

By John B. Porter

Within the last year or so, a great deal has been heard about Southern iron ; even the Eastern markets have felt the effect of the cheap Alabama ores and coals, and public attention has again been drawn to what is now getting to be an old story—the great mineral wealth of the South. The following paper is based on a report prepared several years ago for a special purpose; but since then, through association with Mr. C. B. Going in a large analytical practice and as chemists to the Queen and Crescent Railway, I have had opportunity to increase my material so greatly that the present paper is really a completely different work. I am under very great obligation to Mr. Going, without whose assistance my work would have been very incomplete, and have also been materially assisted by Mr. F. P. Dewey, of Washington, and a host of gentlemen connected with the railroads and furnaces of the South. The arrangement of this paper is not all that could be desired. Some localities of importance are very poorly represented, both in the description and the tables of analyses. This, however, was in most instances unavoidable, as the study has been done ill the intervals of professional work. I have visited almost all the localities described, and, in all cases possible, have taken my own samples, and have made careful per-

Jan 1, 1887

By C. E. MACQUICC

WITHIN a period considerably less than two decades, the engineering view of alloy steels has greatly changed-both as to their composition, and applications. Inasmuch as the elements used in manufacturing alloy steels are substantially the same as those which have been used for the past two or three generations, a statement like the foregoing may reasonably call for some explanation. The first commercial use of alloy steels in this country dates back to the sixties of the last century, when one of the earliest alloy steel patents, covering the use of chromium, was taken out by Bauer. About ten years later, German and French toolmakers began to introduce tungsten into tool steels. Developments along this line were more or less static for 25 years or more, the tool steel, compositions progressing along lines worked out by Mushet and one or two others in Europe. The next step in advance, made by Taylor and White inn the late nineties, consisted of heat-treating the alloy steels to enable much higher cutting speeds, thus introducing what soon became known as "rapid" or "high-speed" steels. All these developments being aimed toward the improvement of cutting tools, the compositions made were essentially of a hard, brittle nature. Following a different line of development started in the seventies, naval ordnance material began to embrace the nickel steels. These were rapidly popularized, became, and still are, with the addition of one or more elements, as chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, standard for heat-treated armor plate. During that period, however, no notable uses were made of alloy steels for engine parts or other high-stress parts where they are now considered indispensable; moreover, the present-day use of metals in the chemical industries was probably not even imagined. After the turn of the century, the necessity for making heavy-duty. machine parts, and especially the develop¬ment of the automobile, caused alloy steels to rapidly supplant plain carbon steels for engineering purposes.

Jan 1, 1930

By Rossiter W. Raymond

(Read at the Amenia Meeting, October, 1877.) THE term "pipe-vein" has recently been applied in this country to certain deposits of lead ore in magnesian limestone. The use of the term has been twofold. It has been revived as a term found in textbooks on mineral veins, with the implied or declared assertion that the ore-deposits thus named in this country are similar to those which have borne the title abroad. It has also been advanced as an appropriate name for a new class of deposits, even if such a class had not previously been recognized. In either case, the assumption is that pipe-veins form a group or class by themselves, and are not merely interior and subordinate features in larger deposits. The peculiar mining law of the United States, which regards " the vein," whatever that may be, as the basis of title, lends a special interest to these claims. But the object of this paper is rather to discuss the subject from the standpoint of geology and technical literature. I shall briefly answer two questions : (1) What are pipe-veins as described in technical literature? and (2) Is the name appropriate or necessary for a new class of deposits ? The term "pipe-ore," as applied, for instance, to irregular, cylin-

Jan 1, 1878

By Helmut Thielsch

IN recent years an ever increasing amount of interest has been directed toward research studying the principles and various applications of sonic and supersonic waves. Though still in their early stages of practical development, sonic vibrations are already used in the emulsification and degasification of liquids. Metals exposed to sonic or ultrasonic vibrations while solidifying show a considerable amount of grain refinement. Often sound waves are applied instead of radiography to test engineering materials for internal cracks and flaws.1 In the field of pure research these waves are used in dispersion and also in coagulation of particles or liquids in gaseous or, under certain conditions, in other liquid systems. In the settling and thickening of slurries considerable time is necessary to compress the solid particles and to squeeze out the liquid to obtain as low a dilution (liquid to solid ratio) as possible. Various methods have been developed to increase the amount of coagulation of the very fine solids (colloidal or semicolloidal) and to shorten the over-all time. The addition of small amounts of electrolytes and the warming of the suspension represent merely the more important techniques. Some of the effects of supersonic vibrations have been reported previously.2,6 From preliminary studies, therefore, it was hoped that by application of sonic vibrations it would be possible to reduce the time required to thicken such materials to a specific dilution, as well as to thicken to lower ultimate dilutions than could be obtained by quiescent settling alone. By increasing the volume thickened per unit time-i.e., improving the plant efficiency-great savings in equipment and time would be obtained for industrial processes. Also, faster settling rates should result if coagulation of particles could be increased. Experiments have been conducted for a period of several months in the Allis-Chalmers laboratory to study the effect of sonic vibrations on settling of particles of different sizes and concentrations. APPARATUS The sedimentation apparatus used in these experiments is illustrated in Figs. I and 2. The essential features are the stationary field coil and the movable voice coil. Both windings are placed around a solid iron core. A leather diaphragm connected to the steel frame holds the voice coil in place. A brass rod is fastened to the voice coil with a metal disk connected to the other end. This disk is sealed to the lucite cylinder with a flexible rubber diaphragm. The lucite tube is 17 in. long; its inner diameter is 2 ½in. and the wall thickness is ¼ in. The tube is calibrated on the outside in 10 c.c. divisions for a total of 1000 cubic centimeters.

Jan 1, 1946

By AIME AIME

THREE of the addresses presented at this interesting and important session are printed in full else- where in this issue. The fourth, Mr. Hewett's paper, on "Cycles In Metal Production" has been issued as Technical Publication 183, and an abstract of it was published on page 162 of last month's issue. The general discussion that followed these four important papers is given in full below. S. A. TAYLOR: I would like to ask Mr. Veasey whether the control of oil in pools includes royalties, and, if so, in case of a new pool how are you going to control, or rather how are you going to describe the limits of that pool?

Jan 1, 1929

By THOMAS LEONBRD WATSON

INTRODUCTION. IN a paper read by title at the Washington meeting of the Institute, May, 1905,1 discussed at considerable length the geological relations, node of occurrence, and the genesis of the lead- and zinc-ores of the Virginia-Tennessee region. The present paper treats of the purely economic phases of the zinc-ores of the district; such as methods of mining the ores, their preparation and treatment. The Albemarle county mines and plant were discussed in the paper referred to above, and will not be considered here. METHODS OF MINING. Until very recently the mining of lead- and zinc-ores in Virginia was limited wholly to the surface belt of weathering. The mode of occurrence and the character of the ores to be mined were such as to demand the employment of methods used in mining secondary concentrated ores. Accordingly, a system similar to that practiced in mining brown iron-ores was employed, being modified to meet the changed conditions. Oxidized or Soft Ores.-Up to the present time practically all the ore mined in the Virginia district has been of the oxidized or soft type;-the silicate, calamine, and the carbonate, smith-sonite; largely the former, which has been localized and concentrated at only slight depths below the surface. Because of the extreme irregularity with which the limestone weathers when stripped of the overlying residual clay, it presents a roughened surface of large and small irregular "chimneys"

Mar 1, 1906

By AIME AIME

SOME 65 members of the Institute, including most of the Local Section delegates and several Directors and officers, were on hand for the Annual Business Meeting of the Institute held in the Engineering Societies Building on Monday, Feb. 21, at 4:30 p.m., immediately following the second session of the Local Section Delegates Conference. President Mathewson presided. The meeting was largely taken up with the presentation of committee re- ports, discussion of which was invited. F. E. Wormser presented the report of the Admissions Committee ; Philip Kraft, Papers and Publications Com-

Jan 1, 1944

Minute of the Board of Directors, Jan. 26, 1917 In the name of all the members of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, this Board extends to. Mr. Herbert C. Hoover, an honored Vice-President of the Institute, on the occasion of his present temporary return to his native land, the cordial welcome of his colleagues, and their congratulations upon the noble work splendidly done by the Commission for Relief in Belgium of which he is the head. It is understood that a leading purpose of Mr. Hoover's visit to America at this time is the collection of additional funds, to be administered by his Commission in the care of the destitute children of Belgium. To this enterprise endorsed by both the belligerent parties, as well as inspired by the purest and tenderest sentiments of humanity, contributions are solicited from engineers, especially through an organization known as the "Belgian Kiddies Limited," which this Board, heartily approving its object and method, recommends to the consideration of the members of the Institute. On motion duly seconded it was unanimously VOTED.-That this minute be spread upon the record of the Board, and published in the Bulletin, and that a copy thereof be transmitted to Mr. Hoover, and to the San Francisco Section of the Institute.

Jan 3, 1917

By A. L. Holley

The general usage of engineers, manufacturers, and merchants, is gradually, bat surely, fixing the answer to this question. In every country rails, boiler-plates, and machinery bars, whether hard or soft, are almost universally called steel, when they are made from cast ingots. Other names for the softer steels, such as " homogeneous metal,'' "Bessemer iron," " Martin iron," and the like, have failed to obtain general recognition. The meaning of the term steel, before it was enlarged to cover newly developing varieties, has been traced, by a recent writer, down through Percy, Shakspeare, and the Bible, in a most interesting manner, from an archœological point of view. Undoubtedly, it did characterize hardness arid other qualities imparted by carbon. It is within the memory of most of us, that all steels were tool steels, and that the soft, structural varieties were introduced—varieties which harden but little, which bend cold, and which, in many physical properties, are akin rather to wrought-iron than to tool-steel. But, since both the hard and the soft steels are made by the same processes, and have their great, distinguishing structural feature in common, viz., homogeneity resulting from fluidity, it has come to pass, despite every other proposed nomenclature, that all the compounds of iron which have been cast in malleable masses, are called steel, the term wrought-iron being still confined to malleable iron made from pasty masses, and hence laminated in structure. No inconvenience has been found, so far, in distinguishing between the more or less carburized products, in general, by the terms " highsteel," "low-steel," "tool-steel," etc., and, in particular, by prefixing the percentage of carbon and other ingredients, to the terra steel. Steels which contain distinguishing ingredients other than carbon, are called "chrome-steel," "titanium-steel," and the like, just as variously compounded bronzes are called " phosphor bronze," " aluminium bronze," etc. Thus the combination of several words or symbols, and figures, may completely disclose the characters of the metal, in terms that are subject to no misunderstanding. But inasmuch as several high metallurgical authorities and clever writers have of late proposed to disturb this natural and somewhat settled nomenclature, it seems important to consider the claims of the various classifications. I shall attempt, in this paper, to show

By L. A. Cranson

WHEN I came out of Stanford University in 1922, the out-look for men trained in geology, petroleum engineering, and mining was indeed dismal; in fact, so much so that most of us looked upon our future in those fields as pretty hopeless. Neither our professors nor those men in industry with whom we came in contact gave us any enthusiastic encouragement as to the future of ourselves or the fields we had chosen for our labors. I believe that the attitude of pessimism which saturates everyone about graduation time is lament able and short-sighted, and may often start a young man on his way with an attitude of defeatism. Instead, he should be starting out knowing that he can expect hard work and keen competition, but that the fields of his labours are expanding at an accelerated rate, and that strong, energetic efforts will as always accomplish highly satisfactory results.

Jan 1, 1941

By John Fritz

TROUGH it is not a condition of the Award, the fact is that the John Fritz Medal never has been given to an engineer who had not already received one or more similar awards. This "medal for medalists," on the evening of April 20, was presented to Daniel C. Jackling at a special dinner held at the Union League Club in New York. The citation read "For notable industrial achievement in initiating mass production of copper from low-grade ores through the application of engineering principles." The present award recognizes the same accomplishment-the launching and guiding to the port of marvelous success of the Utah Copper Co., first of the so-called "Porphyries"-as did the award of the William Lawrence Saunders Gold Medal by the A.I.M.E. in 1930, and before that the Award of the Gold Medal of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America in 1926. Following the custom a biography of the Medalist had been published in a small pamphlet as a supplement to the John Fritz Medal Book. T. A. Rickard was the au¬thor of the sketch of Mr. Jackling, an innovation being the placing of a copy of the booklet at the place of each of the diners. The committee in charge of the dinner consisted of two past-presidents: R. E. Tally, of the A.I.M.E., who was chairman; Bancroft Gherardi, of the A.I.E.E.; and Thaddeus Merriman, director of the A. S. C. E., the John Fritz Medal being a joint award of the four societies. Frederick M. Becket, President of the A.I.M.E., as chairman for the occasion, briefly stated the purpose of the dinner. He stressed his satisfaction that the award was symbolic of the cooperative professional activities of the four great national organizations of engineers. He introduced Francis Lee Stuart, past-president of the A.S.C.E. and now chairman of the John Fritz Medal Board of Award. Mr. Stuart outlined the history and purpose of the Medal established in 1902 in memory of John Fritz, of Bethlehem, Pa., one of the great pioneers of America's iron and steel industry, metallurgist, and president of the A.I.M.E. in 1894. Mr. Stuart called the roll of former John Fritz Medalists, three of whom, Ralph Modjeski, J. Waldo Smith, and Ambrose Swasey, were present to do honor to Mr. Jackling. He then introduced George Otis Smith, whose privilege it was to present the Medalist for 1933. Dr. Smith was the senior of the four A.I.M.E. representatives on the Board that last year selected Mr. Jackling for the honor. His speech follows in full.

Jan 1, 1933

By Neville J. Price

In order that the reader may not be misled, I feel it necessary to comment upon the title of this paper. "Laws of Rock Behavior," one may take as being part of the all-embracing "Law of Nature" and this, according to the Oxford Dictionary, relates to the principles of conduct recognized as being pleasing to God. I feel it would be presumptuous to erect a code of rock behavior on this basis, so turn to a secondary definition, namely that a "Law" is that which is intrinsically reasonable. It is extremely unlikely that any group of geologists, or workers in rock mechanics would be in complete agreement about what could be taken to be "intrinsically reasonable." Therefore, this paper does not present any deified utterances, but rather deals with a few aspects of rock behavior which I consider to be intrinsically reasonable and with which I hope the reader will concur. The mode of behavior of rocks in the Earth's crust covers the range from wholly brittle to completely ductile ; with a deformation time scale which may be measured in milliseconds, for some events such as meteoritic impact, or in millions of years for the tectonic deformation involved in mountain building. A complete survey is, of course, outside the scope of an introductory paper, so I must be both brief and selective in my treatment. Any attempt to establish the mode of rock behavior in the Earth's crust should take into account data and relationships established in laboratory experiments and correlate these with field evidence. Consequently, the first section of this paper presents a brief discussion of the experimental aspects of rock mechanics which are pertinent to the subsequent discussion.

Jan 1, 1970

By Wilson Blake

A mathematical model based on the finite element method of stress analysis has been used to describe the behavior of the western wall of the Kimbley Pit as its slope was steepened from 45° to 57°. Theoretical stress changes because of slope modification are slight except at the toe of the modified slope. Magnitudes of stress created are small when compared with the strength of a competent rock. Resulting displacement patterns point out the need for determining the in-situ state of stress at a site prior to excavation or modification. A comparison of model results with field measurements shows that, in general, the model has described the measured behavior of the west wall of the Kimbley Pit remarkably well. The Bureau of Mines and the Kennecott Copper Corp. began joint research on open-pit slope stability at the Kimbley Pit, Ely, Nev., in 1961. The initial or planning phase of this research dealt with a detailed geologic study of the Kimbley Pit, determination of in-situ stresses in the district, laboratory and field tests to determine rock properties, and the design of a full-scale experiment to study the behavior of this pit as its western wall was steepened from 45° to 57°. Fig. 1 shows a cross-section of the original pit outline, the steepened pit outline, major geologic features, and the two instrumentation adits. After the final or slope modification phase of the research began, a laboratory research program was initiated to develop a mathematical model that would analytically describe the behavior of the pit as its western slope was steepened. This theoretical model study of the slope modification at the Kimbley Pit was conducted with the finite element method of stress analysis. The results are described in this report.

Jan 1, 1969

By JOHN A. FULTON

THE Comstock Lode is in Storey County, Nevada, and extends in a north and south direction through the towns of Virginia City and Gold Hill, with a total length of 4.27 miles. Its mines have produced silver and gold to a known value exceeding $400,- 000,000 since 1859, when the work first began. More than $126.000,000 was paid in dividends by the mining companies, although much more than this was probably realized from the ore, because many milling companies were independent companies owned by the directors and superintendents of the mines. The milling companies' contracts called for an extraction of only 65 per cent and, as much of the ore was worth $100 a ton and up- ward, they must have recovered substantial amounts for their own accounts over and above this guarantee. Gold was discovered in the spring of 1850 by a party of Normons bound for California. The discovery was made at the mouth of Gold canyon near Dayton, on the Carson River, about 10 miles south of Virginia City.

Jan 1, 1929

By E. M. Murphy

(Presented by invitation at a meeting of the Spokane Local Section of the Institute, Feb. 17, 1912.) EIGHT years ago the Hecla mine, a lead-silver producer, situated at Burke, Idaho, was producing ore from but two levels, the 300- and the 600-ft. All hoisting was done with a 12- by 16-in. slide-valve, double-reel, hoist. The hoist was being worked to its capacity and was unsuitable for hoisting from greater depths. As the work of opening a new level was about to be started, it became necessary to remodel the then-existing equipment or install a new hoist. The recent advent of electricity from Spokane had made available a cheaper power than steam. By a series of tests conducted throughout the Coeur d'Alène district, it was found that it cost $109 per year to generate a horse-power with steam. Electric power was to be had for $50 a horse-power per year. It was decided to substitute for the engines a motor-drive, of sufficient capacity to operate from the 900-ft. level, and ultimately install an entirely new hoist. After disconnecting the engines, installing a new shaft, and making a few minor changes, a 300-h-p., 2,300-volt, 514-rev. per min., variable-speed motor of the induction type was geared to the reel-shaft. The reels were supplied with 3/8 by 4-in. flat rope, and the duty of the hoist was about as follows: Cage, 1,700; ore, 2,600; car, 1,400; rope, 2,250; total, 7,950 pounds. The Bristol ammeter chart, Fig. 1, shows the combined current-consumption of the hoist- and mine-motors. The large intermittent load is clearly shown ; this produced harmful fluctuations in the voltage of the long, lightly-loaded, 60,000-volt transmission-line from Spokane to the Coeur d'Alènes. The power company received no compensation for the increased cost of producing power for this intermittent or fluctuating load. In order to protect its system from similar excessive

Sep 1, 1912

Dr. F. W. C. Schniewind, New York, N. Y.:—Mr. Vogel speaks of briquetting the flue-dust by means of lime. I learned recently in Europe of a process employed with considerable success at one of the blast-furnaces, where blast-furnace cinder is used with lime. The lime and cinder are mixed with the flue-dust, and exposed to superheated steam, which converts the blast-furnace cinder into cement. Briquettes are then formed in the usual way. Mr. Vogel :—The process referred to is the " Scoria process," which has not been in use for some time past. For that reason, I did not mention it. Prof. Arthur L. Walker, New York, N. Y.:—I would ask the commercial name for magnesium chloride, and where it can be obtained ? Mr. VoGel :—I mentioned magnesium chloride, because it has been used abroad to a large extent. In Germany it is obtained as a by-product in the manufacture of potash-salts; in the United States we have been using chloride of lime, which is cheaper. Otto Sussman, New York, N. Y.:—What is the cost of this process ? Mr. Vogel :—The cost is exceedingly low. I can give you the figures from abroad, but not for the United States, because the system has not -yet been used here commercially to

Jan 1, 1913

By William B. Plank

NEVER before have so many men chosen the mineral technology field for their college training. In the college year 1936-'37, 7190 such students were enrolled in the 53 schools of the United States. My last study of the mineral technology schools of the United States and Canada was made for the year -1934-'35, and the current study, as the previous one was made for the A.I.M.E. under the auspices of the Division of Mineral Industry Education. Altogether, four studies of enrollment have been made. The first three were for successive college years beginning with 1932-'33. This present one covers a two-year period, for the purpose of these studies may he served satisfactorily if they are made biannually. The data on the schools were collected in the same way as for former studies, 'namely, by questionnaire, dated in this case Nov. 18, 1936. The figures reported are therefore comparable with those of former cars.

Jan 1, 1937

By Frederick Prime

At the last meeting of the Institute, Mr. A. L. Holley read a paper on "Steel," in which he proposes for it a definition so opposed to the one generally received, as to call for some remarks. Until within the last five or six years there has been no dispute on the subject, and it seems worth while to investigate the matter. For not only does a proper tax on all importations depend on a proper appreciation of the term steel, but it is necessary to know whether steel, or wroughtiron, or homogeneous iron are requisite in all processes of manufacture in which malleable iron is employed, on accouut of cost, strength, etc. Karsten* says: "Iron may be obtained, either as an unforgeable, unweldable metal, which melts at a high heat, termed cast-iron ; or as a ductile, weldable, soft, metal, which can only be melted at the