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By R. W. Baldwin

As used in geophysical exploration, the term overvoltage applies to secondary voltages set up by a current into the earth which decay when the current is interrupted. These secondary effects may be measured by pick-up electrodes. The term induced polarization has often been employed to describe this same phenomenon. In its own operations Newmont Exploration Ltd. commonly uses the word pulse. The basis of this method in prospecting is that metallic particles, sulfides in particular, give a high response, whereas barren rock, with certain exceptions, gives a low response. Overvoltage has been tried in searching for many types of mineral occurrence but has been most successful in outlining the widespread disseminated mineralization associated with porphyry coppers. History:' Newmont Mining Corp. has been interested in overvoltage since 1946, when Radio Frequency Laboratories of Boonton, N. J.. drew the company's attention to phenomena observed in the laboratory. At the instigation of A. A. Brant further model studies were undertaken, and the first tests were performed in 1947. Tests at San Manuel, Ariz., in 1948 were very encouraging, clearly demonstrating that the method could be used to distinguish scattered sulfides at depth. H. 0. Seigel followed up the San Manuel work with a study to determine the phenomena involved.'

Jan 1, 1960

By T. L. Joseph

THE United States Bureau of Mines has been studying the blast-furnace process for, about ten years. An experimental furnace was developed by the bureau in cooperation with the Minnesota School of Mines Experiment Station, University of Minnesota. Many data have been obtained and published.1 Royster, Joseph and Kinney§(48) found that the particle size of ore had an important effect upon the blast-furnace, process. Kinney(28) stated: Economy in blast-furnace practice depends largely upon efficient gas-solid contact in the shaft of the furnace. If efficient work is not done in the shaft, the hearth and bosh will not function properly. A condition may be readily imagined where the particles of ore in the shaft are so large that the time entailed in the descent of these materials into the bosh is not sufficient to permit proper reduction and preparation prior to the time the ore enters the bosh of the furnace. Another condition may be pictured where the density of the stock column and the flow of stock is such that the ore will take one course and the gas another. Both of these examples will result in insufficient contact between the gas and the ore. Unreduced ore will reach the hearth, and the gas which has not been efficiently oxidized will reach the stock line. The result is the use of an excess of carbon in the smelting process. It is obvious that fine ore particles occurring in the ore as charged, or . formed in the furnace due to heat and mechanical action, place a definite limitation upon the efficiency of the operation. There is also an economic loss of fine material as dust.

Jan 1, 1930

By Harold Rabling

The following notes are taken from results obtained on a standard 25-ft. Hancock jig1 tested during regular operation in the Bonne Terre mill of the St. Joseph Lead Co. The object of the tests was to determine the conditions for most effective work, and the nature of products that could be made. The material treated was sized between 9-mm. and 2-mm. round-hole screens, and was constant throughout the experiments. Three products were made, concentrates from the first three hutches, middlings from the fourth and fifth, and tailing from the sixth. The middlings were crushed in one pair of Allis-Chalmers Style B, 30 by 14-in. rolls, and elevated with the original ore to the 2-mm. screens, oversize of which formed the jig feed. While this arrangement was very simple, it gave rise to undesirable crowding of the circuit. Table 1 shows tonnage and assay values of the jig feed and products at the beginning of the experiments, and brings out the excessively large amount of middlings, comprising 63.3 per cent. of the total material fed to the jig. The rolls, being heavily overloaded, did very little crushing, a screen analysis of the product showing that only 27 per cent., or 128 tons, was crushed fine enough to pass to the tables. The remaining 347 tons returned to the jig with 400 tons of original ore. At .times, this overcrowding became much worse, and the tonnage in circuit grew to enormous proportions. It became imperative

Jan 1, 1918

By Morris Muskat

ANALYTICAL calculations have been carried out on the effect of casing perforations on the productivity of wells, and formulas have been derived for general types of perforation patterns. The numerical calculations, however, show that the resultant well productivity is essentially independent of the perforation pattern, but is determined mainly by the total perforation density. Thus, for example, for a density of three perforations per foot of casing, the well productivity will be cut to one third of that of the uncased well for a perforation radius of 1/3 in., and to approximately one half for a perforation radius of 1/4 in,, regardless of the detailed manner in which the perforations are distributed over the casing surface. The analytical theory is also extended to include wells completed with slotted liners. It is shown that the reduction in productivity due to such liners will be relatively small as compared with that due to perforated casings.

Jan 1, 1942

By D. K. Crampton

NEARLY everyone who has not had the benefit of study in the field of metallurgy subscribes to a persistent and enthusiastic belief in the legendary lost art of hardening copper. This of course supplies a perfect introduction to a chapter of information on copper and its alloys, since the dissipation of fallacies and superstitions affecting an art probably constitutes the best method of getting at its real substance. Metals are hardened, but also embrittled, by a plurality of impurities. In the modern technology of copper-base metal products, we are familiar with a great host of materials, passing from one extreme of dead soft copper better than 99.9 pct pure, which in the form of wire about as thick as a match will stand hundreds of full twists in a 12-in. length, to an alloy containing less than 3 pct of alloyed substance possessing the strength of pretty good steel and capable of manufacture into razor blades, should we suddenly be deprived of steel; certainly a much better material for this purpose. Every copper alloy known to primitive man lies in some inter- mediate position and the ancient bronzes that have been found all over the world wherever an early civilization existed are usually contaminated by such impurities as sulfur, oxygen, antimony, arsenic, iron, or other materials, so that they could not possibly conform to any modern intelligent specification insuring the best combination of useful properties in alloys of their type and would go

Jan 1, 1953

By S. Paul Lindau

THREE years ago it was decided by the management to granulate the matte that is produced in the smelter of the St: Joseph Lead Co. at Herculaneum, Mo., thereby doing away with a large amount of labor in handling the matte and in subsequent crushing. On Mar. 1, 1915, the granulator was put in operation and up to Jan. 1, 1916, 18,735 tons had been, granulated. The four blast furnaces have a daily output of about 280 tons of pig lead and 100 tons of matte assaying about 11.0 per cent. Pb. It is expected that projected improvements in roasting methods will eliminate more sulphur from the charge, and cut down the matte-fall, to about one-half of the present figure. The blast furnaces are tapped into movable forehearths or settlers, 6 ft. by 4 ft. by 22 in., the slag overflowing into 27-cu. ft. slag cars which are hauled to the clump by electric locomotives. Previous to the adoption of granulation, the matte was tapped from the forehearths into small slag pots which were dumped after cooling. The matte cakes were broken with sledges, and transported to the crushing plant for fine crushing and screening. Here the matte was reduced to ¼ -in. size before being fed to the roaster bins.. A Wedge and a Holthoff mechanical furnace are used for preroasting before sintering on the Dwight and Lloyd machines. The matte is returned to the furnaces as an iron flux until the .gradually accumulating copper content reaches about 7 per cent., after which it is put aside to be concentrated in a small copper blast furnace, the resultant high-grade matte-being sold. When the matte does not settle readily from the slag, two settling devices are often used, the second one being a large catch-pot, which gathers any matte that may overflow from the forehearth, the slag then overflowing from the catch-pot into the slag cars. When full of matte, the catch-pot is removed, allowed to cool, and the contents broken and crushed.

Jan 10, 1916

By T. S. Govindan

The first step in energy conservation in any industrial plant involves implementing many of the day-to-day "housekeeping" items, such as fixing leaks, turning out lights, etc. When this step has been accomplished, additional opportunities require a detailed analysis of the energy systems, evaluation of risks and costs, and assignment of priorities. Examples of conservation schemes drawn from the experience of Du Pont's Energy Management Consulting Services will be discussed. The utility of heat balances for kilns and dryers in minerals processing will be outlined. The input needed from management for the success of conservation efforts will be discussed.

Jan 1, 1981

By G. F. Loughlin

The subject of this lecture might well have been assigned to an economist or banker rather than to a geologist, but, as it was deliberately assigned to me, it is to be treated from a geologist's viewpoint. The term precious metals ordinarily includes the platinum group as well as gold and silver. Platinum, like silver, has had a great decline in price during the last few years, but has not been a medium of exchange and therefore has aroused comparatively little comment. Its relation to price level is like that of commodities in general, and will be dismissed without further comment. Of the two precious metals used as mediums of exchange gold, because of its adoption as the basis of most monetary systems and because of its threatened shortage in the near future; has been a subject of general concern to governments, financiers, and economists; silver, on the other hand, which has flooded the market of late has brought forth cries for help, direct or indirect, from producers and to a less extent from the largest users, especially China, whose purchasing power has been greatly curtailed, but it fails to arouse the interest that gold does. Many predictions have been made by economists, bankers, and others regarding future supply of gold and its effect on prices but the differences among these predictions are about as many as the number of prophets. Since gold is the standard by which the value of commodities as a whole is to be measured, it would seem that the greater the ratio of gold supply to commodities the higher the price level and vice

Jan 1, 1932

By J. E. Clennell

IT is a common observation that the improvements introduced in practice since the first announcement of the cyanide process have been almost entirely mechanical. Although a good deal of study and research has been devoted to the chemical problems involved, the results obtained appear trifling in comparison. Few of the suggested modifications in the chemical treatment have come into practical use and those only in limited fields. Nevertheless, if we study the recent history of the cyanogen compounds from a somewhat broader standpoint, we shall find that considerable additions have been made, not only to our knowledge of their chemical properties, but also to their applications for industrial purposes. The present review of these advances naturally falls into two divisions: (1) processes involved in the treatment of ores; (2) manufacture of cyanides and other related compounds. PART I. ADVANCES IN THE CHEMISTRY OF ORE TREATMENT BY CYANIDE In the attempt to extend the scope of the process, various ores have been encountered which contain gold and silver in such forms that they will not yield satisfactorily to ordinary methods of cyanide treatment. . In some cases the difficulty is due to the excessive action on the solution of base metals present in the ore; in others, to the occurrence of minerals such as dyscrasite (the native alloy of antimony and silver), or a supposed oxidized manganese compound containing silver, which are either altogether insoluble in or very slightly attacked by cyanide. A particularly troublesome case is that of the so-called "graphitic" ores, containing carbon in some form which has the property of precipitating gold and silver already dissolved.

Jan 10, 1915

By George B. Clark

7.1-1. Introduction. The fundamentals of blasting involve both the properties of explosives and of the rock being blasted. While the knowledge of property correlation between rocks and explosives for most effective blasting is far more complete, many quantitative evaluations have been made. Four of the most important explosive properties appear to be energy density, bulk density, rate of energy release, and the pressure-time history of the gases produced. Important rock properties are density and porosity strength, and energy absorption properties, including the effective moduli of elasticity. Rock structure also has a marked effect on its breaking properties, i.e., joints, bedding, fractures, alteration, etc. Several mechanisms enter into rock fragmentation by blasting. These include slabbing, radial fracturing, crushing, and bursting by the gas bubble. All of these factors are closely related to properties of both explosives and rock. Slabbing depends upon the character of the first generated stress wave, whose shape and magnitude are a result of the pressure generated by the explosive, its time history, and the resultant response of the rock, including its ability to sustain the stress wave. Actual slabbing, in turn, is a function of the magnitude and shape of the pressure pulse and the tensile strength of rock. Further fragmentation depends to a great extent upon the amount of gas in the bubble and its energy and pressure. Blasting rounds are best designed by taking the above factors into consideration. This is effectively accomplished by use of cratering curves which relate breakage- parameters to the explosive energy. Optimum depths from single charge cratering curves must be adjusted to changes in shot geometry and related to multiple hole blasting. Blasting damage may occur from either air blast or ground waves, and in the latter ease may be due to direct vibration or to settlement caused by vibration. Technical information indicates that blasting damage is often

Jan 1, 1968

By J. E. Gosline

In any theory of a hydrodynamic nature dealing with the vertical flow of gas-liquid mixtures in pipes, the two factors that present the greatest difficulty are the relative motion between the phases and the energy loss resulting from turbulence work. The former has generally been referred to in the literature as "slippage" and the latter as "friction." A third factor of importance is the nature of admixture between liquid and gas for both the relative motion between the phases as well as the turbulence work are functions of the type of mixture. Although much work of a general nature has been performed on the vertical flow problem, there have been very few attempts made to study experimentally the factors involved in the phenomenon individually. Of these, perhaps the most notable is the work of Moore and Wilde1 on slippage. Some writers on the subject have assumed that over a wide range of operating conditions the controlling type of mixture is one in which gas bubbles of uniform size are distributed throughout the liquid, and that the data obtained from experiments on the motion of single bubbles through various liquids may be used in evaluating the slippage. Ver-sluys2 has further assumed another controlling type of mixture in which the liquid occurs as a dispersed phase within the gas and applies data on the fall of drops of water in air to calculating the relative velocity. It was for the purpose of studying the applicability of data on single bubble motion to the slippage factor and to further observe the nature of mixtures that a research program was conducted at the University of California during 1932 and 1933. These experiments formed a basis for

Jan 1, 1936

By J. E. Gosline

In any theory of a hydrodynamic nature dealing with the vertical flow of gas-liquid mixtures in pipes, the two factors that present the greatest difficulty are the relative motion between the phases and the energy loss resulting from turbulence work. The former has generally been referred to in the literature as "slippage" and the latter as "friction." A third factor of importance is the nature of admixture between liquid and gas for both the relative motion between the phases as well as the turbulence work are functions of the type of mixture. Although much work of a general nature has been performed on the vertical flow problem, there have been very few attempts made to study experimentally the factors involved in the phenomenon individually. Of these, perhaps the most notable is the work of Moore and Wilde1 on slippage. Some writers on the subject have assumed that over a wide range of operating conditions the controlling type of mixture is one in which gas bubbles of uniform size are distributed throughout the liquid, and that the data obtained from experiments on the motion of single bubbles through various liquids may be used in evaluating the slippage. Ver-sluys2 has further assumed another controlling type of mixture in which the liquid occurs as a dispersed phase within the gas and applies data on the fall of drops of water in air to calculating the relative velocity. It was for the purpose of studying the applicability of data on single bubble motion to the slippage factor and to further observe the nature of mixtures that a research program was conducted at the University of California during 1932 and 1933. These experiments formed a basis for

Jan 1, 1936

By H. C. Vacher

THE limiting concentrations of carbon and oxygen which may co-exist at equilibrium in liquid iron are important in determining the degree to which liquid steel may be refined before it is deoxidized. Most refining processes depend upon the oxidation of a highly carburized iron which invariably results in contaminating the steel with oxygen. The oxygen .thus introduced presents many problems to the refiner, who in turn has attempted to rid the steel of this impurity by deoxidation with elements such as manganese, silicon and aluminum. The importance of the limiting concentrations of carbon and oxygen is accentuated in view of a number of recent researches which have indicated in many instances the existence of relations between oxide inclusions and dissolved oxygen and physical properties and chemical behavior of steel. The determination of the equilibrium concentrations of carbon and oxygen existing in iron under steelmaking conditions is obviously of fundamental importance. It has been generally assumed that the product of the equilibrium concentrations of carbon and oxygen in liquid iron is a constant and that this product is directly proportional to the carbon monoxide pressure in equilibrium with the liquid iron. Herty1,2 has computed values for this product based on open-hearth data which are all in the neighborhood of 0.01 to 0.03 (per cent. FeO X per cent. C) for temperatures in the vicinity of 1550° to 1600 C. and one atmosphere pressure. Kinzel and Egan3 have attempted to determine the value of this product by exposing liquid iron to carbon monoxide at one atmosphere pressure. The value reported by them was 0.0005 at 1550°. C. In. order to apply certain equations to the rate of carbon elimination in the open-hearth process, Feild4 found it necessary to assume. a value of 0.0102 at 1580° C. for this

Jan 1, 1931

By A. S. Nowick, A. E. Roswell

Anelastic measurements of atomic mobility in an Ag-Zn substitutional solid solution, make possible a study of the rate of decay of lattice defects frozen into the alloy by quenching. A WIDE variety of experimental evidence has accumulated recently in support of the belief that atomic mobility or diffusion in face-centered cubic lattices occurs principally through the movement of lattice defects, as contrasted to a mechanism by which two or more atoms directly exchange lattice positions. The most direct evidence, summarized in a recent review,' includes the Kirkendall-effect measurements and anelastic measurements on quenched alloys. Theoretical calculations' have focused attention on the lattice vacancy as the defect probably responsible for diffusion in the common metals. Later calculations3 have also shown the possible importance of combined pairs of vacancies in producing diffusion. The only defect that has been considered seriously, in addition to the vacancy and combination of vacancies, is the "interstitialcy" (an atom which has left its normal lattice position and entered an interstitial position) ; the calculated energy of formation of an interstitialcy in a close-packed lattice is too large to permit a reasonable probability for the occurrence of this defect In view of these calculations it may be tentatively concluded that the defects producing atomic movements are single or multiple vacancies. Anelastic measurements of atomic mobility in substitutional solid solutions provide a valuable method for the study of lattice defects. By means of this method it was first demonstrated' that defects may be frozen into a lattice by rapid quenching from high temperatures. (It was subsequently shown6 that resistivity measurements may also be capable of detecting the presence of frozen-in defects.) A summary of the principles involved in these anelastic measurements will now be presented. The anelastic method is based on a relaxation phenomenon in substitutional solid solutions, first discovered by Zenera in a brass and subseauentlv investigated extensively in a series of Ag-zn solid solutions.' This relaxation effect may be observed in the usual way either dynamically, as a peak in

Jan 1, 1954

By Albert Hahn

ABOUT three years ago John Hays Hammond took over the control of the Eureka Metallurgical Co., at Salt Lake City, Utah. Funds were advanced for investigating the process invented by R. V. Smith, for concentrating oxidized lead ores. A great deal of laboratory work was done and a reagent was developed by C. M. Nokes of Salt Lake, which was found to be particularly suitable for oxidized copper ores, refractory manganese silver ores, and oxidized gold ores. After sufficient laboratory work had been performed to demonstrate the fundamental principles of these inventions, a test mill, having a capacity, of 20 tons of ore daily, was erected at Murray, Utah. In this test mill approximately 1200 tons of various types of ores have been concentrated by means of the above-mentioned process and reagents, and this large-scale work as well as laboratory work is being continued at present. Details of these mill tests are given in Table 1, and a representative group of laboratory tests are shown in Table 2. The process requires no special machinery or appara-tus. Its success depends entirely, on the method of preparing the pulp and its subsequent flotation in clean water, as outlined in the Smith patent. The reasons for the success of the Nokes special reagent are not definitely known. The outstanding feature, which seems to be of extreme importance, is that when the concentrates are examined under the microscope, each particle of mineral appears to have a particle of paraffin, attached to it. This paraffin-mineral combination seems to be particularly suitable for flotation and it follows that any coating oils readily attach themselves to the paraffin-mineral combination.

Jan 9, 1923

By Barry N. Whittaker

INTRODUCTION Considerable progress has been achieved with long- wall mining in recent years especially in enabling increased rates and levels of output to be gained, higher standards of safety and increased usage of advanced technological developments. Longwall mining also has major long term advantages, prominent amongst which is general minimisation of the effects of pillars and room intersections giving rise to future instability problems as can be the case with room and pillar mining operations. The fact that longwall mining is not presently limited by depth below surface inclination of seams or thickness of seam to be worked strengthens its position as the most popular underground mining method for extracting coal seams in Europe. Its wider application in North America and Australia can give rise to significant economic benefits coupled with higher levels of safety and recovery of coal. This present paper reviews recent progress achieved and draws attention to the more important factors influencing longwall mine design and layout. LONGWALL STRATA PRESSURE ABUTMENTS A longwall gives rise to major redistribution of strata pressures. The roof behind a longwall is normally allowed to cave and permit subsidence of the overlying strata and eventually giving rise to a trough depression at the surface. Consequently, reestablishment of strata loading within the caved region behind the longwall depends upon effective caving and subsequent recompaction. This requires sufficient depth pressure and/or adequate width of extraction in relation to the depth to achieve breaking of overlying roof beds necessary to reload the extracted region. Figure 1 shows results of an analysis carried out by Whittaker and Singh (1979) indicating the pattern of redistribution of vertical stress around a longwall in the plane of the seam. The analysis represents the average depth of longwall working in the UK, and was performed using a stress balance assumption of compatibility before and after mining. The main stress abutments are indicated by (1) the front abutment strata pressure zone which travels with the longwall, and (2) the flank abutment strata pressure zone which

Jan 1, 1982

By Ellis Clark

The greater portion of the brown ore in the vicinity of Easton, along the north slope of the Lehigh Mountain or Durham range of hills, is obtained from mines instead of from open cuts or quarries, as is the case in the ore-beds in the western part of Northampton County, in Lehigh County, and in Berks County. The reasons for this method of procedure are various, and the principal causes of the shaft and regular mine system of working being adopted instead of the open air cuts, are: First, the large amount of stripping that would be necessary, as the richer and more valuable portions of the ore do not appear to be found as near the surface as those in other portions of the Kittatinny valley; second, the occurrence of the ore in regular beds, interstratified with the clay, and, to a less extent, in pockets or erratic deposits, as is the case in the mines of Lehigh County; and third, on account of many of the mines being situated at the immediate base of the Lehigh Mountain, where the surface water would be in such large quantities as to be with difficulty handled, and where the subsequent caving in of the sides of the open cut would be almost certain to expose the gneiss rock, which is water-bearing, the large quantities of water coming from which would probably drown out the ore-bed. Shafts, and a regular system of gangways and mining are therefore required by the configuration of the surface, the depth of the deposits and their geological structure. The ordinary size of the shafts is about four feet square, but where an extensive plant of pumping machinery is required the size may be increased to eight feet by six, with two compartments for the hoisting and pump-shaft respectively. A man-way, consisting of ladders with rests at intervals of twenty or thirty feet, is comprised in the pump-shaft, the wire rope being used for purposes of ascent and descent only in exceptional cases, on account of accidents which

Jan 1, 1879

By M. S. King

A series of cross-hole acoustic measurements have been performed in a columnar-jointed basaltic rock mass around an underground opening mined by the drill-and-blast method. The purposes of the test program were: to evaluate the rock mass characteristics around the opening; to determine the zone of blast damage; and to evaluate seismic methods for anomaly detection ahead of mining in this type of rock. The cross-hole measurements were made between four 76-mm diameter horizon- tal boreholes diamond-drilled 12 m into a wall of the underground opening. Repetitive pulses of compressional (P) and shear (S) waves of frequencies in the range 3 kHz-100 kHz were propagated from a transmitter sonde through the rock mass to a receiver sonde, both of which were clamped hydraulically to the borehole wall. After amplification the received P- and S-wave signals were digitized at the surface by a digital oscilloscope and stored on floppy discs. The results indicate considerable reductions in P- and S-wave velocities at distances less than 2 m from the face. Clearly these low values are associated with blast damage. Beyond 2 m, the velocities in a vertical direction indicate almost constant values. The velocities in the horizontal direction beyond 2 m appeared erratic, but showed a general tendency to increase as a function of distance from the face. Their maximum values remained, however, still lower in value than the corresponding velocities in the vertical direction. Near the face, the differences in velocities were considerably greater: with horizontal velocities considerably lower in value than those vertical. Results of the spectral analyses of the received signals indicated that Q-values were strongly influenced by the vertically- oriented sets of joints. Only for waves travelling in the vertical direction was the effect observed of the blast-damaged zone immediately around the opening. The acoustic data obtained are clearly indicative of an anisotropic jointed rock mass, with a greater intensity of jointing for travel paths in the horizontal than the vertical direction. The vertical, columnar joints are probably less tightly closed than those oriented in the horizontal plane.

Jan 1, 1984

By W. A. Clark

THE production of sand in an oil well increases operating costs because of abnormal wear in subsurface equipment, the necessity for frequent cleanouts, and the need for a means of disposing of the sand. Moreover, removal of sand from the zone can bring about the creation of cavities from which bodies of formation, sand or shale, may slough into the hole, endangering the shutoff, impeding production or collapsing the liner. The procedure known as gravel packing is attracting attention as a means of controlling these factors and contributing to the productive life of a well. That gravel packing is now substantially beyond the preliminary stage on the Pacific Coast is reflected in the 191,000 bbl, of oil produced monthly by the 66 gravel-packed wells in 11 different producing sectors. REASONS FOR GRAVEL-PACKING Gravel packing, if properly carried out, can be expected to provide the following benefits: 1. Prevent the movement of sand and thus eliminate sand production and sand fills, and prevent the formation of cavities. 2. Provide a practical, relatively inexpensive, large-diameter hole, which will provide well-known theoretical advantages. 3. Support the walls of the hole by completely filling the space between the liner and the formation, regardless of its irregularities, and afford a support for liners. 4. Provide for more efficient pumping operations in wells by: (a) possibly utilizing the gravel as a gas trap in pumping gaseous fluids, (b). allowing deep submergence of the pump into the oil zone.

Jan 1, 1939

By M. K. Barnett

[ ] ENGINEERING research consists, broadly speaking, in the investigation of the effect of the variations in a number of factors on some property of a product or characteristic of a process. The unambiguous description of the product or process requires that the property or characteristic be expressible in quantitative terms. For the purpose of practical control, it is likewise desirable that the independently variable factors governing the product or process be quantities, although this ideal goal is not always attained. Maximum efficiency-i.e., the attainment of the maximum amount of reliable, useful information relating to the influence of the factors on the property of the product or characteristic of the process, for the least expense-is an important requirement for the satisfactory operation of a research organization. Obviously, a necessary condition for the attainment of maximum efficiency is an adequate knowledge of the specialized field in which the experimental research lies. While necessary, this condition is not sufficient. Proper attention must also be given to the general principles of experimental design together with the modem methods for the analysis and evaluation of experimental data. The present discussion is confined to a single design, the so-called "factorial" design. This design is of special interest in that it attains its goal, maximum efficiency, by directly departing from the

Jan 1, 1947