NOTES 305 



wheat, barley, and other grains. Prof. Dendy believes in the institution of 

 national food stores, as a preparation for the difficult situations brought about 

 by war and famine. 



An interesting periodical is the Annals of the Durban Museum, edited by 

 Dr. E. C. Chubb. The latest number contains several papers of interest, ranging 

 from one on the skeleton of the Dodo to the subject of African elephants. In 

 connexion with these we note, with regret, that it has become necessary to destroy 

 the herd in the Addo Bush Forest Reserve near Port Elizabeth. They number 

 about 200, and represent the last survivals of a species which once ranged over 

 all South Africa. The elephants sally out of their reserve in quest of food and 

 water. They break down the fences on the farms which now surround the reserve, 

 stampede cattle, and destroy the crops. Moreover, they assume that the irrigation 

 canals recently constructed for the farmers lhave been designed for their especial 

 benefit, and, by bathing therein, break down the banks and ruin the dams. To 

 enclose them completely would require a substantial fence 13 miles long, and, as 

 the cost of this would not be less than ,£20,000, the Provincial Council of the 

 Province of the Cape of Good Hope has decreed the destruction of the herd. It 

 is nevertheless to be hoped that a few of the elephants will still be preserved 

 in a smaller enclosure. 



The report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Power-Alcohol, published 

 on June 30, shows that the consumption of petrol in this country has increased 

 from 1,200 million gallons in 1914 to 2,680 million in 1918, and that it is likely 

 considerably to exceed 3,000 million gallons this year. The necessity for obtaining 

 some artificial substitute, such as alcohol, is thus becoming of essential importance. 

 The yield of alcohol from potatoes is only 20 gallons of 95% alcohol per ton, so that, 

 even with potatoes at their pre-war price, power-alcohol could hardly be produced 

 from them on a commercial basis. Similar objections apply to its manufacture 

 from artichokes, sugar-beet, and mangolds. The most promising process for the 

 production of large quantities of alcohol in this country is by the extraction of 

 ethylene from coal and coke gas ovens. Investigations of the method have not 

 yet proceeded far enough for definite figures as to quantity and price to be given. 

 In our overseas dominions there are two sources which promise exceedingly well. 

 The sun-dried flowers of the mahua-tree (Bassi'a latifolia), which grows in the 

 Central Provinces of India and in Hyderabad, yield no less than 90 gallons of 95% 

 alcohol per ton, and can be delivered to a factory in their own zone at 30s. per ton. 

 Further, maize and other cereals have admitted possibilities as raw material for the 

 production of power-alcohol. A satisfactory denaturant also has still to be found. 

 The cost of the method used at present may be as great as sixpence per gallon, 

 and the Committee is of opinion that every effort should be made to provide a 

 denaturant which will be effective in the smallest possible quantities at lowest 

 possible cost. It is further recommended that power-alcohol should share with 

 home-produced benzol and shale motor-spirit the privilege of exemption from the 

 motor-spirit tax, and that it should even be imported from the Colonies free of 

 duty. 



On March 28 last, Prof. C. H. Lees presided over a meeting of the Physical 

 Society held for the discussion of the applications of methods of exact measure- 

 ments to industrial work. Sir R. T. Glazebrook, Mr. Wm. Taylor (of Messrs. 

 Taylor, Taylor, and Hobson, of Leicester), Dr. P. E. Shaw, Prof. W. Ripper, 

 Sir Henry Fowler, Mr. F. M. Ryan, Mr. B. P. Dudding, and others, took part in 

 or contributed papers to the Discussion, which has been published as a separate 

 report by the Society. We owe the application of metrology to industry in this 



