218 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



available water in Victoria contains a considerable amount of mud in suspen- 

 sion wliicb does not sink under the force of gravity. Filters have not proved a 

 satisfactory means of removing this mud, but tests are reported which show 

 that iron chlorid is a very effective precipitant. 



An analytical and epidemiological study of farm water supplies, K. F. 

 Kellebman and H. A. Whittaker {Amer. Jour. Pul). Hyg., 20 (1910), No. 3, 

 pp. 65-'i-657). — A summary of investigations more fully reported elsewhere 

 (E. S. R., 22, p. 16). 



Hypochlorite treatment of public water supplies: Its adaptability and 

 limitations, G. A. Johnson {Engin. Rec, 62 (1910), No. 12, pp. 321-323).— 

 This article explains the present status of this method of treatment and its 

 advantages and disadvantages. 



Recent experiments on the sterilization of large quantities of water by 

 means of ultraviolet rays, Y. Henri, A. Helbronner, and M. de Reckling- 

 hausen (Compt. Rend. Acad. Sd-. [Paris], 151 (1910), No. 16, pp. 677-680, 

 figs. 2; abs. in Rev. Sci. [Paris], .',8 (1910), II. No. 18, p. 571).— An apparatus 

 is described which utilizes three-fourths of the rays of the lamp and is capable 

 of sterilizing 25 cubic meters of water per hour at an expense of 26 watt hours 

 per cubic meter. Water containing from 30 to 300 germs per cubic centimeter 

 and from 50 to 1,000 coli per liter before treatment contained only one germ 

 per cubic centimeter and no coli after treatment. 



Some profitable methods of utilizing municipal waste, L. St. G. Wilkin- 

 son (Surveyor, 38 (1910), No. 972, pp. 327, 328). — This paper gives a short 

 rt'sume of some ways of utilizing what are usually termed the waste products 

 of some of the nonproductive departments of a corporation. Several processes 

 of utilizing night soil and the waste products of sewage works are discussed. 

 The successful use of sewage for growing sugar beets is referred to as well as 

 the difficulty of making any profitable use of sludge. 



Sewage disposal, W. Ramsay (Jour. Roy. Inst. Pub. Health, 18 (1910), No. 

 10. pp. 577-588). — This paper discusses the development, present status, and 

 difficulties of sewage disposal in Great Britain, and is based to a large extent 

 upon the report of the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal. Reference is 

 made to the fact that in the early days of sewage treatment it was hoped that 

 precipitation by means of chemicals would yield a sludge of high fertilizing 

 value. The work of the commission and of other investigators has indicated, 

 however, that sludge so obtained is of very little fertilizing value. 



SOILS— FERTILIZERS. 



[Papers on soils and soil investigations] (77. Conf. Agrogeol. Internat. 

 Stockholm. 1910, Resume [1], pp. 7-10; 11, 12, fig. 1; 13-16; 17-20; 23, 2Jf; 

 31-33; 36-38; J,0; 41, -'f2; 51-55; 56-58; Resume 2, pp. 1-3; .'/).— An account of 

 this congress held at Stockholm in 1910 is given on page 298 of this issue. 

 Among the papers presented were the following, dealing with soils and soil 

 investigations : 



The mechanieal analysis of soils, A. Atterberg (Resume [1], pp. 7-10). — 

 This article explains the principles of the leading methods of mechanical 

 analysis of soils, notes lack of agreement as to classification of soil particles, 

 and proposes a classification of the fine soil in 5 groups as follows: Coarse sand 

 between 2 and 0.3 mm., fine sand between 0.3 and 0.03 mm., microscopic silt 

 (Schluff) between 0.03 and 0.003 mm., fine silt, and colloids, the last two 

 being smaller than 0.003 mm. 



Various precautions to be observed in order to secure accurate separation 

 by sedimentation methods are described, but it is ix)inted out that all such 



