ig2 TRANSACTIONS OF SOCIETIES. 



the base metals industry in the Union. The possible shortage of gold 

 coinage led. during the early stages of the war, to consideration of the 

 production of gold suitable for making coins of standard tineness ; the 

 achievements of the Navy, however, rendered the establishment of the 

 local Mint unnecessary. — "Cyanide consumption on the IVittvatersrand" : 

 H. A. White. The annual requirement of sodium cyanide is about 5,000 

 tons. The possibilities of effecting an appreciable saving upon the cost 

 hereof have recently been considered Many experiments of various 

 kinds were conducted, details of which were given. — " The Prevention 

 of hydrolysis in cyanide solutions": H. M. Leslie. Cyanide solu- 

 tions undergo gradual decomposition with evolution of hydro- 

 cyanic acid, even in the presence of excess of alkali. The 

 author quoted details of experiments in proof of this decomposition being 

 due to hydrolysis. The loss to the gold mining industry is estimated to 

 be of the order of £200,000 per annum, and an enormous saving would 

 be effected by the introduction of the " closed '" system for the treatment 

 of ores by cyanide.- — "Recent investigations on dust in mine air and the 

 causation of Mi)ier's Phthisis" : Dr. J. Moir. The methods in use for 

 laying dust in mine air, when the laying devices are in order and con- 

 scientiously used, are as effective for very fme as for coarser particles. 



SoiTTH Afkican Assouation ok Aival\tical Cjif.mist.^. — Friday, 

 July 9th: C. R Juritz. M.A., D.Sc, F.I.C., President, in the chair.— 

 Presidential address : Dr. C. F. Juritz. Reference was made to the func- 

 tions which the Association may reasonably be expected to exercise with 

 respect to chemical science and those who profess it : and also to the 

 relations which should exist between the State and the chemical pro- 

 fession. Attention was drawn to the widely-ex])ressed views regarding 

 the unsatisfactory condition of chemical industry in Britain, and stress 

 was laid on the importance of the chemist in the development of a 

 country's industries. In this connection the potentialities of various 

 chemical industries in South Africa were remarked on, and it was urged 

 that detinite steps should be taken to educate the public in regard to the 

 position and functions of the chemist in relation to such industries. 



Royal Society of South Africa. — Wednesday. September 15th: 

 L. A. Peringuey, D.Sc, F.E.S.. F.Z.S., President, in the chair. — 

 " South African Perisporiales : ( i ) Perisporiacecc '' : Dr. Ethel M. 

 Doidge. The Perisporiacese and allied fungi are very plentiful 

 in South Africa, especially in forest regions and in warm dis- 

 tricts with a fairly plentiful rainfall. The specimens in the Union 

 very plentiful in South Africa, especially in forest regions and in warm 

 districts with a fairly plentiful rainfall. The specimens in the L'^nion 

 Mycological Herbarium are mostly from the Woodbush forests in the 

 Zoutpansberg, from the Knysna and from the coast regions of Natal. All 

 that is known of South African Perisporiales up to the present is com- 

 prised in diagnoses and descriptions of fungi collected by Professor Mac- 

 Owan and Dr. J. Medley Wood, and in a few published descriptions of 

 fungi more recently collected. A large part of the Union is totally unex- 

 plored so far as this group is concerned. — " The Arraniietncnt of Succes- 

 siz'e Conver^ents in order of accuracy '' : Prof. A. Brcwn. One of the 

 most important uses of Simple Continued Fractions is for the solution of 

 the problem to lind the fraction whose denominator does not exceed a 

 given integer, which shall most closely approximate to a given number 

 commensurable or incommensurable. The author gives a proof of the rule 

 and a method of arrangmg the coavergents in one set so as to show the 

 nearest in defect, the nearest in excess, and the nearest in absolute value, 

 satisfying the stated condition. — " The Use of a Standard Parabola for 

 dn^ving Diagrams of Bending Moment and of Sliear in a Beam unifonnly 

 loaded": Prof. A. Brown. The important stresses in a uniform conti- 

 nuous beam are the Shear and the Bending Moment; they are best shown 

 in the form of .graphs where length along the beam is taken as abscissa 

 art! the required f miction as ordinate. 



