XCVIII THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



tory in the Engineering Building, which provides most excellent facili- 

 ties for this branch of our work. A wood-working shop, small sawmill, 

 storage yard and special seasoning shed are also available. 



The progress of work in the laboratories will no doubt be made 

 clearer by separate discussion of each division. The present organiza- 

 tion includes the Division of Administration and the technical divisions 

 of Timber Tests, Timber Physics, Pulp and Paper and Wood Preser- 

 vation. 



ADMINISTRATION. 



The Division of Administration is concerned with the general 

 operation of the laboratories, correspondence, library and so forth. 

 A favorable start has been made in collecting a library containing in- 

 formation on the special work which concerns the laboratories. Pre- 

 liminary plans have been made for the collecting and exhibiting of wood 

 specimens, samples of treated wood, pulp and paper, wood distillates 

 and the other numerous products which can be obtained from the raw 

 material furnished by our Canadian forests. 



TIMBER TESTS. 



Project No. 1, "Mechanical and Physical Properties of Canadian 

 Woods as Determined by Tests on Small Clear Specimens," was 

 undertaken for the purpose of establishing the strength characteristics 

 of the important Canadian wood species. The testing procedure in- 

 cludes eight strength tests — Static bending, compression parallel to 

 grain, compression perpendicular to grain, shear, tension, impact bend- 

 ing, cleavage and hardness. The first species under test is Douglas Fir, 

 obtained from Alberta and British Columbia. The results have shown 

 that the fast growing Douglas Fir of the Pacific Coast has unusual 

 strength and that the slower growing and smaller mountain types, 

 although more affected by knots and other defects are of very good 

 quality. The tests confirm the fact that our Canadian Douglas Fir 

 is a first-class structural material. 



Project No. 2, "Strength Functions and Physical Properties of 

 Nova Scotia Mine Timbers," has been carried on during the last half 

 of the year in connection with a general investigation of Nova Scotia 

 mine timbers instituted by McGill University in co-operation with the 

 Forestry Branch. Over seven hundred representative pit props and 

 booms were obtained from Nova Scotia, including five species — Black 

 Spruce, Red Spruce, Balsam Fir, White Birch and Yellow Birch. 

 Most of these timbers have been tested in commercial sizes in the 

 large machines. Much valuable information has been obtained from 

 these tests and results will be ready for publication in the near future. 



