LX THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



the envelope is less with helium than with hydrogen to the extent of 

 about 30 per cent. 



Although there are indications that proposals had been put 

 forward during the war by men of science in allied and enemy countries, 

 as well as in the British Empire, regarding the development of supplies 

 of helium for aeronautical purposes, it should be stated that the 

 movement that led up to the investigation which it was his privilege 

 to undertake was initiated by Sir Richard Threlfall. The existence 

 in America of supplies of natural gas containing helium in varying 

 amounts was known to him and others, and preliminary calculations 

 as to the cost of production, transportation, etc., which he made led 

 him to believe that there was substantial ground for thinking that 

 helium could be obtained in large quantities at a cost which would 

 not be prohibitive. 



His proposals were laid before the Board of Invention and 

 Research of the British Admiralty, and in the autumn of 1915 the 

 lecturer was asked by that Board to determine the helium content 

 of the supplies of natural gas in Canada, to carry out a series of 

 experiments on a semi-commercial scale with the helium supplies 

 which were available, and also to work out all technical details in 

 connection with the production of helium in quantity, as well as those 

 relating to the repurification, on a large scale, of such supplies as 

 might be delivered and become contaminated with air in seryice. 



Composition of the Natural Gases Investigated 



In commencing the investigation a survey was made of all the 

 natural gases available in larger or smaller quantities within the 

 Empire with a view to ascertain their helium content. Natural 

 gases from Ontario and Alberta, Canada, were found to be the richest 

 in helium, and these sources, it was found, could supply from 

 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 cubic feet of helium per year. The following 

 is a summary of the results obtained from the analyses of a number 

 of the gases investigated. They include, it will be seen, a few samples 

 from outside the Empire. For a complete account of this part of 

 the investigation the reader is referred to Bulletin No. 31 of the 

 Mines Branch, Department of Mines, Canada, 1920. 



(a) Ontario Gases. — The anlysis made by Professors Ellis, Bain, 

 and Ardagh (Report of Bureau of Mines of Ontario, 1914) of the 

 natural gases supplied to the experimental station, initially set up at 

 Hamilton, Ontario (Blackheath System), is as follows: 



