RESEARCH WORK AND EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 65 



cylinders. An open tank is also provided in which the effect 

 of soaking specimens in preservatives without pressure, as well 

 as the degree of penetration obtainable by alternating applica- 

 tions of hot and cold preservative, can be investigated. Another 

 piece of apparatus is specially designed for observing the course 

 which the preservative takes through the wood elements when 

 injected under pressure. Other problems, such as the loss of 

 preservatives by evaporation at different temperatures, the 

 relative inflammability of woods, etc., are being investigated 

 with the help of ingenious pieces of apparatus designed for 

 each problem. Piles which have been treated to test the 

 possibility of preserving them against marine-boring animals 

 have been sunk in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the 

 Bay of San Francisco. 



4. IVood Distillation Department. — In this laboratory studies 

 are made of the products obtainable from different woods and 

 of the most economical methods of extraction. 



The work of this department is of high economic importance, 

 for its main object is to find a profitable use for the enormous 

 waste of material which occurs, not only in the forest in the 

 shape of tops, branches and stumps, but also in the sawmills 

 and factories, in the shape of slabs, ends, shavings and saw- 

 dust. Designs for an experimental plant to produce ethyl 

 alcohol from sawdust are now being drawn up. Another line 

 of investigation has been the commercial methods of collecting 

 and refining turpentine, and the improved methods suggested 

 are gradually being adopted by the trade. 



5. Pulp a?td Paper Department. — The work here is mainly 

 directed at present to the discovery of woods which can be 

 substituted for spruce as a source of pulp in view of the rapid 

 disappearance of the spruce forests. This involves studies of 

 the methods by which ground wood-pulp can be obtained from 

 species other than spruce ; of the potentialities of different 

 woods in the manufacture of chemical pulp ; of the qualities 

 of paper which can be made from various grades of sulphite, 

 soda and ground wood-pulp ; and of the possibilities of utilising 

 various forms of forest and mill waste for the manufacture of 

 pulp. 



6. Engineering Department. — The work of this section, apart 

 from the care of the machinery in the yard and building, 

 consists in the designing of plant and apparatus. The discovery 



VOL. XXVIL PART L E 



