5^4 



NA TURE 



[April 29, 1922 



Woollen and Worsted Research. 



'T^HE annual report of the Council of the British 

 ^ Research Association for the Woollen and 

 Worsted Industries for the year 192 1 gives details of 

 the progress which the Association is making, and 

 includes some lines of its future activities. The 

 Association is now in its fourth year, though it is only 

 during the past year that its building and equipment 

 have been sufficiently completed to furnish the re- 

 search staff with reasonable facilities for extensive 

 development of its work. The main activities of the 

 Association during the year have resulted from the 

 work of the research, education, and sheep-breeding 

 committees of the Council of the Association, on which 

 expert advisory members are co-opted. 



As the publications of the Association are circulated 

 to its members only, and to certain allied associations 

 and institutions, it is difficult to estimate the actual 

 extent of the work of the Association. One interim 

 report has, however, been published dealing with 

 faults caused by oils, effect of light on oil stains, 

 photomicrographic work on raw wool, standard condi- 

 tions for measuring wool fibre diameters, cross-sections 

 of wool fibre, polarity of the worsted sliver, construc- 

 tion and control of the humidity room, and the effect 

 of oil stains on dyeing. Two reports including observa- 

 tions on the elasticity and setting of wool by time, 

 heat, and moisture, and work on the dyeing and 

 burldyeing of union cloths have also been published. 

 In view of its importance in the textile industry, 

 it is surprising to find that the effect of light on 



the oils themselves does not appear to have been 

 studied. 



Reports are also in preparation on the fastness of 

 dye-stuffs on woollen material, the sorption of neutral 

 soap by wool and its bearing on scouring and milling 

 processes, and on the methods of estimation and 

 analysis of soap in cloth and yarn. In addition the 

 research committee has sketched out a bold and com- 

 prehensive programme of research. The programme 

 includes problems presenting themselves in most 

 sections of the textile trade, and of its allied branches. 

 The committee has obviously attempted to avoid 

 " the short-sighted policy of confining research organi- 

 sations to the search for results of immediate com- 

 mercial value," and if results in some only of the 

 branches named in the programme are forthcoming 

 in future years, the Association should render help of 

 the greatest value to the industry. 



The education committee of the Association has 

 been active in its efforts to co-ordinate textile educa- 

 tional work. As a result of a joint meeting with the 

 Board of Education, the National Wool (and Allied) 

 Textile Industrial Council, and the City and Guilds of 

 London Institute, a Joint Advisory Education Com- 

 mittee has now been formed, which will assist the 

 Board of Education and the City and Guilds of London 

 Institute in textile educational matters. The educa- 

 tion committee of the Association has itself drawn up 

 syllabuses of textile courses, and has secured the 

 provision of some research fellowships for textile work. 



Coal Resources of South Africa. 



T TNDER the title "Recent Additions to our 

 ^ Knowledge of the South African Coalfields," Dr. 

 E. T. Mellor has contributed a paper to the Transac- 

 tions of the Geological Society of South Africa, 

 vol. 25, which supplies a much-needed summary 

 of the coal resources of South Africa. 



The Witbank or Middleburg coaffield is the most 

 important, and owing to the fact that it is compara- 

 tively readily accessible to the main line of the 

 Transvaal-Delagoa Bay railway, it has been more 

 extensively worked and more thoroughly prospected 

 than any of the others. It is comparatively free 

 from disturbances of any great importance, and 

 the continuity of the seams has now been fairly 

 well proved for a length of some 45 miles. There are 

 five and in places six seams, the two most important 

 being the No. 2 Seam, averaging 16 to 20 feet in 

 thickness, and the No. 4 seam, averaging 24 feet, and 

 in places reaching a thickness of 27 feet. All these 

 coals are somewhat variable in character, there being 

 some areas, fortunately quite extensive, in which the 

 coal is of good quality with a relatively low ash, 

 whilst in others the ash is much higher, owing, 

 according to the author, to certain conditions that 

 prevailed at the time of its deposition. In one 

 block of 7000 acres, a tonnage of over 214 million 

 tons has been proved, and the whole field is esti- 

 mated as being capalile of yielding at least 1000 

 million tons of coal of an evaporative power of 12-5 

 or over. 



The Komatipoort coalfield has disappointed the 

 expectations that were at one time formed of it and, 

 in Dr. Mellor's words, " its prospects as a coalfield 

 must be regarded as very doubtful." 



In Swaziland recent boring operations have proved 

 the existence of several seams, mostly thin, of coal 

 of high quality, though the total tonnage likely to 



NO. 2739, VOL. 109] 



be developed does not at present appear to be very 

 considerable. 



In the Waterberg district several seams of good 

 coal have recently been discovered, but owing to the 

 distance from any line of railway, this field cannot 

 be looked upon as of any value in the immediate 

 future. 



The Natal coalfield differs in many respects from 

 that in the Witbank district ; the coal seams are 

 thinner, rarely exceeding 5 feet, and they have 

 been broken up and greatly affected by intrusions of 

 dolerite. Moreover, they lie relatively deep, and for 

 these reasons are gassy and present greater working 

 difficulties than the coal of the Transvaal field. 

 The quality of the coal is good, but the prevailing 

 impression as to the available quantity appears to 

 be greatly exaggerated. It is now estimated that 

 the best Natal coal is likely to be exhausted in 

 another 40 or 50 years. 



These statements show that the Witbank coalfield 

 must be looked upon as the main source of South 

 African coal supplies, and this field presents numerous 

 advantages, amongst them being the shallowness of 

 the seams and the ease with which they can be 

 worked. South Africa may therefore be reasonably 

 expected to become a formidable competitor in the 

 world's coal markets, and to develop an important 

 coal export trade. Coal is also likely to play an 

 important part in the development of local industries, 

 amongst which iron manufacture will probably be 

 one of the most important. The main obstacles at 

 present are the inadequacy of railway transport to 

 the coast and the want of proper shipping facihties. 

 It is obvious that both of these difficulties can easily 

 be overcome, and when they are. South Africa 

 will be ready to take full advantage of this additional 

 source of wealth. H. L. 



