322 



NATURE 



[November 19, 1914 



Kleist, got Captain Petersen, of the whaler Herman, 

 to take him to St. Michael. A gasoline schooner, 

 King and H'/n.^, of Seattle, relieved the Wrangell 

 Island party, which was afterwards transhipped to 

 the Bear. Stefansson and two men started north from 

 Martin Point on March 22, 1914, and on April 16 

 were to have returned after fifteen days. Stefansson 

 and his men have not been heard of since. He be- 

 lieved currents might drive them towards Banks Land, 

 but on this coast, though searched, no trace of them 

 has been found. The drift of the Karluk makes it 

 unlikelv that he has reached Banks Land. 



BRITISH SUPPLY OF SYNTHETIC 

 COLOURS. 



THE Board of Trade has had under consideration 

 the question of the supply of dye stuffs and 

 colours, the shortage of w^hich at the present time, 

 owing to the cessation of imports from Germany, is 

 causing apprehension in the textile trades and in other 

 important British industries. 



After consultation with the Committee on Chemical 

 Manufactures, appointed in August last under the 

 chairmanship of the Lord Chancellor, it appeared to 

 the Board advisable to take such steps as were pos- 

 sible to develop the immediately available sources of 

 supply, and also to encourage the permanent manu- 

 facture of dve stuffs and colours in the United King- 

 dom on a large scale, so as to guard against any 

 recurrence of the present difficulty. As regards interim 

 steps, arrangements have been made to encourage the 

 immediate expansion of the various existing sources 



of supply. ^ ... 



\s to the permanent supply, after preliminary con- 

 sultations with representatives of some of the prmcipal 

 bodies of consumers, a meeting was held at the oftices 

 of the Board of Trade on November 10, and was 

 attended bv the representatives of twenty-two impor- 

 tant associations and firms engaged in the colour- 

 using industries. There was laid before the meeting 

 a scheme for the formation of a limited company with 

 a large capital, of which the bulk would be subscribed 

 bv the consumers of dyestuffs and colours and others 

 interested, the Government indicating their willing- 

 ness, conditionallv on this being done, to subscribe 

 a certain proportion of the share capital and to guar- 

 antee the interest on a large debenture issue for a 

 term of years. Precautions would be taken to preserve 

 the Brit'ish control of the enterprise and to prevent 

 undue encroachment on other branches of the chemi- 

 cal trades. . 



The meeting was informed that preliminary ar- 

 rangements had been made enabling his Majesty's 

 Government to acquire important dye-producing 

 works in this countrv for the purposes of the new 

 companv if established, and that the Government 

 would be prepared to take all necessary steps to secure 

 the acquisition of anv other concerns in the United 

 Kingdom, the transfer of which to the new company 

 might be desirable. 



The meeting unanimously adopted a resolution 

 approving in principle of a national effort being made 

 by the trade to increase the British supply of syn- 

 thetic colours and welcoming the assistance of his 

 Majesty's Government for that purpose. A small 

 committee representing the trades concerned was ap- 

 pointed to confer with the Board of Trade with a view 

 to the elaboration of a scheme on the lines discussed 

 at the meeting. The first meeting of this committee 

 was held later in the afternoon. A further announce- 

 ment as to the proposed company will be made at an 

 early date. 



NO. 2351, VOL. 94] 



MET.ALLURGY AT THE ROYAL MINT. 



ONE of the most interesting features of the forty- 

 fourth annual report of the Deputy-Master and 

 Comptroller of the Mint just received is the com- 

 parison of the melting costs according as coke or 

 coal-gas is used as the fuel. The former was used up 

 to the year 1909, but has since been replaced by the 

 latter. Although the gross out-turn was 1197-7 tons 

 in 1909, as against 1957-9 tons in 1913, the records 

 are comparable, since the proportion of bronze and 

 nickel-bronze — which require higher temperatures for 

 melting than gold and silver — was nearly the same, 

 viz., 56-3 per cent, in the earlier and 55 per cent, in 

 the later year. The comparison is remarkably in 

 favour of coal-gas firing, since there is a gross saving 

 of 22-44 shillings per ton of bars, or 273 per cent, of 

 the total charge in 1909. Moreover there Is a saving 

 under each item of expense, viz., fuel, crucibles, and 

 wages. It is stated that "'side by side with this 

 economy there has been a marked increase in efliciency 

 both in regard to the output per furnace and per man, 

 as well as many minor economies, such as the disposal 

 of ashes, handling of fuel, and a great reduction in 

 the weight of sweep to be dealt with." 



Sir Thomas Rose's experiments on the efTect of 

 impurities on the temperature at which gold is 

 softened by annealing have been confirmed and ex- 

 tended by Mr. Phelps. The presence of two parts of 

 hydrogen per 100,000 raises this temperature from 

 130° C. to at least 300° C. Silver has a similar, 

 though less, efTect. It has now been found that the 

 relative purity of two samples of "proof" gold "can 

 be more readily determined by heating hard-rolled 

 test-pieces at 130-150° for half an hour than by 

 ordinary methods of assay." The degree of softening 

 is either measured in some form of hardness tester or 

 is judged by the extent of recrystallisation of the 

 metal. Sir Thomas Rose's experiments on the mode 

 of recrystallisation of gold in various stages of anneal- 

 ing are of great importance, and bear directly on cases 

 of failure of metal tubes and rods which are subjected 

 to partial annealing conditions spread over lengthened 

 periods of time. 



The three countries — Austria, France, and Turkey — 

 use pure nickel as a coinage metal. In the first- 

 named this metal has been coined and issued regularly 

 since 1892. In France it was adopted for 25 centimes 

 only in 1903, but a new law passed on August 4, 

 1913, provides for the withdrawal of this issue and 

 of the present bronze currency, and their gradual re- 

 placement by 25, 10, and 5 centime pieces, all of pure 

 metal. The new issue will be spread over a period 

 of ten years, and will amount to 780 million pieces. 

 The French Government has signed a contract with 

 a French nickel company for twenty years to purchase 

 the requisite metal at 141Z. a ton, the present price in 

 the London market being about lyil. a ton. 



Thirtv-four countries use a 75 per cent, copper and 

 25 per cent, nickel coinage alloy, while Germany and 

 Switzerland coin both pure nickel and the above- 

 mentioned allov. H. C. H. C. 



. PHYSIOLOGY AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 



THE physiological section of the British Associa- 

 tion began its programme for the Australian 

 meeting in Melbourne. Considerable alterations had 

 to be made at the last moment owing to the unavoid- 

 able absence of members who were expected to con- 

 tribute to a general discussion upon climate from a 

 j phvsiological point of view. This is a subject to 



