February 4, 1915] 



NATURE 



627 



J. S. Plaskett and R. E. De Lun-, using the same 

 apparatus. The 191 1 and 1912 values are found to 

 be considerably greater than those obtained in 19 13. 

 A measurement of the 19 13 plates by Mr. J. S. Plaskett 

 results in the same values as those secured by Mr. 

 H. H. Plaskett. The communication suggests the pos- 

 sible origin of the discrepancies, and discusses them 

 individually. The author finally concludes that there 

 is no evidence of systematic difference of velocity for 

 different elements, and that at present it is impossible 

 to settle the question of a variation in the solar rota- 

 tion or any similar problem until the personal errors 

 of measurement of each observer have been deter- 

 mined. He gives the formula which represents th? 

 values of the solar rotation for 1913. 



■ L'ASTRONOMIE " FOR SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, 



1914. — It is satisfactory to be able to state that in 

 spite of the difficulties encountered at Paris in August 

 and the following months of last year, the Bulletin 

 of the French Astronomical Society, U AsUonomie, 

 has not broken its continuity. The September and 

 October numbers are now to hand, and those of 

 November and December are completed, and will soon 

 be issued. The September number continues the in- 

 teresting series of articles on visits to the European 

 observatories, that to the Zurich Observatory- being 

 here described and illustrated. Under the title "• Jupiter " 

 the observations made on that planet during the oppo- 

 sition of 1913 are described in some detail. Interest- 

 ing curves are included, showing the displacement of 

 the large red spot in longitude for a period of six 

 months, and the variations of the duration of its 

 rotation for the period 1830-1913. -The chief contri- 

 bution to the October number is a series of accounts 

 ot observations of the eclipse of the sun in August 

 last, made from and outside of the line of totality. 

 Some of these, notably that by the expedition from the 

 Meudon Observatory, have already been referred to 

 in these columns. 



The Canadian Astronomical Handbook.— " The 

 Observer's Handbook for 1915," published by the 

 Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and edited by 

 Dr. C. A. Chant, is in the seventh year of publication. 

 The present issue is conspicuous by the absence of the 

 brief review of astronomical progress, but this is 

 probably more than neutralised by the addition of 

 useful tables of double and variable stars, and an 

 interesting table, compiled by Mr. W. E. Harper, 

 giving some concise information regarding the brighter 

 stars. The last-mentioned deals with 272 stars and 

 five nebulae, and gives the chief known facts concern- 

 ing their distances, spectral types, proper motions, 

 radial velocities, etc. In the section on the constella- 

 tions charts are given containing the stars down to 

 the fifth magnitude. Mr. W. F. Denning contributes 

 the section devoted to meteors and shooting stars. 

 The other sections are mainly on the lines of former 

 issues. 



COPPER SMELTING IN CANADA. 



'X'HE Canadian Department of Mines has issued 

 ■'• an interesting report of some 184 pages, pro- 

 fusely illustrated, upon the copper smelting industries 

 of Canada, from the pen of Dr. Alfred W. J. Wilson, 

 Chief of the Metal Mines Division. This report forms 

 a valuable record of the position of Canada as a 

 copper producer at the date at which it was written, 

 namely, the close of the year 1912. As the author 

 ven,' truly observes, " the period of time which neces- 

 sarily elapses between the writing, and the publica- 

 tion and distribution of Government reports is usually 

 too long to make them an important medium for the 



NO. 2362, VOL. 94] 



distribution of new knowledge in an old and well- 

 established industry," and indeed the present report 

 well exemplifies the correctness of this view, there 

 being nothing in it with which copper smelters 

 throughout the world are not thoroughly familiar, its 

 chief value lying accordingly in the fact that it fur- 

 nishes a trustworthy *■ record of the status of the 

 industry at the time it was prepared," which Dr.. 

 Wilson puts forward as the chief purpose for which 

 it was written. 



The work contains an introductorj- chapter, separate 

 chapters dealing in detail with the works of the 

 Canadian Copper Company, the Mond Nickel Com- 

 pany, Ltd., the Consolidated Mining and Smelting 

 Company of Canada, Ltd., the Granby Consolidated 

 Mining, Smelting, and Power Company, the British 

 Columbia Copper Company, and the Tyee Copper 

 Company, and final chapters of summaries and statis- 

 tics. From these it appears that at the date men- 

 tioned there were in operation in Canada in the seven 

 smelting works of the above six companies twenty-nine 

 large rectangular water-jacket blast furnaces, with a 

 total hearth area of 2580 sq. ft., and a rated capacity 

 of 15,600 tons of charge per twenty-four hours ; the 

 largest of these is a 50 in. by 420 in. furnace of the 

 Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company, with a 

 rated capacity of 875 tons of charge per twenty-four 

 hours, but there are no fewer than four of these 

 furnaces with a smelting capacity of 700 tons or 

 more per twenty-four hours, and only two with a 

 capacity below 400 tons. The matte produced in 

 these blast furnaces is blown in converter plants, 

 of which there are five in all, two being operated by 

 the Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting, and 

 Power Company, at their Grand Forks and Anjox 

 Works respectively, and one each by the Canadian 

 Copper, the Mond Nickel, and the British Colombia 

 Companies. All but the last-named are basic lined, 

 some using the horizontal cylindrical and some the 

 vertical patterns. 



The Canadian Copper Company produces a furnace 

 matte with about 28 per cent, of copper-nickel, which 

 is blown in the converters to rich matte, with 80 per 

 cent, of copper-nickel; the Mond Nickel Company 

 runs a furnace matte with 33 per cent, of copper- 

 nickel, which is also blown up to 80 per cent. (38 per 

 cent, copper, 42 per cent, nickel, 15 per cent, iron); 

 these rich mattes are shipped for further treatment 

 and refining. The Granby Consolidated Company 

 was only operating the works at Grand Forks in 

 19 12, the Anyox works not having been started as 

 yet ; they were producing furnace matte with 35 per 

 cent, of copper, which was blown up to blister copper 

 of good quality with 995 per cent, of copper, contain- 

 ing, in addition, gold and silver; the British Columbia 

 Company smelted a furnace matte with 40 f>er cent, 

 of copper, which was also blown up to blister copper. 

 Both these companies shipped their blister copper to 

 the United States for refining. 



As to the two companies that do not operate con- 

 verters, namely, the Consolidated Mining and Smelt- 

 ing Company at Trail, and the Tyee Company, the 

 former runs a first furnace matte wUh 10 per cent, of 

 copper, which is twice concentrated in the furnaces, 

 the second matte containing 15 to 20 per cent, of 

 copper, and the final matte 40 to 42 per cent, of 

 copper; the Tyee Company runs largely on customs 

 ores, and produces a final matte with '40 to 43 per 

 cent, of copper; both these companies ship their 

 mattes to the United States for further treatment. It 

 thus appears that although Canada produced in the 

 above year nearly 78 million pounds of copf>er, not 

 one pound of this was converted into merchantable 

 copper within the Dominion. The only reference to 

 this fact to be found in the report before us is an 



