January 24, 19 18] 



NATURE 



409 



in Scotland; all these attempts proved, however, to be 

 commercial failures, and it would seem that no better 

 fate has attended the more recent efforts of the Minis- 

 try of Munitions. The latter has accordingly turned 

 its attention to the production of oil by the low- 

 temperature distillation of coal by practically the same 

 process as that patented by Dr. James Young in 1850, 

 a process that was worked on a commercial scale for 

 a good many years until it was displaced by the far 

 cheaper production of natural petroleum in the United 

 States. To-day, however, when commercial results 

 are in a sense less important than technical ones, this 

 process may well be revived in this country, and it 

 would seem that this is being done, coals that are 

 especially suited to it, such as cannel coal, being 

 selected for the purpose. No doubt experiments are 

 being tried in many other directions, but there are 

 obvious reasons why the nature of these, or the results 

 obtained by them, should not be made public at 

 present. 



With the continuance of the war the production of 

 zinc from ores mined in the Empire has undergone 

 a satisfactory development. For a time much of the 

 ore could not be absorbed in the reduction works until 

 the necessary plant had been erected and was in run- 

 ning order, the labour mobilised and trained, and the 

 transport organised. During this period some of the 

 Australian Broken Hill concentrates were shipped to 

 the United States of America and smelted there. Great 

 Britain raised her smelting capacity, but rather slowly. 

 Canada has made a notable contribution of metallic 

 zinc in the last two years, and is now producing sub- 

 stantial amounts. Some of this is obtained by the 

 electrolytic process. Considerable sources of elec- 

 tric power are available in Tasmania, and it is not 

 surprising to learn that Broken Hill concentrates are 

 shipped for treatment there. Satisfactory results have 

 recently been reported from the electrolytic plant 

 erected at Risden. This plant has a daily capacity of 

 fifteen tons, which, it is said, can be increased tenfold, 

 corresponding to a potential production of more than 

 50,000 tons per annum. The power is obtained from 

 the States Great Bear hydroelectric installation. That 

 electrolytic zinc is now being- produced in considerable 

 quantities in various parts of the world is likely to 

 prove of much importance to industry. 



An important scheme for the reorganisation of the 

 Board of Trade is summarised in a memorandum 

 (Cd. 8912) issued on January 17. The memorandum 

 embodies the results of consultation with an informal 

 committee consisting of Sir Clarendon Hyde, Sir Alger- 

 non Firth, Mr. Mackinder, M.P., and Mr. C. T. Need- 

 ham, M.P., and its recommendations are supplemen- 

 tar\' to the action already taken in the formation of 

 the Joint Department of Overseas Trade, recently set 

 up by the Board of Trade and the Foreign Office. It 

 is proposed that the work of the Board of Trade should 

 be organised in two main divisions : (i) the Department 

 of Commerce and Industrj', and (ii) the Depart- 

 ment of Public Services Administration. The Depart- 

 ment of Commerce and Industry will comprise sections 

 dealing with (a) commercial relations and treaties ; (b) 

 Overseas trade ; (c) home industries and manufactures ; 

 (d) industrial property (including the Patent Office); 

 {e) industrial power and transport; (/) statistics; and 

 (g) general economics. There will be a strong Advi- 

 sorv Council attached to this department, and it is 

 proposed to constitute representative trade committees 

 for each important group of trades. Certain changes 

 and rearrangements will apply to the work of the 

 branches of the Board of Trade falling within the 

 Department of Public Services Administration. The 



NO. 2517, VOL. 100] 



work will, as before, involve the administration of a 

 number of statutes, such as the Railway Regulation 

 -\cts. Merchant Shipping Acts, General Harbour Acts, 

 Electric Lighting Acts, Weights and Measures Acts, 

 Companies Acts, and Bankruptcy Acts. The depart- 

 ment will also deal generally with the services con- 

 cerned (railways, shipping, electric lighting, etc.). The 

 two joint permanent secretaries are Sir Llewellvn 

 Smith, K.C.B., and Sir W. F. Marwood, K.C.B. 



In an article on modern methods for the storage of 

 coal in Engineering for January 18, Mr. G. F. Zimmer 

 states that storing coal under water is probably the 

 most expensive method, but undoubtedly the most 

 economical in the long run. About the year 1905 

 the first experiments made in this country on this 

 method proved to be perfectly successful, as the coal 

 thus stored suffered no deterioration. There was a 

 prevailing- idea at the time that only sea-water would 

 preserve coal thus, but it was found afterwards that 

 the coal would keep equally as well in fresh-water. 

 Underwater storage prevents loss of heating value, and 

 is not accompanied by deterioration in physical pro- 

 perties, such as slacking. The water retained by the 

 coal upon renrvoval is substantially only that held by 

 adhesion or capillarity. The first large plant of this 

 kind was installed at Chicago, where 14,000 tons of 

 coal are stored under water. The largest installation 

 has recently been erected by the Duquesne Light Com- 

 pany at Pittsburg, and consists of a pit 800 ft. long, 

 150 ft. wide, and 25 ft. 6 in. deep, with the sides 

 sloping at 45°. The capacity is 100,000 tons of coal. 

 It is interesting to note that the coal recovered from 

 the battleship Maine, which had been submerged for 

 fourteen years, showed on analysis a heating value (a 

 moisture, ash, and sulphur-free basis) of 8588 calories. 

 It is believed that this was coal from the New River 

 District, West Virginia, and if this be the case the 

 deterioration in fourteen years was about 160 calories, 

 or 19 per cent. 



Sir Anthony A. Bowlby has been appointed 

 Hunterian orator of the Royal College of Surgeons 

 of England for the year 1919. 



Prof. V. Giuffrida-Ruggeri, professor of anthro- 

 pology in the University of Naples, has been elected an 

 honorary member of the Royal Anthropological Jrrsti- 

 tute of Great Britain and Ireland. 



We learn with much regret that Mis.s Ethel Sar- 

 g-ant, F.L.S., hon. fellow of Girton College, and presi- 

 dent of the Section of Botany of the British Associa- 

 tion for the Birmingham meeting, 19 13, died at Sid- 

 mouth on January 16, at fifty-four years of age. 



The annual general meeting of the Institute of 

 Metals will be held on Wednesday, March 13, and 

 Thursday, March 14. The presidential address will be 

 delivered and several papers read and discussed on 

 March 13, whilst further papers, including the fourth 

 corrosion report, will be read on the following day. 



.At the annual general meeting of the Royal Meteoro- 

 logical Society held on January 16 the Symons Memo- 

 rial medal, which is awarded biennially for distin- 

 guished work in connection with meteorological 

 science, was presented to Dr. H. R. Mill, director of 

 the British Rainfall Organisation. The council for 

 19 18 was duly elected, with Sir Napier Shaw as the 

 new president. 



Mr. J. S. Sellon, whose death in London on 

 Januan- 18, at the age of eighty-one, we regret to 

 record,' was the fifth son of Capt. W. B. Sellon, R.N. 



