DECEMBER 3, 1903] 
NAGORE 
115 
amperes, the curves show that more than 80 per cent. of 
the normal ampere-hours can be obtained when discharging 
at’so high a current even as 200 amperes. A lead cell under 
similar conditions would probably not give more than 50 
per cent. of its normal output. Experiments on the road 
showed that this result could be obtained under practical 
conditions. A 32 mile run was made from Leicester to 
Northampton against a head wind all the way ; on the level 
the current varied from 55 to 60 amperes, as against the 
usual 40; uphill it was from 90 to 100 amperes, and on one 
occasion rose above 150 amperes. ‘The total discharge came 
out as 190 ampere-hours, the normal standing discharge 
being 160 ampere-hours. The battery had been fully 
charged before the start, 242 ampere-hours having been 
put in in 1 hour and 20 minutes. This particular case 
shows that there is an extra discharge—30 ampere-hours 
in this instance—which can be got from the cell; it is due 
to the fact that the voltage at the end of the discharge does 
not continue to drop rapidly as shown in the curves in 
Fig. 1, but, when it has fallen to about half a volt, becomes 
steady again for another hour. There is, in consequence, 
a reserve of capacity which, though not generally used, may 
[reve very valuable in emergencies such as the above. 
Some other results obtained by Mr. Hibbert may be 
quoted. A cell after being short circuited for 48 hours 
recovered its original capacity after two charges, and was 
apparently none the worse for this severe treatment. Ex- 
periments on the rate of charging were tried, and showed 
that high charging currents can be safely used. A fully 
discharged cell was recharged for an hour at 177 amperes; 
124 ampere-hours, or 7o per cent. of the charge, were 
obtained on discharge at 60 amperes. Experiments on the 
road confirmed this result, 70 per cent. of the charge being 
obtained after charging at 200 amperes. ‘The efficiency of 
the cell is not quite so good as that of a lead cell ; the follow- 
ing figures were obtained under different conditions :—at 
32 amperes charge and discharge 66 per cent., at 60 amperes 
60 per cent., at 100 amperes charge and 60 amperes dis- 
charge 56 per cent., and at 177 amperes charge and 60 
amperes discharge about 50 per cent. On the other hand, 
the cell endures a period of rest before discharge well, 
and also does not suffer if allowed to stand discharged for 
some time. If discharged immediately after charge a some- 
what large discharge is obtained, but after two days’ rest 
a discharge of 155 ampere hours is given; a further twenty- 
four days’ rest only had the effect of diminishing the dis- 
charge to 125 ampere hours, or 80 per cent. of the dis- 
charge after the two days’ rest. 
The trials on the road were made in a runabout with a 
battery of 38 cells, weighing about 700 lb. ; the total weight, 
with two persons, was about 2000 lb. The trials were 
planned to afford answers to the following questions :— 
(1) Is the capacity the same on the road as in the lahor- 
atory ? : 
(2) Will the battery stand excessive discharges on the 
road ? 
(3) Will it take a rapid charge and utilise it on the road? 
(4) Will it recover after lying discharged for some time? 
(5! Does the capacity fall off by reason of the shaking ? 
(6) What attention is required ? 
‘he experiments which we have already quoted show that 
the answer to the first four questions is in the affirmative. 
With regard to the fifth question, the results were very 
satisfactory. The car had run 400 miles before Mr. Hibbert 
took it over; its capacity was then 159 ampere-hours on 
standing discharge. Mr. Hibbert ran it in all 500 miles in 
the course of a month, and at the end of that time the 
capacity on standing discharge was 158 ampere-hours, show- 
ing, therefore, no appreciable deterioration. As regards 
attention, Mr. Hibbert found very little to be required; | 
none of the terminals worked loose or showed signs of 
getting unduly warm with the heavy charging currents 
sometimes used. The only matter that had to be attended 
to was the replenishing with distilled water which was 
required after every five or six charges. 
The general results of Mr. Hibbert’s tests are most 
encouraging ; the only point on which further information 
is required is durability, but all the evidence is in favour 
of this proving satisfactory. It certainly seems as if the 
hopes aroused by Dr. Kennelly’s paper are within measur- 
able distance of realisation. M. S. 
NO. 1779, VOL. 69] 
THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL 
to iv. of the twenty-second 
SURVEY. 
\ TE have received parts i. 
annual report of this survey for 1900-1. In part i., 
after the administrative report by Mr. C. D. Walcott, the 
director, there is an elaborate essay on the asphalt and 
bituminous rock deposits of the United States. The author, 
Mr. G. H. Eldridge, points out that while sandstones are 
storage reservoirs for mineral oils or bituminous deposits, 
limestones may be the place of origin as well as the means 
of storage. Ozocerite has been formed in some strata by 
the draining of petroleum pools or of strata richly saturated 
in oil. The author instances a reservoir in California that 
rests on granite, and has been filled from overlying deposits. 
In part ii. ore deposits are dealt with. There is an 
account of the tungsten mine at Trumbull, Conn., and it is 
mentioned that wolframite is produced by alteration of 
scheelite through replacement of its calcium by iron and 
manganese. The ore deposits of Rico Mountains comprise 
galena, often argentiferous, sphalerite or zinc blende, chalco- 
pyrite and magnetite; those of the Elkhorn district include 
argentiferous galena and gold, and the metalliferous de- 
posits are believed to have been derived from igneous rocks 
(gabbro) lying beneath limestones, through the agency of 
uprising hot siliceous waters. The Blue Mountains of 
eastern Oregon comprise, near Baker City, an important 
gold-field. The mountains consist of cores of older rocks 
with Tertiary rhyolites, andesites, and basalts. Gold and 
silver occur in veins in the older rocks, and gold occurs 
also in placer deposits. In Monte Cristo, Washington, 
there are ores of copper, lead, zinc and arsenic. The lead 
and zinc mines of the Ozark region are dealt with in con- 
siderable detail, with respect to the relation and to the 
concentration of the ores, whether by ascending or descend- 
ing waters. The original precipitation of the metals is 
traced back to the agency of organic matter, aided by con- 
centration and evaporation in shallow seas, such as 
characterised the dolomitic beds of Cambro-Silurian age. 
Analyses show minute, but important, amounts of zine and 
lead in the pre-Cambrian, Cambro-Silurian and Carbon- 
iferous rocks. The workable ores have been deposited in 
the fractured and brecciated areas of Carboniferous Lime- 
stone. The author discusses the chemical processes which 
have led to the deposition of these ores; these have in 
succession been oxidation of sulphides, transportation as 
sulphates, and precipitation in the crevices of the rocks as 
sulphides. Some of the ores have since been superficially 
changed to carbonates. 
Part iii. deals with coal, oil and cement. There are 
statistics relating to the coal-fields of the United States, 
particulars about the anthracite coal-field of Pennsylvania, 
with its disturbed, vertical and overturned coal, and de- 
scriptions of various other coal-fields, and of the Gaines oil- 
field of Pennsylvania. Accounts are given of the Portland 
cement industry in Michigan, and of the manufacture of 
hydraulic cement in south-west Arkansas, where chalk com- 
parable with that of England is used. 
Part iv. deals with hydrography, with stream measure- 
ments, the hydrography of the American isthmus, and of 
the high plains. 
We have received also part i. of the twenty-third annual 
report for 1901-2. It contains the report of the director, 
Mr. C. D. Walcott, who describes the methods of work, 
and appends a memoir, with portrait, of the late Clarence 
King. 
In addition we have received a preliminary report on the 
Ketchikan mining district of Alaska, by Mr. Alfred H. 
Brooks, who deals with the gold-bearing properties and 
with certain silver and lead deposits; and a reconnaissance 
of the north-western portion of Seward Peninsula, in Alaska, 
by Mr. A. J. Collier, with reference to the more important 
gold-fields.. These reports, which are naturally somewhat 
sketchy, will be of service to those who contemplate mining 
enterprises in the districts. 
Two monographs of the Geological Survey have recently 
been published. Monograph No. xlii. is on ‘‘ The Carbon- 
iferous Ammonoids of America,’’ by Mr. James Perrin Smith. 
The writer tells us that he makes ‘‘ no distinction between 
goniatites and ammonites, because there is none that wild 
hold.’? He remarks that while nearly all the characteristic 
