January 20, 1923] 
NATURE 
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i 
Some small changes have to be made, and after these 
have been installed, it is expected that this production 
will be considerably increased. When all the units are 
operating efficiently, the plant will probably have a 
7 capacity of from 35,000 to 40,000 cubic feet per day. 
- An important part of the work has been the in- 
vestigation of the natural gas supplies of the United 
States for their helium content. This work was origin- 
: ally started during the war, and Mr. G. S. Rogers, of 
the U.S. Geological Survey, was transferred to the 
Bureau of Mines to carry on the work. A preliminary 
j report was published by the Survey in 1921 (U.S. 
Geol. Sur. Professional Paper 121, by G. Sherburne 
work along with other helium activities; and the 
Bureau maintained a full force and laboratory for this 
particular purpose for nearly two years. Every gas 
field in the United States has been sampled, and at the 
present time undoubtedly more than five hundred 
million cubic feet of helium is going to waste annually 
in connexion with the natural gas of the United States. 
_ A considerable proportion of this is widely scattered in 
gas-wells that have a small helium content, of only 
o-I-o-2 per cent., but a considerable amount of it is 
concentrated in large fields which have an average of 
more than o-5 per cent. helium in the gas, and some of 
the wells go above r-o per cent. and even 14 per cent. 
In general, the helium belt extends from Texas through 
Oklahoma, south-eastern Kansas, southern Illinois, and 
from there through Ohio into Pennsylvania and New 
York. There is also helium-bearing gas in Indiana, 
Kentucky, and West Virginia. The belt seems to go 
from south-west to north-east, generally speaking, the 
richest gas being in Texas, Oklahoma, and ag 
Though helium is being produced successfully com- 
mercially, we are not satisfied with the present develop- 
_mentorcosts. A considerable amount of research work 
_ is being carried out, therefore, with the main object of 
getting greater efficiency and reduction in cost. 
Rogers). ¢ r 
Since 1919 the present writer has supervised the field 





























a 
Tue following presidents and recorders of the 
various sections of the British Association have been 
_ appointed for the Liverpool meeting to be held in 
September next under the presidency of Sir Ernest 
Rutherford :—Section A (Mathematical and Physical 
Science) : Prof. J.C. McLennan; Prof. A. O. Rankine, 
Imperial College of Science and Technology, S.W.7. 
_ Section B (Chemistry): Prof. F. G. Donnan; Prof. 
_ C. H. Desch, The University, Sheffield. Section C 
_ (Geology): Dr. Gertrude Elles; Dr. A. R. Dwerry- 
_ house, Toots, Darell Road, Caversham, Reading. 
Section D (Zoology): Prof. J. H. Ashworth; Prof. 
_R. D. Laurie, University College, Aberystwyth. 
_ Section E (Geography): Dr. Vaughan Cornish; Dr. 
_R. N. Rudmose Brown, The University, Sheffield. 
_ Section F (Economics): Sir W. H. Beveridge ; Prof. 
_ H. M. Hallsworth, Armstrong College, Newcastle-on- 
Tyne. Section G (Engineering): Sir H. Fowler ; 
_ Prof. G. W. O. Howe, The University, Glasgow. 
Section H (Anthropology): Mr. P. E. Newberry ; 
Mr. E. N. Fallaize, Vinchelez, Chase Court Gardens, 
NO. 2777, VOL. IIT] 
The low-temperature laboratory (Fig. 3) is attached to 
the Bureau of Mines in Washington, with a force of about 
fifteen chemists, physicists, engineers, and mechanics. 
A thoroughly adequate equipment is available. A 
good deal of fundamental research work is being carried 
on and applied to the commercial production of helium, 
A consulting board of engineers consists of Mr. M. H. 
Roberts, Prof. W. L. De Baufre, and Dr. R. C. Tolman. 
This board is giving efficient and valuable help on plant 
design. It is assisted by Mr. J. W. Davis of the Bureau 
of Mines, and other members of the technical force. 
Mr. C. W. Seibel, Dr. A. G. Loomis, Dr. Leo Finkelstein, 
and Mr. W. V. Cullison have been with the work for a 
considerable time, and are giving valuable service. 
Two repurification plants are being constructed by 
the Bureau of Mines for the U.S. Army. The object 
of these plants is to repurify the helium after it has been 
used in a balloon or dirigible. One of these plants is 
situated at Langley (Aviation) Field, Va., and uses the 
ordinary combination of low temperature and high 
pressure in order to step up the purity of the gas. 
Dr. H. N. Davis has acted in a consulting capacity for 
this plant. The present writer felt from the early start 
of the project that the use of charcoal at low tempera- 
tures would be of value, and, therefore, a considerable 
amount of research work has been carried out, and has 
culminated in a repurification plant in two railroad cars. 
One of these cars is equipped with a self-contained 
power unit, and the other contains the necessary com- 
pressors, refrigeration outfit, and charcoal purifiers. 
By means of charcoal, a purity of practically 100 per 
cent. can be obtained. Both these plants will be ready 
for operation within a very short time. 
At the present time the Helium Board which handles 
the whole project consists of Col. I. F. Fravel, Com- 
mander S. M. Kraus, and myself. Others beside those 
already mentioned in this statement who have been 
intimately connected with the work are Major O. 
Westover, Major P. E. Van Nostrand, and Lieut. R. S. 
Olmsted, of the U.S. Army. 
Sl 
Current Topics and Events. 
Enfield, Middlesex. Section I (Physiology): Prof. 
G. H. F. Nuttall; Prof. C. Lovatt Evans, Physio- 
logical Laboratory, St. Bartholomew's Medical College, 
E.C.1. Section J (Psychology): Mr. C. Burt; 
Recorder not yet appointed. Section K (Botany) : 
Mr. A. G. Tansley; Mr. F. T. Brooks, 31 Tenison 
Avenue, Cambridge. Section L (Educational Science): 
Prof. T. P. Nunn; Mr. D. Berridge, The College, 
Malvern. Section M ( Agriculture): Dr. C. Crowther ; 
Mr. C. G. T. Morison, School of Rural Economy, 
Oxford. 
Tue Buys Ballot medal founded in 1888 in com- 
memoration of the work of C. H. D. Buys Ballot, the 
famous meteorologist of the Netherlands, to be 
awarded by the Royal Academy of Science at Amster- 
dam first in 1893, and afterwards every tenth year, to 
the person who is judged to have made the most 
valuable contributions to the science of meteorology, 
is to be given this year to Sir Napier Shaw, professor 
of meteorology in the Royal College of Science, late 
