174 



NATURE 



[August ii, 1910 



Treatment of Storage Cells. 



In the " Notes" of Nature for July 28 (p. 118) refer- 

 ence is made to an article on the renewal of sulphated 

 storage cells by Mr. J. O. Hamilton. Readers of Nature 

 may be interested in a method of treatment I have 

 employed for a number of years, which has given most 

 satisfactory results. 



.\ strong {30-40 per cent.) solution of crude, commercial 

 sodium hydroxide solution is prepared in a large iron pot 

 and is heated to boiling. The accumulator plates, 

 previously washed thoroughly for several days in running 

 water, are dipped into the boiling soda solution and 

 allowed to remain for a period of from five to fifteen 

 minutes, depending on the extent to which " sulphating " 

 has taken place. They are then removed and washed for 

 several davs in fresh 'water, after which they are placed 



in the jars with 

 thoroughly charged. 



This" treatment can h' 

 applied to any cells 

 which have not under- 

 gone structural disinte- 

 gration, and whMi 

 properly carried on; 

 restores the cell to ii^ 

 full normal capacity. 

 I have used it with 

 complete success for 

 treating a set of six 

 large portable accunm 

 lators which had stood 

 uncharged for nearl\ 

 five years, during which 

 period almost all the 

 water had evaporated 

 from the electrolyte, 

 and the greater part of 

 the sulphuric acid had 

 combined with the 

 plates. It is also a 

 very effective remedy 

 when applied to cells 

 which show local action 

 and continuously evolve 

 gas from the plates after 

 charging, with a corre- 

 sponding more or less 

 rapid loss of charge on 

 standing. In treating 

 such cells a more dilute 

 solution (20 per cent.) of 

 sodium hydroxide can be 

 used. 



I have never found 

 a cell too completely 



frrsli siilphur 



acid solution and 



YELLOW JACK AND THE WEST INDIES.' 



THIS is a popularly written book, giving an 

 account of the health of the West Indies of 

 to-day, as compared with one hundred years ago. 

 The motto on the title-page is " Wear a smile on 

 your face, and a flower in your buttonhole," and, in 

 accordance with this, the note of the book throughout 

 is cheerful and optimistic. 



The book is the outcome of a visit paid by the 

 author, at the request of the Colonial Ofifice, to 

 Barbados in March, 1909, to report on an outbreak 

 of yellow fever which threatened the colony at that 

 time. After spending a month in Barbados, a flying 

 visit was paid to Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, 

 Trinidad, and British Guiana, in order to study and 

 compare the health conditions of these colonies with 



I. — Belleville, Barbados. 



sulphated " to be restored by this treatment. 



Bertram B. Boltwood. 

 Munich, Germany, .August 7. 



The Sheffield Meeting of the British Association. 



May I ask the favour of your columns to bring to the 

 notice of intending visitors to the meeting of the British 

 -Association in Sheffield the fact that, at the reception to 

 be given to the association by the Duke of Norfolk, the 

 Chancellor of Sheffield University, on Tuesday evening, 

 September 6, exhibits are being arranged of new experi- 

 ments, apparatus, specimens, S:c., of scientific interest? 

 The committee of the University formed to make arrange- 

 ments for the exhibition will be glad to hear from any 

 members of the association or others who have any exhibits 

 which they can show on this occasion. The committee 

 will welcome cooperation, and will give every facility for 

 demonstrations. 



S. R. MiLNER. 

 (Secretary to the Committee.) 



The University, Sheffield, August 8. 



those of Barbados. Further, in a series of appen- 

 dices, the health progress of Martinique, Guadeloupe, 

 Cuba, Porto Rico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and British 

 Honduras is summarised. 



The diseases mostly dealt with are yellow fever, 

 malaria, filaria, plague, and anlcylostoma. The medi- 

 cal organisation of the different islands to improve 

 sanitary conditions, to destroy mosquitoes, to prevent 

 the introduction of disease, and to stamp out existing 

 diseases, is discussed at length. A large part of the 

 book is given up to the various health ordinances and 

 sanitarv bj'-laws issued by the various Governments. 

 From this it will be seen that the scope of the book 

 is wide. It is illustrated by many fine reproductions 

 of photographs of places and scenerv in the West 

 Indies; also bv plans of the towns visited, giving the 

 distribution of mosquitoes and the diseases due to 

 them. There is an excellent coloured map of the 

 region in question. 



1 "Health Progress and Adir 

 Rubert W. Boyce, F.R.S. Pp. 



(Londc 



West Indies." By Sir 

 n : John Murray, 1910.) 



NO. 2128, VOL. 84] 



