May 2 1, 1908] 



NA TURE 



67 



that the author recognises two species of ol-capi, as two 

 of the plates are lettered Okapia liebrechtsi. This is due, 

 however, to the fact that Prof. Fraipont had to use the 

 plates prepared for Dr. Major, and from the descriptions 

 of the plates we learn that the author recognises only a 

 single species — the typical O. johnstoni. In this we think 

 he is certainly right, and that some other factor than 

 specific distinction will have to be sought to explain the 

 differences between individual okapis in the matter both 

 of colour-pattern and of skull-characters. If there be two 

 kinds, the okapi certainly forms a strange e.\ception to the 

 law of " geminal species." 



Both the author and the administration of the Congo 

 Kree State are to be congratulated on this handsome and 

 exhaustive monograph. R- L. 



IRON AND STEEL INSTITUrE. 

 T^HE annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute was 

 -^ field in London at the Institution of Civil Engineers 

 on May 14 and 15, and was largely attended by members 

 from the various iron-producing districts of this country 

 and abroad. Sir Hugh Bell presided. 



The report of the council, read by Mr. Bennett H. 

 Brough, the secretary, showed that the institute had made 

 considerable progress during the year 1907. The member- 

 ship amounted to 2100, and the financial prosperity was 

 a matter for congratulation. In presenting the accounts, 

 Mr. W. H. Bleckly, hon. treasurer, announced that Mr. 

 .\ndrew Carnegie, past-president, had presented to the 

 research fund the further sum of eleven thousand dollars, 

 bringing his total benefaction to one hundred thousand 

 dollars. In moving the adoption of these reports, the 

 president announced that the institute had secured larger 

 premises in the same building as those previously occupied, 

 and that the reading-room accommodation had been much 

 improved. 



The president then handed the Bessemer gold medal to 

 Mr. B. Talbot, inventor of the continuous open-hearth 

 steel process, who expressed his aclvnowledgments. 



The first paper read described improvements in plate- 

 rolling mills. In it Mr. A. Lamberton described a new 

 form of plate-mill now successfully at work at the Glasgow 

 Iron and Steel Works for rolling light plates. The 

 paper, on the physical qualities of steel in relation to its 

 mechanical treatment, contributed by Mr. James E. York 

 (New York) contained suggestions for changes that might 

 result in the production of more trustworthv rails and 

 other similar sections than those now produced by ordinary 

 methods. The heating of the ingots is a matter of great 

 importance, and it is recommended that the finishing 

 temperature should be as low as possible to get the best 

 results, and that the initial temperature should not exceed 

 950° C. For solidifying ingots the author's method of 

 transverse rolling may be applied. 



Dr. T. E. Stanton, of the National Physical Laboratory, 

 described a new fatigue test for iron and steel, in which 

 a combination of rolling abrasion and alternate bending 

 is used. The machine designed for the purpose was 

 exhibited and described. 



Prof. B. Igewsky (Kieff) submitted a paper describing 

 a small electric furnace of novel design erected for experi- 

 mental purposes at the Kieff Polytechnic Institute. It is 

 a rotating cvlindrical furnace, with its axis horizontal, 

 built up of fire-brick blocks with contact pieces rubbing 

 against the outside surface. Most of the heating is done 

 by the passage of the current through the inner surfaces 

 of the refractory material, which, wfien red hot, becomes 

 a conductor. A continuous current of 2^0 volts and 

 50 amperes is employed. Experiments for the production 

 of steel from cast iron by the ore process were successful. 



The meeting was then adjourned until May i:;, when the 

 first paner was read bv Mr. F. J. R. Carulla (Derby), who 

 directed attention to the ditTficulty in finding cast iron suit- 

 able for use in the construction of chemical plant. For 

 some purposes, as, for example, ammonia stills, cast iron 

 seems everlasting, and even acid chemicals have sometimes 

 little action on cast iron. Yet when hydrochloric acid is 

 in question, cast iron succumbs like any weaker vessel. 



It was announced that the council had awarded Carnegie 

 research scholarships, each of the value of lOoZ., to 



NO. 2012. VOL. 78I 



T. Baker CSouth Wales), R. F. Bohler (New York), 

 W. Giesen (Mexico), E. Preuss (Germany), and L. P. M. 

 R^villon (France). The president then handed the Carnegie 

 gold medal for research to Dr. Carl Benedicks, of Upsala 

 University, and stated that the reports submitted by the 

 eight holders of research scholarships were considered to be 

 of sufficient merit to warrant their publication in the 

 journal of the institute. 



Mr. E. F. Law exhibited some striking lantern photo- 

 graphs illustrating the application of colour photography 

 to metallography. With the aid of Lumifere's autochrome 

 plates it is possible to obtain a photograph in colour on a 

 single plate and by a single exposure. In order to dis- 

 tinguish the constituents, the polished specimen of an alloy 

 is heated until a film of oxide forms on the surface. 

 Owing to the different rates at which the constituents 

 oxidise, they assume different colours, and can be readily 

 distinguished in the coloured photograph. 



The utilisation of blast-furnace slag formed the subject 

 of a paper read by Mr. C. de Schwarz (Li^ge), in which 

 he reviewed recent processes for making slag bricks and 

 cement. Blast-furnace works, especially those producing- 

 grey pig iron, have evidently still a large field for improve- 

 ment by utilising their slag for such purposes. 



Mr. Walter Rosenhain gave a detailed description of the 

 metallurgical and chemical laboratories in the National 

 Physical Laboratory, and Mr. Wesley Lambert gave an 

 interesting account of the pyrometric installation in the 

 gun section of the Royal Gun and Carriage Factories, 

 Woolwich. 



The eight reports on research work submitted by holders 

 of Carnegie research scholarships showed that a large 

 amount of very valuable work is resulting from the funds 

 placed at the 'disposal of the institute by Mr. Carnegie. 

 The investigation described by Mr. E. Hess (New York) 

 was carried out at a plant at Monterrey, Mexico, its object 

 being to ascertain the microscopical structures of steels 

 the carbon content of which is above oq per cent, at 

 various temperatures above the critical point. The rusting 

 of iron was dealt with by Mr. J. Newton Friend (Suffolk), 

 whose results point to the fact that the rusting of iron is 

 primarily the result of acid attack. The object of the 

 research described by Mr. D. M. Levy (Birmingham) was 

 to investigate the influence of sulphur, as it affected the 

 relations of carbon and iron, and by a series of coordinated 

 thermal, mechanical, chemical, and microscopic tests to 

 determine how far this action could be traced to any com- 

 bination or reaction between these three elements, or what 

 explanation could be elicited for it. 



No evidence was found to support the view that chemical 

 union between iron, carbon, and sulphur is the cause of 

 sulphur tending to retain carbon in the combined form in 

 irons. The purely physical — or rather mechanical — effects 

 of the sulphide observed in the research appear to offer a 

 satisfactory explanation of its action, exercised even by 

 verv small proportions. 



Mr. A. Hiorth (Christiania) gave the preliminary results 

 of trials in refining iron and steel by means of vapours of 

 metallic sodium. He finds that iron treated in this way 

 is more fusible and will remain molten longer than other 

 iron, and that such treatment will remove the oxygen. 

 The research submitted by Mr. B. Saklatwalla (Charlotten- 

 burg) on the constitution of iron and phosphorus com- 

 pounds was made with the view of supplementing Stead's 

 chemical researches by a complete thermal and metallo- 

 graphic investigation of the subject. The function of 

 chromium and tungsten in high-speed tool steel was in- 

 vestigated by Mr. C. A. Edwards (Manchester) ; and Mr. 

 H. C. Bovnton (New Jersey) submitted a continuatiori of 

 his researches on the hardness of the constituents of iron 

 and steel. 



Lastly, Dr. Carl Benedicks (Upsala), in a memoir for 

 which the Carnegie gold medal was awarded, gave the 

 results of experimental researches on the cooling pow-er of 

 liquids, on quenching velocities, and on the constituents 

 troostite and austenitc. He finds that the essential con- 

 dition for a quenching liquid to give effective cooling 

 appears to be a high latent heat of vapour, and so low a 

 temperature that the vapour bubbles formed at the surface 

 of the metal may be easily condensed in the surrounding 

 liquid. The rate' of flow of the liquid has very little in- 



