912 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 782 



rapidly increasing number of students taking 

 mining engineering work, it has been neces- 

 sary to add two wings to the School of Mines 

 building and to employ additional assistance. 

 Certain laboratories will be set aside for the 

 experimental and research work on gas, coal, 

 clays, building materials, cements, etc., and 

 for this work the laboratories will be among 

 the very best equipped in America. This 

 work is unquestionably of very great impor- 

 tance to the state. 



The research which has already been car- 

 ried on in the Mining Engineering College of 

 the State University relative to lignite, coal, 

 gas and clays has attracted the attention of 

 many men throughout the country who are 

 interested in these subjects. It is intended to 

 build up laboratories and carry on investiga- 

 tions which will be a help to the state. 



The work which will be taken up most vig- 

 orously during the coming year will be for 

 the purpose of obtaining by investigations 

 and practical tests, a cheap and commercially 

 satisfactory method of lignite coal briquetting, 

 to show the best methods of burning lignite, 

 and to determine the possibility of utilizing 

 lignite for producing gas for light, heat and 

 power. Considerable attention will be given 

 also to the utilization of the high grade clays 

 of the state for the manufacture of a variety 

 of wares. 



In order to carry on this work on a practical 

 commercial basis, considerable machinery of 

 special design will be installed at the sub-station 

 at Hebron. For several months work has been 

 devoted to machinery and methods which 

 seemed to be suited to the manufacture of 

 briquettes from lignite. As a result complete 

 briquetting plant has been designed and is 

 now being built. The press will have a capac- 

 ity of 2 tons of briquettes per hour. In ad- 

 dition to this a specially constructed gas 

 plant is being made for the purpose of manu- 

 facturing gas for light, heat and power from 

 lignite coal. This will be one of the most 

 perfect types of gas plants and large enough 

 to produce several thousand cubic feet per 

 day. Machinery and kilns of commercial 



working size will be installed later for prac- 

 tical testing of the higher grade clays. 



THE ELIZABETH THOMPSON SCIENCE FUND 

 In January, 1910, there will be a meeting of 

 the trustees of the Elizabeth Thompson Sci- 

 ence Fund for the award of grants. Applica- 

 tions, in order to be considered at that time, 

 should reach the secretary, Dr. C. S. Minot, 

 Harvard Medical School, Boston, before Jan- 

 uary 15, 1910. All applications must he ac- 

 companied hy full information, especially in 

 regard to the following points: 



1. Precise amount required. 



2. Exact nature of the investigation pro- 

 posed. 



3. Conditions under which the research is 

 to be prosecuted. 



4. Manner in which the appropriation 

 asked for is to be expended. 



The trustees are disinclined, for the present, 

 to make any grant to meet ordinary expenses 

 of living or to purchase instruments such as 

 are found commonly in laboratories. De- 

 cided preference will be given to applications 

 for small amounts, and grants exceeding $300 

 will be made only under very exceptional cir- 

 cumstances. Preference will be given to 

 those investigations which can not otherwise 

 be provided for. 



THE BOSTON MEETING OF THE AMERICAN 

 ASSOCIATION 



The hotel headquarters for physicists at the 

 Boston meeting of the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science and the 

 American Physical Society will be the Hotel 

 Brunswick, Boylstou Street, near Copley 

 Square, which is also the general association 

 headquarters. Rates : single rooms, $1.50 to 

 $2.50; double, $2.50 to $3.50; with bath, single, 

 $2.50 to $3.50; double, $3 to $4. 



Section B has a joint session with Section 

 A on Tuesday afternoon, December 28, im- 

 mediately after the address of Vice-president 

 Guthe. Interesting papers will be presented 

 by Professors G. Eunge, A. A. Michelson, E. 

 W. Brown and H. F. Eeid. 



Friday morning, December 31, there will be 



