484 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LII. No. 1351 



S. Olmsted, of tlie Army Air Service, necessary- 

 funds for the purchase of equipment and the 

 maintenance of this laboratory were furnished 

 to the Bureau of Mines late last spring. This 

 equipment is now being received and installed 

 by the Bureau of Mines in the New Depart- 

 ment of the Interior Building at Washington. 

 The equipment consists of two four-stage Nor- 

 walk compressors with a capacity of 75 cu. ft. 

 of free air per minute each. These will be 

 used for making liquid air and for other pur- 

 poses in connection with the experimental 

 work. There will also be one vertical subma- 

 rine type IsTorwalk compressor with a capacity 

 of 12 cu. ft. of free air per minute to be used 

 in connection with a liquid hydrogen cycle, 

 and a similar compressor with a capacity of 8 

 cu. ft. of free air per minute for use in connec- 

 tion with a liquid helium cycle. These com- 

 pressors will all be driven by variable speed 

 motors, and be equipped with unloading valves 

 so that the capacities can be varied within 

 wide limits. In addition, there will be an ade- 

 quate equipment of gas holders, a machine 

 shop, and a chemical and physical laboratory. 

 The force will consist of four technical men 

 and two mechanics, and the whole laboratory 

 will be under the direction of the writer. It is 

 hoped that the equipment will be completely 

 installed by January 1. 



Whereas the main object of the laboratory 

 will be to assist in every possible way the 

 whole helium project, both on the production 

 and refining ends, there is a strong desire that 

 this laboratory shall be of material use to sci- 

 ence in general, and that it may be possible 

 later on to make arrangements for its facilities 

 to be used in special cases by men outside the 

 government service who are specially equipped 

 for such work. E. B. Moore 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 

 PHOSPHATE IN MOROCCO 



In times of peace this country, according 

 to the Geological Survey, has in a single year 

 sent abroad, mostly to Europe, 1,250,000 long 

 tons or more of high-grade phosphate rock, or 

 more than 40 per cent, of its total annual out- 

 put. The exports decreased during the war 



until, in 1918, they amounted to only 143,000 

 tons, or 6 per cent, of the domestic output. 

 They increased to 379,000 tons in 1919, but 

 these reports of newly discovered large de- 

 posits in Morocco, which, like those in Al- 

 geria and Tunis, are near to the large ferti- 

 lizer market in southern Europe, may mean 

 that the American exporter of phosphate rock 

 will have formidable competition in that 

 region. 



As superphosphate fertilizer is manufac- 

 tured chiefly from phosphate rock, France, by 

 her control of the deposits in Algeria, Tunis 

 and Morocco, has a practical monopoly of the 

 North African sources of a commodity that is 

 essential to the restoration of European agri- 

 culture. When these deposits have been fur- 

 ther developed and adequate transportation 

 facilities have been provided the market for 

 phosphate rock in southern Europe will prob- 

 ably be supplied from northern Africa, so 

 that the American exports to Europe will be 

 confined to the northern coimtries. 



The principal deposits in Morocco are about 

 80 miles southeast of Casablanca and consist 

 of three beds or series of beds of phosphatic 

 sand in a formation that is 50 to 200 feet 

 thick. The uppermost phosphatic bed con- 

 tains 67 per cent, of tricalcium phosphate, the 

 middle bed 30 per cent, and the lower beds 

 53 per cent., and the conunercial average for 

 the group is about 59 per cent. Water and 

 hydroelectric power for the exploiting of the 

 deposits can be obtained from a river near by. 

 In order to market the rock, however, a rail- 

 road would have to be built from the deposits 

 to Casablanca, the nearest port. 



Another deposit, which consists of soft 

 phosphatic material carrying 72 to 75 per 

 cent, of tricalcium phosphate, lies 40 miles 

 northeast of the principal one. Still another 

 deposit lies a short distance southeast of 

 Rabat, a coast town. This deposit consists of 

 sandy clay 16 feet thick containing nearly 47 

 per cent, of tricalcium phosphate. 



THE PASTEUR INSTITUTE OF PARIS 



The Paris correspondent of the Journal of 

 the American Medical Association writes: 



