362 
cent. of manganese, 6 per cent. of iron, 6 per 
cent. of silica and 0.14 to 0.20 per cent. ot 
phosphorus. The manganiferous iron ore of 
the district, as shown by the average of the 
analyses of about 30U tons shipped recently, 
contains about 15 per cent. of manganese, 20 
per cent. of iron, 30 per cent. of insuluble ma- 
terial and 0.17 per cent. of phosphorus. Prac- 
tically all the ore produced in the district is 
shipped to furnaces at Birmingham, Ala., for 
the manufacture of ferromanganese, spie- 
geleisen and manganiferous pig iron. 
_ The irregularity of the occurrence of the 
ores, the complex geologic structure, and the 
scarcity of outcrops in much of the district 
make it extremely difficult to use the geologic 
conditions as a guide in exploration and de- 
velopment and hazardous to predict the prob- 
able occurrence of ore in any locality or to do 
much more than to guess at the reserves of ore. 
Fortunately, however, the district has been 
worked for many years, either for manganese 
ore or for other minerals, and has been rather 
thoroughly explored, so that there is some 
basis for an estimate of the reserves. The 
statement seems to be warranted that the dis- 
trict probably still contains at least 100,000 
tons of minable high-grade manganese ore and 
perhaps 250,000 to 800,000 tons of manganif- 
erous iron ore—sufiicient to last for many 
years unless the rate of production is greatly 
increased. 
BRITISH ELECTRICAL INDUSTRIES AFTER 
THE WAR 
In the general survey with which the report 
of the British Departmental Committee on 
the electrical trades is introduced, it is urged, 
as we learn from the Journal of the Society 
of Arts, that the national importance of those 
trades has never been realized either by the 
government or the general public. Through 
the achievements of Faraday, Wheatstone, 
Kelvin, Swan, Hopkinson, and many others, 
Great Britain was first in electrical enter- 
prise, and should have retained her preemin- 
ence; but manufacturers were hampered while 
Parliament and local authorities debated how 
the distribution and use of electricity might 
be prevented from infringing “ conventional 
SCIENCE 
[N. 8S. Vou. XLVIII. No. 1241 
conceptions of public privileges and vested 
interests.” Consequently foreign manufac- 
turers were enabled, both in their own and 
other markets to gain a hold which they have 
never lost. The approximate annual value 
before the war of the total products of elec- 
trical plant, mains, and appliances in this 
country and Germany is set out in the follow- 
ing table: 
Great Brlteins Semenye 
Total electrical products. 22,500,000 60,000,000 
IOPQOOMIN Groniggoahacoase 7,500,000 15,000,000 
ILMNOAIT oaoodossocoace 2,933,000 631,000 
Consumption of home- 
made machinery ..... 15,000,000 45,000,000 
Moreover, of the £22,500,000 manufactured 
here, a large proportion was produced by con- 
cerns under foreign control, and in the case 
of “British” exports a proportion consisted 
of foreign manufactures reshipped as British 
goods! Apart from legislative obstacles, Great 
Britain, it must be remembered, had attained 
much prosperity and technical efficiency in 
her use of steam, and therefore her manufac- 
turers had less inducement than their rivals 
in foreign countries to adopt electrical driy- 
ing. Another factor retarding our electrical 
progress has been the “strength of the gas 
interests.” Again, foreign governments, ap- 
preciating the importance of conserving their 
home markets as a basis for the development 
of overseas trade, imposed protective duties 
and exerted influence on State Departments 
to purchase native goods. An industry culti- 
vated under these and other encouraging con- 
ditions has had an immense advantage in 
international competition. There is, the com- 
mittee says, conclusive evidence of the exist- 
ence of German control over companies osten- 
sibly British, and of that German control 
being exercised to the detriment of British 
interests indirectly through companies incor- 
porated in America, Switzerland, and other 
neutral countries. “At the outbreak of war 
negotiations were in progress for the acquisi- 
tion by Germany of financial control in exist- 
ing companies of the United Kingdom, as 
well as in the British Dominions and India, 
