196 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL VI. No. 1182 



under state laws and have no additional municipal 

 regulations. A number of cities such as Baltimore, 

 Buffalo, Los Angeles and Milwaukee have local 

 provisions in addition to state laws. In 1910, six 

 teen states had laws providing for the state inspec- 

 tion of meters and of the purity of gas — Conneeti 

 cut, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts 

 Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York 

 Ohio, Oklahoma, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, 

 Wisconsin and California (B. of S. Circular No, 

 32). Doubtless the list is now larger. 



In 1910 the net income to the state of Massa- 

 chusetts in meter-testing alone was over $5,000, 

 The total cost of the tests on quality, purity, pres- 

 sure, etc., was assessed on the operating companies 

 according to their sales. Meter-testing is on the 

 fee basis. There is no good reason why such a de- 

 partment in North Carolina would not yield a 

 revenue to the state. 



That the Corporation Commission in North Caro- 

 lina should have the power and machinery at its 

 command to protect the interests of citizens seems 

 obvious for the following reasons : Under existing 

 law it is the duty of the commission to regulate 

 the rates to be charged by gas companies. The 

 proper price is determined in a large measure by 

 the quality of product sold and this is almost at 

 the will of the producer. Gas in New York City 

 furnishes 680 heat units per cubic foot and is sold 

 at 80 cents. Gas in Durham furnishes at times less 

 than 500 heat units and is sold at $1.50. In one 

 city in this state gas furnishing 412 heat units sold 

 for $1.60. The standard requirement in regulated 

 states is around 600 heat units. The difference in 

 quality means a loss of from five to twenty thou- 

 sand dollars per year to consumers in various 

 towns of this state and the loss would easily run 

 into hundreds of thousands to the state at large. 

 While it may be to the interest of certain com- 

 munities to sell a cheap, poor gas it is safe to say 

 that it is always against public interest to have a 

 cheap, poor gas sold at a rich, high price. To 

 fairly meet its responsibility the commission must 

 know from its ovm tests the quality of the product 

 sold. The consumer is entirely helpless. 



Aside from the question of rates, the public is 

 vitally interested from the standpoint of health. 

 In the method of manufacture used by one com- 

 pany in this state, carbon monoxide and hydrogen 

 are produced in equal quantities. Both of these 

 gases are odorless and one is a deadly poison. 

 Combined they give a cheap gas furnishing about 

 300 heat units. This gas causes a meter to register 

 just as fast as a 600 heat unit gas. It is the duty 



of this company to carburet this gas with an oil 

 which not only brings its heat value to standard, 

 but gives it a very pungent odor that makes it 

 noticeable in case of a leak. In this town a series 

 of fatal accidents have occurred due solely to the 

 neglect of the service company. In other methods 

 other deleterious elements are introduced by care- 

 lessness so that in all cases public interest de- 

 mands systematic testing under the authority of 

 the state. 



It is just as reasonable to let manufacturers sell 

 anything called fertilizer Trithout tests as to com- 

 position as it is to permit of the sale of untested 

 gas. Our duty to test meters is just as obvious 

 as our duty to test weights and measures. 



The advantages resulting from such an act 

 would not even be principally with the citizen. 

 An expert employed by the state to travel from 

 plant to plant observing and testing, corrects ir- 

 regularities and errors in manufacture that may 

 mean thousands of dollars saved to the companies. 

 If ammonia appears in the gas it means that a 

 valuable by-product is being lost. So it is -mth 

 other errors of manufacture. The fact that meters 

 are tested by the state brings a feeling of confi- 

 dence to the consumer that is worth much to the 

 gas companies. Uniform, improved and econom- 

 ical manufacture brings new and profitable business 

 and this more than compensates for any costs in- 

 volved. 



No abstracts have been received for the follow- 

 ing papers: 



The relative toxicity of uranium nitrate in ani- 

 mals of different ages, by Wm. DeB. MacNider. 



Trembles, by Frederick A. Wolf. 



Permanency in fleshy fungi, by H. C. Beardslee. 



Soimd-wave photography (lantern), by Andrew 

 H. Patterson. 



Evolution in sponges and changes in classifica- 

 tion, by H. V. Wilson. 



The revision of the atomic weight of zirconium, 

 by F. P. Venable and J. M. Bell. 



Eeeent investigations about cottonseed meal, by 

 W. A. Withers and F. E. Carruth. 



The physics of the shrapnel shell, by Andrew H. 

 Patterson. 



Portolan charts (lantern), by Collier Cobb. 



The idea of force in mechanics, by Andrew H. 

 Patterson. 



The times we think in, by George W. Lay. 



The life history of the pecan trunk borer, by E. 

 W. Leiby. 



E. W. GXIDGER, 



Secretary 



