September 21, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



283 



summary of the production op potash in the 



united states, january to june 



(inclusive), 1917 



Available Fotasb Value at Point 

 Source (KsO) o( Shipment 



Natural salts or brines . . . 7,749 $2,808,240 



Alunite and dust from ce- 

 ment mills and blast fur- 

 naces 1,867 746,576 



Kelp 2,143 1,348,095 



DistUlery slop, wool wash- 

 ings and miscellaneous 

 industrial wastes 2,153 876,714 



Wood ashes llli 84,414 



14,023 $5,864,039 



The production from Searles Lake, Calif., 

 would undoubtedly be materially assisted by 

 passage of the legislation now before the House 

 of Eepresentatives dealing with the leasing of 

 potash-bearing lands. Continued uncertainty 

 as to the status of titles to this property has 

 hampered development of this important de- 

 posit. 



No production is reported from feldspar or 

 other silicate rocks, but considerable quanti- 

 ties of potash salts and potash-bearing fertiliz- 

 ers were obtained from the dusts in cement 

 mills and blast furnaces. 



The production from kelp was about 15 per 

 cent, of the total, as it was in 1916. 



Potash from distillery slop and other organic 

 sources made 15 per cent, or more of the total. 



The production of potash from wood ashes, 

 including " first sorts," " pearlash " and other 

 grades, is supposed to have been much greater 

 than it was in 1916, but reports from these 

 producers have been much delayed and the fig- 

 ures obtained thus far are probably not rep- 

 resentative. The potash made from wood ashes 

 thus far reported amounted to 222 tons, which 

 is assumed to average at least 50 per cent. 

 K.O. This is perhaps too low, but definite in- 

 formation as to the grade of this material is 

 difiicult to obtain. 



The prices quoted range from $3.50 to $6 a 

 unit, a unit meaning 1 per cent, of potash 

 (K.O) in a ton of the material as marketed — 



1 Only 25 reports of production from wood ashes 

 have come in, some of the larger producers not hav- 

 ing made returns. 



that is, a product carrying 25 per cent. K,0 

 may be sold at $4 a unit, which would be $100 

 a ton for the material marketed. 



The figures given seem to indicate that the 

 production for 1917 will exceed 25,000 tons of 

 potash (K.O) or two and one half times that 

 made in 1916. This is about 10 per cent, of the 

 average normal yearly consumption of the 

 country before the war, showing the need of 

 further stimulating domestic production of 

 potash. 



THE MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF 

 SURGEONS OF ENGLAND 



The annual report of the Conservator of the 

 Museum of the Eoyal College of Surgeons of 

 England, as abstracted in the British Medical 

 Journal, contains a review of work done in the 

 museum. Professor Keith states that besides 

 routine investigations carried on by the staff. 

 Dr. Colin Mackenzie had not only continued 

 his inquiries into the anatomy and physiology 

 of Australian mammals, but acting also as a 

 member of the honorary staff at the Military 

 Orthopedic Hospital, Shepherd's Bush, had 

 found it advantageous to combine his work at 

 the hospital with a research, bearing on his 

 cases, in the workrooms of the College. The 

 comparative anatomy of the muscles of the 

 forearm appears to throw much light on their 

 exact significance in man which may prove of 

 value in surgery. The specimens of bone 

 grafts which accompanied Major E. W. Hey 

 Groves's Jacksonian Prize Essay are distin- 

 guished in the report as of particular merit. 

 Many preparations of value have been added 

 to the pathological, teratological, and particu- 

 larly to the anthropological series; the latter 

 include prehistoric human bones unearthed 

 during trenching operations, not only in home 

 drill but also at the front. The four complete 

 skeletons of gorillas, each representing a dif- 

 ferent stage of growth, collected in the German 

 Cameroons, and generously purchased and pre- 

 sented to the museum by Sir John Bland- 

 Sutton, will provide an opportunity of illus- 

 trating various stages in the growth of that 

 anthropoid which, in a structural sense, is 

 man's nearest relation. Among drawings ac- 



