400 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 1002- 



This paper is devoted to a discussion of the 

 more important slate deposits of the southern 

 states, including their location, structural and age 

 relations, quality, etc., particular attention being 

 given to those areas occupied by active operations. 

 This accounts, therefore, for the prominent posi- 

 tion and greater space being given in this discus- 

 sion to the occurrences in Virginia and Maryland. 

 Slates occur also in Georgia, notably the green 

 slate found to the north of Cartersville, and in 

 Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia and elsewhere 

 in the south. 



The Cement Materials and Industry of the South- 

 ern States: Thomas L. Watson and J. S. 

 Grasty. 



The Portland cement industry in the southern 

 states is an important and growing one. Cal- 

 careous (limestones or marls or both) and argil- 

 laceous (clays, shales and slates) materials are 

 found in each of the southern states, being partic- 

 ularly well developed in those states traversed by 

 Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian rocks. The 

 present paper discusses the occurrence and distri- 

 bution of these materials, including composition, 

 and explains how their adaptability for use in the 

 manufacture of Portland cement may be deter- 

 mined. 



The Gypsum Resources of the Southern States: 



Frank A. Wilder. 



Gypsum in quantities sufficient to be of com- 

 mercial importance occurs in Oklahoma, Texas and 

 Virginia. In Arkansas large deposits are said to 

 exist in Pike county but their fitness for plaster 

 ean not be positively stated. A small body of 

 gypsum is reported from Bear Island near the post- 

 office of Panassoffke, Fla., but this deposit is of 

 doubtful commercial importance. 



The deposits in Oklahoma and Texas are inex- 

 haustible and consist of both rock gypsum and 

 gypsum earths known as gypsite. 



The Virginia deposit is much more limited in 

 area and in tons available, but can probably main- 

 tain an annual output of 200,000 tons for fifty 

 years or more. 



The Virginia gypsum deposit is peculiar on ac- 

 eount of the rather unusual relationships between 

 the gypsum and a pronounced fault which has 

 thrust Cambrian dolomite over the gypsum-bear- 

 ing formations which we regard as of Mississip- 

 pian age. 



On account of the rapid increase in the use of 

 gypsum plasters, gypsum tile for fireproofing, and 



in Portland cement, of which gypsum is a minor 

 but very essential ingredient, these gypsum de- 

 posits are important factors in the development 

 of the south. 



In connection with agriculture ground gypsum 

 is regarded as essential in the raising of peanuts 

 and is useful in the cultivation of all legumes. It 

 doubtless is the cheapest way to restore sulphur to 

 the soil where this element has been exhausted, 

 and reacts on insoluble potash compounds, render- 

 ing them more soluble. 

 The Gypsum Eesources of Texas and Oklahoma: 



E. T. DUMBLE. 



The location and character of the gypsum de- 

 posits of Texas and Oklahoma now being exploited 

 commercially. Present development of the indus- 

 try, and possibilities of this area. Description of 

 other areas in Texas susceptible of similar devel- 

 opment. 

 The Bauxite Industry in the Southern States: W.- 



C. Phalen. 



The production of bauxite in the United States 

 in 1912 was, in round numbers, 160,000 long tons, 

 valued at approximately $775,000. In other 

 words, this means the production of bauxite in the 

 southern states, for the mining of this mineral is 

 strictly a southern industry, and such it has been 

 since its inception in the United States. 



The states which produced bauxite in 1912 are as 

 follows: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Tennes- 

 see. A deposit of the mineral is known also in 

 Botetourt county, Virginia, but it has never been 

 exploited. Arkansas led in the production, as it 

 has for many years, followed distantly by Georgia, 

 Alabama and Tennessee, named in the order of 

 their production and the value of same. 



Bauxite has a variety of uses, which are as fol- 

 lows: (1) As raw material in the production of 

 metallic aluminum, (2) in the manufacture of 

 aluminum salts, (3) in the manufacture of bauxit* 

 brick, (4) in the manufacture of alundum 

 (fused alumina) for use as an abrasive, and (5) 

 in the manufacture of calcium aluminate. 



The use of bauxite in the manufacture of me- 

 tallic aluminum is by far the most important of 

 those enumerated above. A large part of the en- 

 tire output of Arkansas is used in the aluminum 

 industry, and the production from this state has 

 shown phenomenal growth during recent years. 

 When it is considered that more than 65,000,000 

 pounds of the metal were consumed in the United 

 States during the past calendar year, and that 

 this aluminum in the form of No. 1 ingots, whole- 



