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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 871 



to utilize terresti'ial heat from boreholes ; 

 others have deduced that from the tides, 

 the winds and water-power small supplies 

 of energy are no doubt obtainable, but that, 

 in comparison \vith that derived from the 

 combustion of coal, they are negligible ; 

 nothing is to be hoped for from the direct 

 utilization of solar heat in this temperate 

 and uncertain climate; and it would be 

 folly to consider seriously a possible supply 

 of energy in a conceivable acceleration of 

 the liberation of energy by atomic change. 

 It looks utterly improbable, too, that we 

 shall ever be able to utilize the energy due 

 to the revolution of the earth on her axis, 

 or to her proper motion round the sun. 



Attention should undoubtedly be paid 

 to forestry, and to the utilization of our 

 stores of peat. On the continent, the for- 

 ests are largely the property of the state; 

 it is unreasonable, especially in these latter 

 days of uncertain tenure of property, to 

 expect any private owner of land to invest 

 money in schemes which would at best only 

 benefit his descendants, but which, under 

 our present trend of legislation, do not 

 promise even that remote return. Our 

 neighbors and rivals, Germany and France, 

 spend annually 2,200,000^ on the conser- 

 vation and utilization of their forests; the 

 net return is 6,000,OOOL There is no doubt 

 that we could imitate them with advantage. 

 Moreover, an increase in our forests would 

 bring with it an increase in our water- 

 power; for without forest land rain rap- 

 idly reaches the sea, instead of distributing 

 itself, so as to keep the supply of water 

 regular, and so more easily utilized. 



Various schemes have been proposed for 

 utilizing our deposits of peat: I believe 

 that in Germany the peat industry is mod- 

 erately profitable; but our humid climate 

 does not lend itself to natural evaporation 

 of most of the large amount of water con- 

 tained in peat, without which processes of 

 distillation prove barely remunerative. 



We must therefore rely chiefly on our 

 coal reserve for our supply of energy, and 

 for the means of supporting our popula- 

 tion; and it is to the more economical use 

 of coal that we must look, in order that our 

 life as a nation may be prolonged. We 

 can economize in many ways: By the sub- 

 stitution of turbine engines for reciprocat- 

 ing engines, thereby reducing the coal re- 

 quired per horse-power from 4 to 5 lb. to 

 1\ or 2 lb. ; by the further replacement of 

 turbines by gas engines, raising the econ- 

 omy to 30 per cent, of the total energy 

 available in the coal, that is, lowering the 

 coal consumption per horse-power to 1 or 

 IJ lb. ; by creating the power at the pit- 

 mouth, and distributing it electrically, as 

 is already done in the Tyne district. Econ- 

 omy can also be effected in replacing "bee- 

 hive ' ' coke ovens by recovery ovens ; this is 

 rapidly being done ; and Dr. Beilby cal- 

 culates that in 1909 nearly six million tons 

 of coal, out of a total of sixteen to eighteen 

 millions, were coked in recovery ovens, thus 

 effecting a saving of two to three million 

 tons of fuel annually. Progress is also 

 being made in substituting gas for coal or 

 coke in metallurgical, chemical and other 

 works. But it must be remembered that 

 for economic use, gaseous fuel must not be 

 charged with the heavy costs of piping and 

 distribution. 



The domestic fire problem is also one 

 which claims our instant attention. It is 

 best grappled with from the point of view 

 of smoke. Although the actual loss of 

 thermal energy in the form of smoke is 

 small — at most less than a half per cent, of 

 the fuel consumed — still the presence of 

 smoke is a sign of waste of fuel and care- 

 less stoking. In works, mechanical stokers 

 which ensure regularity of firing and com- 

 plete combustion of fuel are more and more 

 widely replacing hand-firing. But we are 

 still iitterly wasteful in our consumption 

 of fuel in domestic fires. There is prob- 



