770 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. ')S7 



respective years ; and the aggregate cost of sul- 

 phuric acid and pyrites and sulphur consti- 

 tuted 13.2 per cent, of the total in 1899, 11 per 

 cent, in 1904, and 11.2 per cent, in 1909. All 

 fertilizer establishments manufacturing sul- 

 phuric acid employed the chamber process, 

 sixteen using the Hoffman intensifier system, 

 eleven the Pratt, nine the Gilchrist, three the 

 Meyer tangential system, and one the Luney. 

 The manufacture, for consumption in their 

 own works, of 1,826,358 tons of acid pho.?phate 

 was reported by establishments engaged pri- 

 marily in the fertilizer industry, and 12,507 

 tons were made and consumed by establish- 

 ments manufacturing fertilizers as a subsi- 

 diary product. 



All records have been broken in the great 

 mineral production of the United States for 

 the year 1912. The year 1907 has heretofore 

 been the banner year of American mineral 

 output, with a total value of $2,072,666,639, but 

 even this great figure was exceeded in 1912 by 

 over $170,000,000. As compared with 1911, 

 the increase in 1912 is $316,098,198, or 16.40 

 per cent. These figures are shown in a sum- 

 mary of the mineral production of the United 

 States for 1912, compiled by W. T. Thom, of 

 the United States Geological Survey, now in 

 press. As heretofore, iron and coal are the 

 most important of our mineral products. The 

 value of iron (pig iron being the basis of 

 valuation) in 1912 was $420,563,388 ; the value 

 of coal was $695,606,071. The value of the 

 fuels — coal, natural gas and petroleum — in- 

 creased from $835,231,497 in 1911 to $943,972,- 

 362 in 1912, a gain of $108,740,865. Coal 

 showed an increase in value of $60,040,860, 

 from $626,565,211 in 1911 to $695,606,071 in 

 1912. The production of metals increased in 

 value $186,571,303, from $680,531,782 in 1911 

 to $867,103,085 in 1912. The nonmetals in- 

 creased $129,276,895, from $1,246,750,346 in 

 1911 to $1,376,027,241 in 1912. The unspeci- 

 fied products, including cadmium, selenium, 

 rutile, uranium, vanadium and other minerals, 

 valued at $500,000, increased $250,000, bring- 

 ing the total value of the mineral production 

 for 1912 up to $2,243,630,326. The production 

 of pig iron in 1912 gained more than $93,000,- 



000, or 28 per cent. ; ferro-alloys gained nearly 

 $4,000,000, or about 46 per cent. ; silver gained 

 more than $6,000,000, or 20 per cent.; copper 

 gained about $68,000,000, or nearly 50 per 

 cent.; zinc gained nearly $14,000,000, or 44 

 per cent., and aluminum gained nearly $4,000,- 

 000, or 47 per cent. Gold, which lost about 

 $3,500,000, was the only important metal to 

 show a decrease. Among the nonmetals bi- 

 tuminous coal gained approximately $67,000,- 

 000, or about 15 per cent.; anthracite coal 

 gained more than $2,000,000; natural gas 

 gained almost $10,000,000, or 13 per cent.; 

 petroleum gained nearly $30,000,000, or 22 

 per cent.; clay products gained more than 

 $10,000,000, or 6.5 per cent., and sulphuric 

 acid from copper and zinc smelters (a product 

 mined as it were out of the air and changed 

 from a destructive waste to an absolute gain) 

 increased $1,500,000, or 55 per cent. 



UNIVEBSITT AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS 

 An anonymous gift of $100,000 has been 

 made to Wellesley College. The money was 

 given towards the million-dollar fund which 

 the college is trying to raise as an endowment. 

 The total amount obtained thus far is $453,000. 



Yale University has received a gift of $50,- 

 000 from Mr. Charles H. Pine, of Ansonia, 

 Conn., to be used for scholarships under terms 

 to be announced later. 



Dr. Francis Gray Smart, of Tunbridge 

 Wells, has left £10,000 to Gonville and Caius 

 College, Cambridge, for two " Frank Smart 

 Studentships " in natural history or botany, 

 and if this sum shall be more than sufficient 

 to provide for these studentships the balance is 

 to be used to promote the study of these sub- 

 jects in that college. 



Mr. Otto Beit has given £2,000 to Cam- 

 bridge University for a library of German 

 books, together with £1,000, of which the in- 

 come is to be devoted to additions. 



The certificated teachers of Herefordshire 

 have decided to take action in a body with a 

 view to compelling the education authority to 

 redress the grievances from which they allege 



