396 



SCIENCE. 



LN. S. Vol. V. No. 114. 



The commission will be present at the meet- 

 ings of the A. A. A. S. at Detroit and the Brit- 

 ish Association at Toronto in August, and will 

 make an informational report to these bodies if 

 desired. 



D. T. MacDoxjgal. 



AN ALLOY COMPOSED OF TWO THIRDS ALUMINUM 

 AND ONE THIRD ZINC. 



Peof. W. F. Dueand, of Sibley College, 

 Cornell University, supplied the following facts: 

 From a series of tests made in the Mechan- 

 ical Laboratory of Sibley College, on the strength 

 of alloys of aluminum and zinc in varying pro- 

 portions, the best results were found for mix- 

 tures of not far from the above proportion. 

 The principal properties of the metal were 

 found to be as follows: 



Tensile strength deduced from small bars 22,000 

 Maxium fiber stress deduced from trans- 

 verse tests 44,000 



Modulus of elasticity 8,000,000 



Specific Gravity 3.3 



Apart from of the above, comparative experi- 

 ments have been made more recently between 

 small bars of this metal and like bars of cast 

 iron, showing the same general indications, and 

 apparently warranting the conclusion that this 

 alloy is the equal of good cast iron in strength, 

 and its superior in location of elastic limit. The 

 other general physical properties of chief inter- 

 est are as follows : 



The color is white and it takes a fine smooth 

 finish and does not readily oxidize. It melts at 

 a dull red heat or slightly below, probably 

 about 800-900 F. It can, therefore, be readily 

 melted in an iron ladle over an ordinary black- 

 smith's forge or other open fire. It is very 

 fluid aud runs freely to the extremities of the 

 mould, filling perfectly small or thin parts. In 

 this particular it is much superior to brass. It 

 does not burn the sand into the casting and 

 hence comes out clean and in good condition to 

 work. It is rather softer and more easily 

 worked than ordinary brass, and yet is not as li- 

 able to clog a file. It is brittle like cast iron and 

 hence is not suited to pieces which require the 

 toughness possessed by brass. For equal vol- 

 umes and with aluminum at 50 cts. per pound, 

 it is about equal in expense to brass bought at 

 15 cts. per pound. 



This alloy would seem to be admirably 

 adapted to many small parts of machines, 

 models, etc., where it is desired to obtain cast- 

 ings without waiting for a regular foundry heat, 

 and where lightness combined with good finish, 

 strength, stiffness and non-corrosiveness, are 

 among the desiderata. It has been employed 

 with great success in the construction of small 

 screw propellers for experimental work in the 

 Graduate School of Marine Engineering. 



GENERAL. 



The author of ' The Argentaurum Papers ' 

 has brought suit against this Journal for $50,- 

 000, estimating that his reputation ' as a scien- 

 tist, philosopher, chemist and mathematician ' 

 has been damaged to that extent by the review 

 of his book in our issue of February 19th 

 (p. 314). Should the ' case ' prove one for the 

 legal profession, the Supreme Court of the 

 State of New York may need to pass on the 

 validity of the law of gravitation. 



The American Society of Naturalists, the 

 American Physiological Society, the American 

 Morphological Society and the American Psy- 

 chological Association will meet at Cornell Uni- 

 versity, Ithaca, N. Y., on December 28, 29 and 

 30, 1897. 



At the annual meeting of the New York 

 Zoological Society, in January, the Board of 

 Managers was strengthened by representatives 

 from the American Museum of Natural History 

 and from the New York Botanical Garden. 

 The resignation of the Honorable Andrew H. 

 Green, who has been President of the Society 

 since its inception, was accepted, and the selec- 

 tion of his successor was left to the Executive 

 Committee. This Committee was reorganized 

 for the year by the election of Heni-y F. Os- 

 born as Chairman and Madison Grant as Sec- 

 retary. At the last meeting of the Committee 

 the Hon. Levi P. Morton, of New York, was 

 elected President of the Society. The other 

 officers of the Society are : Corresponding Sec- 

 retary, George Bird Grinnell ; Treasurer, L. V. 

 Randolph. The agreement with the City has 

 been in the hands of the Park Board for nearly 

 six weeks, and has undergone considerable 

 modification, mainly in the direction of giving 



