282 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



its tail pointing toward and perhaps reaching Gould's comet, then visible only in 

 the telescope in the Little Dipper. On August 25th it will be in the constellation 

 Coma Berenices, the tail probably passing over or near Arcturus. Early in Sep- 

 tember the comet and its tail will both pass below our horizon, still as bright as 

 Coggia's comet at its best." 



Prof. Swift says, under the same date : "Of course it is impossible yet to 

 predict with certainty, but it would seem as if it would eclipse the glories of 

 Comet B " (Gould's Comet). — Scientific American. 



MINERALOGY. 



IRON SAND. 



On the shores of New Zealand, and many other localities, there are vast 

 quantities of iron sand, which might be profitably utilized. In the last edition of 

 Simmonds' "Waste Products," (pp. 413-419), some detailed information on the 

 New Zealand iron sands will be found. 



One of the American contributions for the Electrical Exhibition at Paris is a 

 modification of Mr. Edison's magnetic separator for the treatment of iron sand. 

 The iron sand on the south shore of Long Island contains 26 per cent of the fin- 

 est iron known. Innumerable attempts have been made to separate the sand, 

 and magnetic plates have been used before, but with no success, on account of 

 the presence of what is known as titaniferous iron — a substance which spoils iron. 

 Edison discovered that titanic iron was less magnetic than the pure iron particles, 

 and constructed his separator with that end in view. 



The sand falls a distance of four feet in a thin stream from a slit in a V 

 shaped box holding about a ton. Under this box is a receiver divided into two 

 compartments, the dividing partition being placed nearly under the slit in the 

 sand reservoir and parallel to it. If no magnet is brought into play the sand all 

 falls into one side of the box : but when a powerful magnet is brought near enough 

 to act upon the falling showers, the pure iron particles are deflected in their fall 

 and fly on the other side of the partition. The particles of titanic iron are not 

 attracted equally with the iron, and are not deflected sufficiently- to fall into the 

 compartment with the pure iron. 



A company has been formed in America for the extraction of iron from Long 

 Island sand, and is now at work with its first machine at Quoque, near Moriches, 

 on the Great South Bay. This machine, which is managed by one boy, keeps 

 six men and two carts busy bringing sand for the hopper. It treats 100 tons of 

 sand a day, producing about 20 tons of pure iron, costing a doUar a ton to pro- 

 duce, and selling for six doWaxs. ^Journal of Applied Science. 



