UNIFICATION OF METHODS IN TESTING MATERIALS, XXIX, 
The author would like to have included some considerations on 
tests of columns by excentric loading, but he has decided to leave 
this for a future paper. 
TRANSVERSE TESTS. 
In regard to castings, the Convention recommends that bars be © 
used 110 centimeters in length by 3 centimeters side, giving a 
useful length of 100 centimeters. (Plate 1, fig. 9). The faces of 
the bars should be left in their rough condition. The resistance 
to flexure should be measured up to the point of rupture, and the 
corresponding work on three pieces. The American Commission 
recommends that the faces of the bars should be shaped by a 
machine, and the edges rounded by a file, also that the time of 
testing should be comprised between one and two minutes. The 
sizes of the test bars are recommended to be 2” on a side, or 24” 
in diameter and the useful length of 16” or 20”. The large size 
is used to avoid the effect of superficial quenching. 
The usual test bar adopted in New South Wales, namely 2” x 1’, 
With a useful length of 36” would be improved by making the bars 
2” square, the length of 36” or 40” as recommended by the Con- 
vention is immaterial. If rectangular bars are used the coeflicient 
of strength will be lower as the section is larger, and a wide bar 
gives a higher coefficient than a deep bar. The same span may 
be adopted for transverse tests of spring steel, taking care to test 
the steel plate after it has been prepared under the same conditions 
as to quenching and annealing as the springs. It is important to 
observe that the deflections should be measured from a fixed and 
invariable base, and that the load applied should be exactly in 
the middle, and normal to the axis of the piece. 
In regard to tests on finished or whole pieces there is a differ- 
ence of opinion as to the intensity of the test, but it appears to 
the writer that the maximum working load should be applied, 
and the deformation due to that load should be accurately 
measured. The working conditions may be represented by a 
Steady pressure or by shock, but in either case it should be applied 
