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SCIENCE. 



[X. S. Vol. XXI. Xo. 527 



twenty-eight persons present. The minutes of 

 the hist meeting were read and approved. 



Dr. George Y. Kunz read a paper on the 

 ' Jagersfontein or Excelsior-Tiffany Diamond,' 

 the largest diamond ever found uj) to the pres- 

 ent time. It weighed 970 carats, and was a 

 gem of most marvelous purity. This diamond 

 was most expertly cleaved into pieces, and 

 from it were cut ten gems weighing from 13 

 to 68 carats each; a total of 340 carats; and 

 these were imported into the United States. 

 Mr. Kunz also stated that carbon silicide had 

 been detected in the meteorite from the Canon 

 Diablo by Dr. Henri Moissan, of Paris, to- 

 gether with transparent diamond and black 

 diamond. As carbon silicide has been made 

 artificially with the electric furnace by Messrs. 

 Cowles, Acheson and Moissan heretofore, and 

 was first determined in nature by Professor 

 Moissan, if agreeable to Professor Moissan, he 

 would suggest tlie name moissaniic for this 

 compound. 



The paper was illustrated by models and 

 photographs. It was discussed by Professors 

 Kemp and Stevenson, the chairman, and 

 others. Brief rei)lies were made by Dr. 

 Kunz. 



Professor J. J. Stevenson read a paper en- 

 titled, ' Recent Advances in our Knowledge 

 of the Composition of Coals.' He said that 

 the coals of Spitzbergen, according to Na- 

 thorst, are in great part of Jurassic age. The 

 mining ojjerations are confined to Advent Bay, 

 a branch of the ice fiord of West Spitzbergen, 

 where coal has been opened on both sides of 

 the bay. The deposit has been followed 

 northwardly for about ten miles, and for an 

 equal distance westwardly. 



The chief enterprise is on the easterly side 

 of the bay, where the bed is somewhat less 

 than five feet thick. The coal from the upper 

 part is splint-like, while that from the lower 

 part is brilliant and somewhat prismatic. The 

 divisions show a notable difference in the per- 

 centage of volatile, the upper containing about 

 ten per cent, more than the lower. The coal 

 shows no tendency to coke, and that from the 

 lower portion is attacked energetically by 

 caustic potash. 



The coal was compared witli that from 



other localities in which the benches show 

 notable difference in volatile. The results of 

 tests with caustic potash made upon a number 

 of coals appeared to show that non-coking 

 coals are attacked promptly, while coals yield- 

 ing a firm coke are not affected even after 

 prolonged boiling. The speaker promised to 

 give at a future meeting the results of an 

 extended series of tests. 



The paper was discussed by Professor Kemp 

 and others. 



The last speaker was Professor J. F. Kemp, 

 upon . ' New Sources of the Supply of Iron 

 Ores.' Emphasis was first placed upon the 

 enormous demands made by the iron industry 

 of to-day upon the mines of the United States, 

 Great Britain and Germany. The conviction 

 was held by many that within fifty years the 

 local American sources of rich ores of whose 

 existence we now know would be exhausted 

 and the iron masters would be compelled to 

 seek new deposits. The following possible 

 new districts were passed in review : the 

 Labrador prospects discovered by Mr. A. P. 

 Low, of the Canadian Geological Survey, 

 which might also ship to Europe; Adirondack 

 areas of reported magnetic attraction and 

 possible lean ores, the Temagami district and 

 the Michipicoten range, Ontario; the southern 

 continuation of the Marquette range beneath 

 the drift; the southern half of the Mesabi 

 probable syncline beneath the swamps north- 

 west of Duluth, as suggested by C. P. Berkey; 

 the Baraboo range; the deposits in Iron 

 County, Utah, and in the Wasatch Mountains ; 

 the magnetites of southern California and the 

 prospects in Washington and along the coast. 

 The speaker emphasized the important re- 

 serves in the titaniferous magnetites and their 

 great quantity. 



Passing to Europe the new developments 

 in Sweden at Gellivara and Kirunavaara were 

 reviewed and the possibilities at Routivaara; 

 also the Dundeland valley in Norway and the 

 similar deposits farther north. Their rela- 

 tions to the smelting centers in Great Britain 

 and Germany were explained and their com- 

 parative amount with the ' minette ' ores of 

 France, Luxemburg, and Germany brought 

 out. Otlicr deposits in Spain, Algiers, Yen- 



