1074 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



whether the vast stores of American lig- 

 nites cannot be briquetted without the 

 use of artificial binders, under the same 

 conditions as prevail in Germany for 

 briquetting brown coal, which is analo- 

 gous to our lignite. The results from 

 these preliminary tests have been in the 

 main highly satisfactory. 



The tests proved that not only can lig- 

 nite be briquetted, but that the reduc- 

 tion of the moisture incident to the bri- 

 quetting process increases the heat value 

 of the briquets obtained by from 37 per 

 cent to 54 per cent over that of the 

 raw fuel. This improvement in heat 

 value will be of great importance to a 

 consumer, as a greater efficiency is ob- 

 tained from the combustion of fuels of 

 high-heat value than from those of 

 lower-heat value. The experiments have 

 also conclusively demonstrated that the 

 briquetted fuel withstands the effect of 

 weathering several months longer than 

 the raw fuel, thus making possible the 

 transportation of the lignite briquets, 

 which is not practicable in the raw fuel, 

 owing to its tendency to crumble and 

 slack. 



As a whole, the coal-briquetting indus- 

 try in the United States gives promise 

 of a fine development in the near future ; 

 it should give us a fuel of the greatest 

 value and convenience for both indus- 

 trial and domestic uses, and there is sat- 

 isfaction in the knowledge that whatever 

 the growth of the briquet production it 

 means in effect the creation of some- 

 thing out of nothing, since the materials 

 which constitute this fuel are at present 

 a dead waste. 



NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY 



THE series of illustrations in color pub- 

 lished m the November number of this 

 Magazine has proved so popular that a 

 similar series will be published at least twice 

 in 191 1. The next number will contain the 

 address recently delivered before the Society 

 by ex-President Roosevelt, illustrated by many 

 photographs by Mr Kermit Roosevelt. The 

 same number will also contain an unusual 

 series of photographs, showing the immense 

 work being done on the Panama Canal. 



The annual dinner of the Society will be 

 held Saturday evening, January 14, at the New 

 Willard. The dinner is in honor of the tJ. S. 



Army and of the art of aviation. The prin- 

 cipal guests of honor will be Messrs Wilbur 

 and Orville Wright. There will be addresses 

 by President Taft, the German Ambassador, 

 the Mexican Ambassador, Major General 

 Leonard Wood, Chief of Staff U. S. Army, and 

 Mr Wilbur Wright. Members desiring to at- 

 tend should send their applications at once. 

 Price per plate, $5.00. 



January 6. — "Arab Life in Tunisia." By 

 Frank Edward Johnson. 



January 13. — Annual Meeting, Hubbard Me- 

 morial Hall, 5 p. m. 



January 13. — "The Methods, the Achieve- 

 ments, and the Character of the Japanese." By- 

 Mr George Kennan. Illustrated. 



Januany 20. — "Making Pictures. The Won- 

 derful Development of the Art of Photography 

 and Its Value to Education and Commerce."" 

 By Hon. O. P. Austin, Chief of the United 

 States Bureau of Statistics and Secretary of 

 the National Geographic Society. Illustrated 

 with motion pictures. 



January 27. — "The Panama Canal." By Col. 

 George W. Goethals, Chief Engineer Panama 

 Canal. Illustrated. 



February 3. — "Our Plant Immigrants." By- 

 Mr David Fairchild, in charge of Agricultural 

 Explorations of the Department of Agriculture. 



February 10. — "The Balkan States." By Mr 

 E. M. Newman. With motion pictures. 



February 17. — "The Heart of Turkestan."" 

 By Mr William E. Curtis. Illustrated. 



February 24. — "The Italy of Today." By 

 Maj. Gen. A. W. Greely, U. S. Army. 



March 3.— "The Birds of Mexico." By Mr 

 Frank M. Chapman, of the American Museum 

 of Natural History. , 



March 10. — "From the Amazon to the Ori- 

 noco. The Five Guianas." By Mrs Harriet 

 Chalmers Adams. With motion pictures. 



March 17.' — "Travels and Experiences in 

 Mexico." By Mr John Birkinbine, President 

 of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, 

 Illustrated. 



March 24. — "The Shrines of Greece: Olym- 

 pia, Delphi, Eleusis, Athens, Mycen^, Tiryns, 

 Epidauros, and the Island of Crete." By Miss- 

 Marion Cock. Illustrated. 



March 31. — "The Romance and Grandeur of 

 Spain." ^ By Dr Charles Upson Clark, of Yale 

 University. Illustrated. 



April 7. — It is hoped that former Vice-Presi- 

 dent Charles W. Fairbanks will be able to ad- 

 dress the Society on this date on some subject 

 connected with his recent journey around the 

 world. 



April 14. — "The Fiords and Fisheries of Nor- 

 way." By Dr Hugh M. Smith. Deputy Com- 

 missioner of the Bureau of Fisheries. With, 

 motion pictures. 



