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An  Iodine  Factory  in  Eastern  Siberia.  {  Am  Yp?iT' 19 19""' 
building,  mounds  of  kelp  along  the  beach,  and  a  distinct  medicinal 
odor  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  All  around  on  three  sides,  stretch- 
ing for  miles  and  miles,  hill  upon  hill,  mountain  upon  mountain,  and 
on  the  fourth  side  the  ocean.  We  had  come  overland,  through  the 
big  government  coal  mines  of  Soo-chan,  leaving  the  mines  at  day- 
break, travelling  by  talaga  (Chinese  carts)  to  the  coast.  The  weekly 
boat  to  Vladivostok  was  due  in  that  night,  and  we  intended  returning 
by  her.  The  little  village  is  quite  a  center  for  outward  and  inward 
passengers,  chiefly  farmers  taking  their  cattle  and  produce  into 
town.  There  is  no  accommodation  for  passengers  whatsoever,  no 
hotel,  restaurant,  or  waiting-room.  The  cattle  are  all  deposited  on 
the  beach,  and  the  travellers — Chinese,  Koreans  and  some  Russians — 
squat  around.  They  often  wait  there  for  hours,  as  they  must  arrive 
by  daylight  and  the  boat  seldom  gets  in  before  2  A.M.  The  village- — 
though  it  can  scarcely  be  called  such — consists  of  the  factory  and 
not  more  than  six  Russian  houses,  the  remainder  being  Chinese  and 
Korean  huts. 
It  was  pleasant  to  find  something  to  while  away  the  hours  of 
waiting.  The  manager  of  the  factory  being  away,  we  were  shown 
round  by  a  post-graduate  student,  who  explained  every  process  to 
us  in  voluble  Russian.  It  is  not  necessary  to  go  into  details  of  the 
manufacture.  Newth  gives  the  same  process  as  the  one  adopted  at 
this  factory ;  suffice  it  to  say  that  everything  is  done  on  the  simplest 
lines.  Chinese  junks  (sailing  boats)  go  out  and  rake  in  the  sea- 
weed, which  is  carried  up  to  the  top  of  the  beach,  stacked  in  piles, 
and  burnt  on  the  spot,  at  a  stone's  throw  from  the  factory.  The 
ash  is  wheeled  straight  into  the  tanks,  lixiviated  with  water  in  the 
usual  way.  Potassium  and  sodium  salts  are  also  made  in  these 
works,  but  their  specialty  is  the  pure  element.  When  we  had 
finished  our  tour  we  were  taken  into  the  laboratory,  a  large  case 
was  unlocked,  and  with  huge  pride  four  large  bottles  of  pure  iodine 
were  taken  out,  each  holding  5  kilograms.  I  had  never  seen  the 
beautiful  glistening  scales  in  such  large  quantities.  This  compara- 
tively small  case  contained  the  produce  of  three  weeks'  work,  but 
was  satisfactory,  considering  the  present  price  of  iodine.  The  head 
chemist  was  an  ancient  Japanese;  Japanese  chemistry  books  lined 
the  book-shelves.  It  was  nearly  three  years  since  I  had  been  in  a 
laboratory,  and  this  small  ione  was  very  homely.  I  went  round  read- 
ing the  formulae  on  the  bottles  of  the  reagents  to  see  if  I  remembered 
them.    A  volumetric  analysis  was  in  process  at  one  bench,  the  pipette 
