SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
~ 
was to be £8,000, of which the Commonwealth was to find half and 
each of the States one-fourth. The Queensland Government agreed 
but. the New South Wales Government has not yet done so. Now.the 
latter Government is again being asked to consider the proposals 
favorably. aie a 
WHITE POTTERY CLAYS. 
A Special Committee of the Institute, consisting of Messrs. M. 
Copland (Director of the Ballarat School of Mines), V. G. Anderson 
(Messrs. Avery & Anderson, Industrial Chemists, Melbourne), W. 
Baragwanath (Victorian Department of Mines), and W. Miller. (The 
Eureka Pottery Co., Ballarat), has been established for the purpose 
of making investigations into the utilization of white pottery clays in | 
the Ballarat district.. A grant of £450 has been made for the purchase 
of apparatus (£150) andthe salary of a skilled investigator (£300), 
The investigations will be carried out at the Ballarat School of Mines. 
The Committee has recently commenced its work, and has got out 
designs for certain necessary apparatus, which is being manufactured 
loeally. 
NEW SHEEP-FLY PARASITE. 
Part of the work of the Committee which is making investigation 
in Queensland into the sheep-fly pest is to discover parasites which 
destroy the maggots of the flies. Large numbers of one such parasite 
—a Chalcid wasp—have already been bred and released with encourag~ 
ing results both in New South Wales and Queensland. Now the dis- 
covery of another parasite is announced by Mr. F. H. Taylor, the 
Institute’s entomologist attached to the Queensland Committee. This | 
is quite unlike the Chaleid in size, build, and habits. In size it is longer — 
and more slender, and is a jet-black colour. In habits it differs widely 
from the Chalcid, as it lays but one egg in each sheep-fly pupa, whereas 
the Chalcid lays up to 70 eggs in each fly pupa. It is also a much 
stronger insect on the wing than the Chalcid wasp. Its life history is 
now being worked out, and, as it is believed to be a new species, speci- 
mens have been sent to the National Museum, Washington, United 
States of America, for determination by their expert in the Chalcide. 
POTASH FROM ALUNITE. 
Since the publication of Bulletin No. 3, “The Alunite deposits of 
Australia and their Utilization,” a number of specimens of alunite | 
has been forwarded to the Institute for report. As a result of the 
experimental work carried out by the Institute, the Australian 
Alum Company, Sydney, proposed to carry out large scale tests, with 
a view to utilizing the deposits at Bulladelah, New South Wales, for 
the production of potash. Owing to difficulty in obtaining suitable 
plant, these tests have not yet been completed. Another important 
development is proposed in connexion with deposits in South Australia. 
The Sulphide Corporation has taken, under options to work and agree- 
ments to purchase, leases aggregating about 800 acres, together with 
other areas for which claims have been pegged. The Corporation pro- 
poses to thoroughly prospect the deposits. The methods for preparing 
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