SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
GETTING RID OF SPECKS. 
As is often the ease when new processes or materials are tried out 
on a manufacturing scale, a new difficulty arose. Paper makers com- 
plained that the paper produced from the wattle pulp contained objec- ° 
tionable small-black specks, which were believed to be derived from 
the corky layer of the bark. The Imperial Institute again conducted 
experiments, and two methods of avoiding the difficulty were tried, 
and one of them carried to a successful conclusion. This latter con- 
sisted of sifting the ground spent bark to remove the corky tissue. The 
bark was partly air-dried from normal, 71 per cent. to 45 per cent. 
moisture, and sifted through a sieve with eight meshes to the inch. 
About 62 per cent was left on the sieve, and when this was converted to 
pulp by the soda process, yielded about 10 per cent of the original 
weight of bark as dry pulp. This produced a paper with comparatively 
few specks. The sifted bark required less caustic soda to convert it 
to pulp, and the paper was superior in quality to that made from 
unsifted bark. The results of the process on a large scale would appear 
to be:— 
(1) A loss of crude material due to sifting, and varying from 
30 to 40 per cent., according to the moisture of the sifted 
material. ; 
(2) A gain of 2 per cent. more pulp than from the crude un- 
sifted bark, thus requiring 3 per cent. less caustic for its 
conversion. 
(3) An improved quality of paper. 
In the second method tried, the bark was beaten up and the corky 
material was found to be heavier, and could be separated by suitable 
appliances, or washing over sieves. ‘The process requires trials on a 
larger scale. It is thus possible to convert spent wattle bark or wood 
into pulp and manufacture this pulp into satisfactory paper or straw 
board. Further investigation, however, is still needed, as the cost of 
transport of the spent bark from the tan yard to the paper mill is a 
heavy handicap. Typical samples of bark contained 71 per cent. of 
water, and yielded only 10 to 12 per cent. of its weight of dry pulp. 
Tt is uneconomical to transport any distance material containing such 
a percentage of water. It is essential to dry the bark as far as possible. 
This is not readily done by spreading it out and turning it over 
occasionally. Experiments are being carried out involving the use of 
some form of waste heat, and also the use of compression. The results 
will be awaited with interest, as the whole question is of great economic 
value to Australia. 2 
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
The Research Grant Board, which has been established by the Union 
Government in South Africa for the encouragement of scientific re- 
search, has recently announced its scheme for awarding research 
scholarships and making grants towards the expenses of scientific 
research. ‘The scholarships will vary in value from £80 to £250 per 
annum for one or two years, and may be awarded for a further period. 
Applications must be made through, and with the approval of, one of 
the governing bodies of the higher educational institutions of the Union 
or of a museum or research institute. 
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