HDITORIAL. \ 
than one year. This sum must ibe suflicient for the purchase of all 
necessary special apparatus or other equipment, as well as to furnish 
the salary of the research man or men selected to work on the particular 
problem. ach Industrial Fellow is selected carefully by the Institute, 
which provides accommodation for the investigatory work, furnishes 
the permanent equipment, affords library and consultative facilities, 
gives careful direction to the progress of the research, and provides an 
atmosphere which is conducive to productive inquiry. All results 
obtained during the course of the Industrial Fellowship belong exclu- 
sively to the donor. 
In March last there were 83 “fellows” at work at the Institute, the 
- total amount of the “foundation” sums being £59,000. A number of 
the fellowships were founded by associations of manufacturers to inquire 
into problems connected with a variety of subjects, including leather- 
belting, fibres, magnesia, insecticides, laundry processes, and refrac- 
tories. The amounts of the individual foundation sums range from 
£490 to £8,200 per annum. 
NEW METHODS FOR CHEAP FUEL. 
Josts of heat and power are likely to be much reduced by the use of 
the new colloidal fuel, described at the recent spring meeting of. the 
American Chemical Society, held in St. Louis. A combination of finely 
divided coal dust and of waste from stills, which is held together in 
emulsion form by soap-like substances, this fuel, it is said, will 
undoubtedly have an important effect upon industry. In view of the 
many inquiries made from all parts of the country, the paper. describing 
this new factor in industrial economy is produced in full in a recent 
number of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Its 
author, Mr. Jerome Alexander, of New York City, gives due credit to 
all concerned in the development of this latest application of colloidal 
chemistry—that branch of science which relates to substances in a state 
of fine suspension, such as may be found in emulsions and gelatins. 
“What promises to be one of the most far-reaching advances made 
under the stress of the recent war,” writes Mr. Alexander, “ when. neces- 
sity literally was the mother of invention, is the discovery that by means 
of a suitable fixation, or peptizing agent, and suitable treatment, very 
large percentages of cheap tars and finely powdered coal waste may be 
dispersed in fuel oil with a sufficient degree of permanence to enable the 
mixture to be stored, piped, atomized, and burned practically like fuel 
vil itself. Since it will at one stroke relieve the drain on the earth’s 
rapidly-diminishing stores of petroleum, as well as lead to the efficient 
utilization of all kinds of coal waste, such as culm, screenings and dust, 
inferior fuels such as peat and lignite, and even cellulose waste, such as 
slabs and sawdust, this new composite fuel may be hailed as a powerful 
factor in the conservation of ournatural resources and as a lastine 
benefit to mankind. Realizing the vital importance of the Allies’ oil 
supply in the conduct of naval, military, and manufacturing operations, 
the German submarines bent every effort to destroy tankers, Marshal 
Foch is said to have cabled America: ‘If you don’t keep up your 
petroleum service, we shall lose the war.’ While the Allies’ navies were’ 
dealing with this peril in a most decisive fashion, Lindon W. Bates, of 
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