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By W. T. Burns

Attempts were made in 1908, at the Great Falls Works, to produce ingots direct from the Butte precipitate by smelting the material in a reverberatory refining furnace. The ingots produced in this manner averaged 99.4 per cent. of copper and 0.40 per cent. of arsenic and antimony. The copper content being considered too low, it was decided to cast the copper into anodes and to treat the anodes in the electrolytic plant. No. 1 Furnace, in which the precipitate was treated, was a regular cathode refining furnace previously employed in making wire bar, cake, and ingot from electrolytic cathodes. The hearth of the furnace was 24 by 12 ft., having a capacity of 100,000 lb. of cathodes. The furnace was coal fired, and the copper was dipped by means of trolley ladles. The average composition of the furnace charges was as follows: Per Cent. Peer Cent. Copper. Precipitate,..........7.5.3 40 to 80 Purification cathodes,.....1.9 92 Refinery slag (oxide slag),.. 10.1 50 to 60 Electrolytic cathodes,... 2.1 99.9 Precipitate anode scrap,.... 3.1 99.0 Scrap copper,.........7.5 99.2 100.0 The slag from this furnace amounted to 46 per cent. of the total amount charged and was of the following average composition: Per Cent. Cu..............16.86 SiO2.............34.7 FeO.............18.8 A12O3.............13.0 CaO.............9.4 MgO.............2.7 S............... 0.47 As..............0.11 Sb...............0.006 Ag, oz per ton.....0.18

Jan 1, 1914

By I. Iwasaki

In the flotation of iron ores and nonmetallic ores desliming is the key to a successful operation; the technology of flotation of well-deslimed ores has become fairly well established. When finely disseminated ores are ground to liberation, however, conventional desliming of the fully dispersed pulp results in an excessive loss of valuable constituents. Selective flocculation of iron oxides followed by removal of dispersed siliceous slimes is a new development and is one of the most promising approaches to the treatment of finely disseminated, oxidized iron ores, available in vast quantities both here and abroad (1,2,3). To apply selective flocculation to the variety of refractory iron ores or to cope with the fluctuations in an individual ore and the make-up water, the factors governing this technique must be clearly formulated. For the removal of siliceous and clayey slimes from oxidized iron ores by selective flocculation, the optimum conditions are extremely sensitive to the mineralogical characteristics of the ore, the type and the amount of soluble salts in pulp solutions, and the mesh-of-grind. Certain starches appear to function better than others (4, 5). Selection of the proper reagents and their judicious use is important not only for their efficient utilization but also for minimizing the adverse effects they might exert on the flocculation and flotation steps, and the pollution the effluents might cause when discharged, either intentionally or accidentally, into lakes and streams. In the present article some of the major factors that influence the selective flocculation of iron ores are summarized.

Jan 1, 1979

By S. Whinery

In these times of sharp rivalry, both as to price and quality, among the makers and venders of engineering explosives, it is often desirable to be able to determine the relative energy or value of the various explosives offered for sale, in order to purchase intelligently ; or, having contracted for a large amount of an explosive of a certain standard quality, to be able to ascertain if the manufacturer keeps his product up to the specified standard. The simple and inexpensive apparatus described below was devised by the writer while engaged on the improvement of the Tennessee River, at MuscleShoals, under the direction of' Major W. R. King, U. S. Engineers, in the summer of 1879. It answered the purpose so well that it is thought that a brief account of it may be of interest to other engineers. It consisted, essentially, of an old blacksmith's anvil and a common striking hammer, such as is used for driving rock-drills. The anvil was placed face downward on solid, level ground. In what was then the top of it, a vertical hole, one and one-fourth inch in diameter and about one arid three-fourths inch deep, was made with a ratchetdrill. The surface of the anvil immediately around the drill-hole was made as true and smooth as possible with a file. Next, a new striking-hammer, weighing nine pounds, with a turned and true face, was selected ; and a handle, eleven feet long and about one and a half inches in diameter, was fitted into it so that it

Jan 1, 1886

By R. W. Raymond

R. W. Raymond, New York City: In his paper at the New York meeting (Trans., xix., 28), Mr. Ledyard described, among other mines, the Belmont, in the county of Peterboro, Ontario, the developments of which at that time indicated, though they did not, perhaps, completely demonstrate, a deposit of high-grade Bessemer magnetite of very great extent. Mr. Ledpard said that experts estimated the quantity of ore within 100 feet of the surface at 1,000,000 tons. But the precise data upon which this estimate was based were not furnished. We are all interested in the development of fresh supplies of Bessemer ores. I think nobody who knows how enormous is the demand can seriously fear that such deposits will be exploited too rapidly. On the other hand, I need not here enlarge on the fact that a considerable number of enterprises, in which American ironmasters have been more or less interested, for the development of Canadian iron-ore deposits, have been unsuccessful, more by reason of disappointment as to the quantity of the ore and the facilities for cheaply mining it on a large scale, than as to its quality. Of course, a Canadian nine supplying the American market is handicapped at present, to the extent of 75 cents per ton, by the duty on foreign iron-ore; but this would certainly not be prohibitory in the case of a deposit sufficiently large, rich, and accessible. Or, to put it otherwise, there might easily be, somewhere in Canada, near our borders, a mine so favored that its product could be profitably

Jan 1, 1892

By Thomas T. Read

The fact that certain types of ore-deposits have attained their present condition through the action of descending surface waters was, perhaps, first clearly pointed out by Posepny.l The oxidizing effects of such waters were discussed by Pen-rose,2 and many papers dealing with this phase of the subject have subsequently appeared. That secondary enrichment of sulphide ores, however, might be produced by descending surface waters was not clearly understood until after the copper-bearing veins of the Butte district, Mont., had been carefully studied by the geologists of the U. S. Geological Survey, although De Launay3 had suggested that sulphides might be transported from point to point and re-deposited in the zone above the level of ground-water. As a result of the study of the Butte district, two papers by geologists engaged in the work appeared within a short interval. The first by Weed: dealing with the enrichment of veins by later metallic sulphides ; and the second by Emmons; treating of the secondary enrichment of ore-deposits in general. In the latter paper it was pointed out that a typical vein of sulphide ores which has been subjected to the action of descending surface-waters exhibits four zones,—an upper or surface-zone, in which the changes hare been mainly of removal, the products being typically oxides; a second zone of oxide enrichment, in which the less soluble metals brought from above have been precipitated as carbonates or oxides; a third zone of sulphide enrichment,

Jan 1, 1907

By Joseph J. Yancik

In Moscow, the delegation received a briefing on the Soviet coal industry from First Deputy Minister Vladimir Fedanov. A similar briefing was given to us on the Donets coal basin by Deputy Minister S. Saratikyanz of the Ukrainian Coal Ministry. Lengthy technical discussions were held with the mines staff and research personnel at the institutes we visited. In addition, we had detailed discussions with key staff members of two combinats; Donetskugol and Tulaugol. In all these meetings, principal topics were matters of safety related to hazards associated with face mechanization, coal transport, methane gas control measures, gas outbursts, coal and rock outbursts, fire fighting and control, explosion suppression and control measures, and other related hazard factors. There was also much discussion on miner training, miners' attitudes toward safety and accident prevention practices, and preparation and enforcement of safety rules and regulations. It would be helpful to briefly review Soviet coal production statistics for comparison purposes with the U.S., and for the purpose of referencing some of the delegation findings mentioned in this report. For an excellent, comprehensive picture of Soviet coal production and other related fuel statistics, the reader is referred to Strishkov's, et d. report.1 Strishkov's estimates agree with the numbers given us by Coal Ministry officials except in clean coal tonnage. The figures of 604 million mt of clean coal out of a total production of 655 tons raw coal in 1972 is much higher than Strishkov's estimate of 375 million mt clean coal.

Jan 7, 1974

By Victor Rakowsky

A CLEAR understanding of the factors that deter-mine the consumption of zinc metal is essential to a proper survey of the future of the industry and the relation of the several producing districts. With a view of explaining a sound basis for the consider-ation of some of the problems facing the zinc-mining industry of the Oklahoma-Kansas and Missouri district some of these factors are here set out. The zinc industry of the United States furnishes metal for three major uses, viz.: (1) zinking iron and steel (galvanizing); (2) brass making; (3) sheet rolling. Other important uses are for lead desilverization, the manufacture of castings, including die castings, and the manufacture of zinc oxide by the French process, which consists in burning spelter. The use of zinc for galvanizing comprises the coating of sheets, tubes, wire and shaped products, the latter ranging from chains to buckets. The brass-making industry may be sub-divided into manufacture of red brass, yellow brass and white brass, the percentage of zinc in these products being roughly 30, 40 and 80 respectively. The use of white brass is relatively a new thing and it may attain considerable proportions as a substitute for yellow brass. Ingalls estimated the percentage of total metal consumed for the above purposes in pre-war times as follows: HIGH PRODUCTION RECORD, SHORT TONS USES PERCENTAGE OF METAL Galvanizing 60-65 210,000 in 1912 Brass making 17-20 175,000 in 1916 Rolled sheets 10-12 57,000 in 1917 Other uses 5- 7

Jan 3, 1923

By John W. Tieman

Coal is a term applied to vegetable matter (trees, grasses, etc.) which was subjected to heat and pressure through geologic ages. This resulted in a change in both the physical and chemical properties. Because its chemical composition is variable, geologists classify coal as a heterogeneous mineral rather than a homogeneous mineral. Peat represents the initial, unconsolidated stage in the development of coal. This coalification continues with time and the application of temperature and pressure to lignite, subbituminous, bituminous, and anthracite toward the theoretical graphite end member. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF COAL The physical properties are concerned with the characteristics of coal in its natural state, or prior to its end use as a fuel. For example, the hardness and grindability of coal determine the maintenance cost for coal mining, handling, and pulverizing equipment; the specific gravity of coal and its associated minerals determines the coal preparation technique used in a cleaning plant as well as the capacity of coal bins, boats and size of cargo, and other coal storage facilities. The physical properties are, of course, dependent on the chemical constituents of coal, and all properties are interrelated. Specific Gravity The specific gravity (sp gr) of a solid is the ratio of the weight of a cubic foot of the solid to the weight of a cubic foot of water. The specific gravity of pure coal has been reported to range between 1.23 to 1.72 and increases with the change in rank from lignite to anthracite. This means that it is 1.23 to 1.72 times heavier than water.

Jan 1, 1981

By P. Somasundaran, I. J. Lin

There are several methods described in the literature for the determination of the order and the rate constant for the flotation of minerals. These often involve some type of computational or graphical procedures. A relatively simpler method developed on the basis of a technique used by Chang" in chemical kinetics is described in this paper. Chang's technique, like most others in chemical kinetics," is based on the law of mass action which states that the rate of a chemical reaction is proportional to the active masses of the reacting substances at any given time. Application of this law to the flotation of minerals would involve the adaptation of the terms "flotation" for "chemical reaction" and "floatable amount of the minerals" for "the active masses of the chemical reactants." There are indeed a large number of physical processes controlling the actual flotation rate. The most inefficient one of these could be considered equivalent to the slowest reaction in a series of chemical reactions. If variables such as aeration rate and agitation are kept at constant levels, the rate of flotation under free flotation conditions (i.e., conditions under which the suspension is dilute) will be given by the following equation: where C is the concentration of the floatable minerals in the pulp at any given time t, K is the rate constant, and n is the order of the reaction. If we represent the floated fraction of the floatable mineral at time t as m (0 m - 1) and C at t = 0 as Ca, integration of Eq. 1 yields

Jan 1, 1974

By H. B. Charmbury, D. R. Mitchell

Recovery of fine coal from solids reporting to wash water has become increasingly important. These solids range from about 28 mesh to 0 and constitute 3 to 7 pct by weight of the feed tonnage to a coal preparation plant. In the past they were usually wasted to streams, but present clean stream legislation makes it necessary to remove them from the wash water and, if economically possible, recover the associated coal as a saleable product. Where these solids are not wasted to streams or to slime ponds they are recovered by thickeners and filters. Since filter cake is often high in ash or sulfur, or both, it is not readily marketed or used. Common practice is to mix it with other plant products, generally slack or cleaned run-of-mine. Uniform blending is difficult, not only because the impurity is usually high, but also because during certain operating periods it is possible to get a concentration of this filter cake in a railroad or barge. At some plants filter cake has been derived from the froth flotation clean-up of Dorr thickener underflow. The operating circuits required for a froth flotation plant make this a comparatively high-cost treatment, and in the last few years experiments have been carried out with bulk oil methods. These also are quite expensive and lend themselves only to special situations. Table I gives some characteristics of thickener underflows for plants in the Pittsburgh area treating Pittsburgh seam coal. It will be noted that there is a concentration of impurities in the -200 mesh sizes.

Jan 1, 1960

Economic Significance of High-grade Concentrates BY PAUL M TYLER AND CARLE R HAYWARD (Min & Met, Dec, 563 4000 words) Generally pyro¬mctallurgical methods yield a higher recovery but cost more per ton of ore treated Milling methods are inherently cheaper for the reason that they do not involve dissipa¬tion of heat energy in slag formation, ctc It is vaguely realized that the smelter man could do a better job if he were supplied with purer raw materials but hard¬headed mill men have been offered little inducement to do a really good job of cleaning concentrates To do this may involve some sacrifice in percentage yield and in mill capacity and unless there is a compensating saving in freight and smelter charges, it simply is not good business to go beyond a certain point in the way of making clean concentrate Opportunities exist for eliminating one or more steps in the expensive series of processes for recovering various metals, or at least reducing the volume of materials that has to be handled at the most costly steps The beneficiation of nonmetallic minerals likewise affords numerous examples of over-all economies obtainable through more refined methods of mechanical improvement All this leads to the conclusion that perfecting selective processes for isolating pure minerals (e g, galena) virtually free from other sulfides as well as gangue may be productive of industrial economies Conversely, cheapening smelting methods may invade the field of mechanical improvement of ores but, as Kiphng said, that is another story

Jan 1, 1937

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SECTION Executive Committee SEELEY W. MUDD, Chairman. C. COLCOCK JONES, Vice-Chairman. FREDERICK J. H. MERRILL, Secretary-Treasurer, 631 Higgins. Bldg., Los Angeles, Cal. RALPH ARNOLD A. B. CARPENTER A. B. W. HODGES WILLIAM F. STAUNTON The third meeting of this winter season tool: place in a private dining room of the Sierra Madre Club in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, 1916, at 6:30 p.m., 22 members and guests being present. In the absence of the Chairman, S. W. Mudd, the Vice-Chairman, C. Colcock Jones, presided. After an enjoyable dinner the meeting was called to order, and the first paper by Ralph Arnold on Conservation of Oil and Gas in the Americas was read by the Secretary. W. F. Staunton then read an important paper on The Influence of California Oil on the Mining Industry of the West. In this he touched upon the uses of oil as a fuel for generating power, especially in connection with the Diesel engine. This paper was discussed it some length by J. F. Mitchell-Roberts, R. B. Moran, F. H. Asbury and L. D. Godshall. The Chair then introduced Robert B. Moran of the California State Mining Bureau, Deputy Supervisor of Gas and Oil, for the' Los Angeles . District, who addressed the meeting on the work of his department. The meeting concluded with A. B. Carpenter's reading of a paper on The California Gasoline Industry by W. R.. Hamilton, Manager of the Ventura Refining Co. F. J. H. MERRILL, Secretary. ,

Jan 4, 1916

By E. M. Wise

IT is known qualitatively that the recrystallization behavior of platinum is dependent upon the amount and particularly the nature of impurities present, the amount of prior cold-work and the annealing time and temperature, but published data are limited. A study of the effects of cold-work and annealing temperature on the hardness of a sample of very pure platinum was undertaken to supply part of this information. CONCLUSIONS 1. The platinum used in the experiments had a probable platinum content of 99.99+ per cent, and had the following mechanical properties in the completely softened condition: Vickers hardness number, 39.4; ultimate tensile strength, 19,340 lb. per sq. in.; proportional limit, very low; elongation, 37.5 per cent in 2 inches. 2. The effect of cold-rolling on the hardness is shown in Fig. 1. The hardness increases rapidly up to 10 to 15 per cent reduction and more slowly up to about 75 per cent reduction, beyond which it increases more rapidly. 3. The recrystallization temperatures for a 15-min. anneal, after cold-rolling 19, 39.5, 50.8, 66, 80.5 and 89.5 per cent reduction in thickness, are approximately 765°, 700°, 635°, 600°, 545° and 425°C., respectively. 4. The recrystallized grain size of this platinum is a function of the percentage of cold reduction, being larger the lower the percentage of cold-work. 5. Little or no grain growth resulted from subjecting recrystallized samples to higher temperatures or annealing for longer times.

Jan 1, 1940

By L. L. Davis

The rapid increase in the use of pulvcrulent adsorptive materials in the so-called "contact filtration" process for decolorizing lubricating oils makes it desirable to consider some of the basic principles involved. The commercial methods and types of equipment now used arc fairly well known, having been extensively described in the trade journals. In spite of this very little has been published concerning the factors which must be considered in the selection of a process or of a decolorizing ing material. It is commonly understood that contact filtration more or less closely follows the laws of adsorption. These principles have been thoroughly drscribed by Gurwitsch.' The contacting of neutral mineral oils seems to be adsorptive in character and apparently follows Freundlich's law of adsorption which may be expressed by the formula: X = Color material adsorbed hy the clay. M = Amount of clay used. C = Concentration of color material after equilibrium. A and P = Constants for a given oil and clay. Fig. 1 shows the decolorization curve for a natural, dark colored cylin-der stock when contacted with various quantities of clay, curve R being made with natural Riverside Texas fuller's earth and T being made with an acid-treated clay from Texas. As the Tag-Robinson color is inversely proportional to the depth of color, the reciprocal of these colors ran be assumed to be a funct ion of the concentratlion of coloring matter. The values of and C' can, therefore., br calculated by using the reciprocal Tag-Robinson colors, and when these

Jan 1, 1928

By R. Lingle, E. Hardin, M. Board, H. Pratt, W. Ubbes, M. Voegele, N. Barton

A 2 m. cube of jointed, Pre Cambrian biotite gneiss was subjected to uniaxial and biaxial loading at ambient and elevated temperature. The effects of different boundary conditions on the following rockmass properties were investigated: deformation modulus, joint stiffness, dynamic modulus, coefficient of thermal expansion, thermal diffusivity and conductivity, and joint permeability. Test conditions ranged between 0 and 6.9 MPa uniaxial and biaxial load, and 12° to 74°C mean block temperature. The tests were performed as part of the Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation program for evaluating site charterization test methods for measuring the hydro-thermal-mechanical properties of rock masses. The fracture flow experiments discussed in this paper were described in detail in a similar paper given to this symposium in 1981 (Voegele, 1981). DEFORMATION MODULUS Horizontal deformation measurements oriented parallel to the loading direction were made at the block surface. Several instrument types were employed: surface short-rod extensometers, bonded strain gauges, vibrating wire strain gauges and the Whittemore caliper strain gauge. Two vertical and two slant borehole extensometers measured vertical displacement. Loading history, especially during uniaxial loading, was critical to interpretation of observed deformation and fracture flow data. This important tendency has been observed in other large-scale laboratory (Bandis, 1980) and field tests (Pratt, et al., 1977). Excavation of the block resulted in minimal disturbance to the intrinsic condition of the sample. Even so, permanent, unrecovered "set" was imparted to the block beginning with the first low-stress biaxial load cycle to 3.45 MPa (Table 1). Unloading

Jan 1, 1982

By Charles R. Keyes

During the past decade the genesis of the lead- and zincdeposits of the Mississippi valley has received special attention from many distinguished observers. But their united egorts, instead of settling all disputed questions, have, in many respects, involl-ed the general problem in greater uncertainty than would be thought possible under the circumstances. In place of the harmony of opinion that might be expected, there is unexpected disagreement, largely due to the fact that, instead of giving attention to a possible multiplicity of ore-producing conditions among the different deposits, the attempt has been made to bring all deposits under a single genetic head. To a new observer of the lead- and zinc-deposits of the Mississippi valley, it appears at the outset that all the deposits cannot possibly have had the same genesis. In fact, different modes of origin have been often asserted for the ore-bodies, but the difficulty has been that each writer has referred them either all to one category or all to another, and no intermediate ground has been considered possible. Such a position now appears to be clearly untenable. The opinion that, in the deposits of the region under consideration, the ore-materials represent original depositions, made at the time the rocks themselves were formed, is no longer held by any authority, and therefore need not be considered here. Of late years, a number of writers have attempted to account for the presence of the lead- and zinc-ores on the hypothesis that the metallic materials arose in heated solutions from the

Jan 1, 1902

By George F. Becker

Complexity of Rock-Fractures.—The strains to which rocks have been subjected are manifestly very complex, and it is entirely safe to presume that every possible mode of deformation and rupture is exemplified. The most superficial inspection of any ordinary mountain region is sufficient to assure the observer that the rocks have been pressed, stretched, bent, buckled, twisted, and shorn. The study of torsional rupture cannot fail, therefore, to throw light on geological phenomena. The question is how areas which have been broken in this manner are to be distinguished from those which have yielded to other systems of forces. Phenomena of Joints.—It is well known that a large part of the more homogeneous rocks and some very heterogeneous rocks are intersected by partings often ailed joints. These partings are frequently flat surfaces even when seen in very large exposures, but are sometimes surfaces of moderate, single, or double curvature. Joint, usually occur in groups, in each of which the several partings are parallel to one another, and several such groups often intersect the same rock-mass. In such cases the different systems make large angles with one another. Nearly all students of the subject of jointing have reached the conclusion that joints are faulted surfaces, the dislocations usually being of small amplitude; and this conclusion receives abundant support from the study of thin sections under the microscope. It has thus been shown that much even of what would be regarded in hand specimens as mere slaty cleavage

Jan 1, 1895

By Prince Gelasio Caetani

PRESIDENT DWIGHT'S invitation to be a guest of the American Institute of Mining and Metal-lurgical Engineers was the first of the subsequently very numerous invitations to dinner I have received from my American friends. When I received his telegram I had not yet been even formally appointed Ambassador. I cannot tell you how deeply I appreciated it. It was a hearty welcome in returning to your country which has been for me a second home and it came from the American mining brotherhood which has been my second family.There are two distinct periods of learning in life. The first one are the years spent in school where we learn many things we after-wards forget; the second one are the years of prac-tical apprenticeship which engrave indelible signs in a man's character and shape his life. These latter years I spent in the United States and they have influenced the whole course of my life. I owe very much to my American friends who trained me. The earliest was Prof. Robert Peele, of Columbia University. At the Daly West mine, in Park City, Utah, he curbed my futuristic English spell-ing and had a hard time at it. Prof. James F. Kemp taught me that geology is a guess work just as unre-liable as the prediction of international events; he taught me also that a frank, honest and loyal character will lead a man equally straight through a mining report and through public life.

Jan 3, 1923

By G. H. Billings

There exists an unconfirmed opinion among many ironmasters that the combination of a small quantity of manganese, chromium, titanium, tungsten, aluminium, nickel, and some of the metalloids with iron has a beneficial effect upon the quality. And the impression prevails in some localities that the excellence of steel greatly depends upon the influence of some of these elements. Brit as the recorded experiments are so meagrely described, and made under such various conditions, the student in search of information upon the subject is somewhat bewildered by the contradiction of the opinions expressed. Observing some interesting phenomena while experimenting with an alloy of iron, copper, and nickel, I was led to determine the effect of some of the metals upon iron as free from contamination by other elements as it is possible to procure in practice, in order that the result of an alloy of an individual metal with iron might be more closely studied; for it is almost an impossibility to determine the influence of a small amount of one element upon a metal combined with a large amount of another, and the mere presence of another sometimes makes this difficult. And as most of the experiments recorded upon this subject have been made with iron containing sufficient carbon and other elements to interfere with the effect of that metal the influence of which it was desired to observe, I have endeavored to avoid these sources of error as far as practicable. In determining the specific gravity of the alloys in these ex-

By G. H. Billings

THERE exists an unconfirmed opinion among many ironmasters that the combination of a small quantity of manganese, chromium, titanium, tungsten, aluminium, nickel, and some of the metalloids with iron has a beneficial effect upon the quality. And the impression prevails in some localities that the excellence of steel greatly depends upon the influence of some of these elements. But as the recorded experiments are so meagrely described, and made under such various conditions, the student in search of information upon the subject is somewhat bewildered by the contradiction of the opinions expressed. Observing some interesting phenomena while experimenting with an alloy of iron, copper, and nickel, I was led to determine the effect of some of the metals upon iron as free from contamination by other elements as it is possible to procure in prac¬tice, in order that the result of an alloy of an individual metal with iron might be more closely studied ; for it is almost an impossibility to determine the influence of a small amount of one element upon a metal combined with a large amount of another, and the mere presence of another sometimes makes this difficult. And as most of the experiments recorded upon this subject have been made with iron containing sufficient carbon and other elements to interfere with the effect of that metal the influence of which it was desired to observe, I have endeavored to avoid these sources of error as far as practicable. In determining the specific gravity of the alloys in these ex-

Jan 1, 1877