Feb., 1913
T H E JOCRA-ALOF I , v D L - S T R I A L A.YD EI\-GI.YEERIA’G
ELECTROLYTIC COPPER REFINING IN NORWAY Consul General Charles Adams Holder, Christiania, states that for several months a company a t Aamdal, Norway, has been successfully extracting copper from the crude ore by a n electrolytic process invented by Victor Hybinethe, a Norwegian engineer, who has patented the process in Europe and the United States. The Aamdal works have proved so successful that plans are now under way for increasing the output to 3 tons of metallic copper per day. The treatment, which is done at the mine and thus results in enormous shipping economies, consists in leaching the crushed ore with a solution of sulfuric acid which dissolves out the copper; a strong current of electricity is then passed through this solution and the pure copper is precipitated. Experiments with copper pyrites from the Orkla and Sulitjelma mines, in which much foreign capital is invested, have been equally successful, and as a result will probably be treated by the Hybinethe process in the future. The ores were formerly shipped to Germany and Sweden, respectively, owing to their refractory character and to the lack of proper Norwegian reduction works, but of late the Sulitjelma company has not been able to mine with any profit by this plan, owing to the low price of copper and the costs of transportation. The new process will, therefore, mean a great deal to the copper industry of Norway.
GROWING USE OF AMMONIUM SULPHATE IN CHINA
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Vice-Consul Charles F. Brissel, Amoy, reports that for many years Manchurian bean cake has been extensively employed as a fertilizer in the vicinity of Amoy, but since 1903 the use of sulfate of ammonia has become more common. To use the bean cake the farmer must pound the large cakes to a dust which must be soaked in water for three days before it can be used. The sulfate of ammonia dissolves in water almost immediately and thus can be used with greater facility. Of the two kinds of sulfate of ammonia, the pure white and the grayreddish mixture having a strong odor, the latter is the kind used. Sulfate of ammonia is used in the Amoy district principally for fertilizing rice and sugar-cane fields. It is said to have four times the strength of the bean cake and to cost but three times as much, which, taken together with the added facility of application, creates a growing market. I n 1903 a trial shipment of 53 pounds was received at Amoy. The imports for 1911were 7,000 long tons, and up to October 3rst the imports for 1912amounted to about 9,000 long tons. The d u t y is 5 per cent. Sulfate of ammonia is imported in bags weighing about 175 pounds. c. Vice-Consul Raymond S. Curtice, Dalny, Manchuria, states that the enormous output of the Fushun collieries is causing the owner, the South Manchuria Railway, no little anxiety, as the actual and probable demands do not justify the expectation that they will equal the output. Accordingly the manufacture of by-products has become a necessity. It is now proposed to begin the manufacture of sulfate of ammonia and producer gas. I t is claimed that 100 tons of Fushun coal can produce 5 tons of sulfate of ammonia in addition to a large amount of gas. It is intended to put the sulfate of ammonia on the Japanese market in competition with the foreign variety, which totals about $5,000,000 a year. The competition will, of course, practically drive the foreign products out of the market, as the Fushun collieries will have a n unlimitkd supply of both material and fuel. The gas will be used for the generation of electric power.
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY SPRING MEETING. The Spring meeting of the American Chemical Society will be
CHEMISTRY
held in Milwaukee, March 2 j t h to 27th, inclusive. The Council will meet on the evening of March 25th. The titles of all papers intended for the meeting should be in the hands of Secretary Charles L. Parsons, Box 505, Washington, D. C., by March 7th, or in the hands of the secretaries of the various divisions by March 5th; otherwise they cannot find place on the program.
“THE PROGRESSIVE AGE” BECOMES “THE GAS AGE” We note with pleasure the change indicated in the above title. The publishers are to be congratulated on this improvement since it is a step towards standardization of scientific current literature, both in size and name. The general appearance, composition, paper and printing of The Gas Age are noticeably in advance of its predecessor.
OBITUARY-ALFRED BELLABIY AUBERT Professor Alfred Bellamy Aubert, one of the oldest members of the American Chemical Society, for thirty-five years professor of Organic Chemistry and head of the Department of Chemistry, University of Maine, died a t his home, I 18 East 62nd Street, New York City, November 12, 1912. H e was born in New York of Alsatian parentage, in 1853. H e received.his chief undergraduate training a t the Imperial Lyceum of Strasburg; specialized in Chemistry, under Crafts, at Cornel1 University, receiving the B.S. degree (1873) therefrom, and the M.S. degree (1874)from the University of Maine; engaged in chemical research, 1899-1900,Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Aubert was a frequent contributor to the Journal of the American Chemical Society; Chemical News; American Monthly Microscopical Journal; Photographic Times; Chemical Engineer; Le Diatomiste; La revue generale de Chemie; and co-editor with Dr. Allen Rogers of a work on Industrial Chemistry. Under special ruling he became a recipient of a Carnegie pension for teachers. Intellectually and professionally, Dr. Aubert was strongly equipped, of keen insight, a n artistic, accurate, rapid and resourceful laboratory worker and investigator. Broadly cultured, philosophic, a linguist, master of a clear, crisp yet polished English, he was nevertheless unambitious and careless of his great gifts. For this reason, and from ill health, only his associates knew his real worth; also for these reasons his contributions to English and French journals in his special fields of Chemistry and Microscopy were, though occasional, all too few. Probably of most of his work he made no notes. Of some there were outlines, left unfinished, as was his latest projected book-“ The Microscope in Chemical Analysis and Research.” His “Industrial Chemistry,” of which he was the originator, associate editor and partial author, long projected, delayed, and personally unrevised because of failing strength, was issued but shortly before his death. I t was probably the first definitely planned, though not first issued, of the recently appearing treatises in this chemical field, to embody the symposium-ofexperts method. I n personality, Professor Aubert was as artless and open as a child, and evidenced a great and sympathetic heart, obvious to all who met him. For his intimate friends he had a passionate attachment which gripped them in unseverable bonds. Over his pupils his gentle sway was complete and time-enduring. For them his wide culture, accurate knowledge and enlivening scientific imagination were rich resources of profit and delight. To have met him was a privilege; to have known him was a life’s enrichment; to have ,sat a t his feet was a n abiding inspiration. “ W e shall not look upon his like again.” W. F.
JACKMAN
