MINERALOGICAL AND GEOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY

parts : (1) The relation of nickel to pyrrhotite, and (2) genesis of the Sudbury ores. Based on many experiments in concentra- tion by himself and oth...
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Review of American Chemical Research.

Arsenic Pentachloride. BY CHARLESBASKERVILLE A N D H. H. BENNETT. Ibid.,pp. 29-j1.-The above papers have appeared under the saiiie titles in this Journal, 23, 761 and 24, 1070. W. F. HILLEBRAND.

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MI NERA LOGICAL AND G EOLOG IC A L C HERISTRY The Ore-Deposits of Sudbury, Ontario. B r CHARLESW. DICKSON. Tram. A m . h s t . Min. Eng. (Albany Meeting, Feb., 1903) 65 pp.-This very thorough study is divided into two parts : ( I ) T h e relation of nickel to pyrrhotite, and ( 2 ) genesis of the Sudbury ores. Based on many experiments in concentration by himself and others, and 011 nutnerous analyses of t h e various products, he seems to demonstrate several facts : T h a t the nickel occurs in the ores as pentlandite and not as an isomorphous replacement of the iron in the pyrrhotite ; that the ratio of the metals to sulphur in the pentlandite is not I:I as supposed, but II:IO, and that of the nickel to the iron also nearly I I:IO (Ni:Co, 42:’); that the formula of the Sudbury pyrrhotite is generally Fens,, though occasionally Fe,S, and Feeslo; that, while nearly all the pentlandite can be separated from the pyrrhotite by magnetic methods, its separation commercially is out of the question ; that pyrrhotite and magnetite can be fairly well separated by a I O per cent. solution of nitric acid. Wide differences of opinion obtain as to the origin of the Sudbury ores. By evidence of a largely different character from that advanced by others in favor of their secondary origin, namely, microscopical revelation of the relations between the ores and the rock minerals, the author has become fully convinced that the theory of direct igneous origin is untenable, and that their secondary origin, as in the case of the pyrrhotite deposits of Rossland, B. C . , and Ducktown, Tennessee, is now placed beyond question, though a slight preliminary concentration of the metals with the intrusion of the norite is admitted as possible. A great number of reasons are given in support of his conclusion. Little can, a s yet, be said regarding the paragenesis of the sulphides. W. F. HILLEBRAND. The Garnet Formations of the Chillagoe Copper Field, North Queensland, Australia. BY GEORGE SMITH. Tmm. A m . I m f . Mi?&. E7g. (Advance extra, New York Meeting, Oct., I 903), I 2 pp. -Several varieties of lode-formation present themselves in this field, of which the garnet type is the most important. T h e writer seems to regard the garnet not as due to nietamorphism of the neighboring limestone by contact with intruding granite, but as an independent injection of igneous origin. T h e magnetite often accompaiiying it “could then, perhaps, be explained as the result of magmatic segregation of the excess of iron pres-

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ent, beyond that required for the garnet. T h e presence of the copper could possibly be accounted for i n a similar manner.” A n analysis of the garnet shows : SiO,, 40.5 ; Fe,O,, I I . I ; Also,, 1 6 . 7 ; CaO, 31.6; CuO, 0 . 3 ; MnO, MgO, traces; total, 1 0 0 . 2 . W. F. HILLEBRAND.

Bentonite. BY THOS.T. REED. Eng. and ~Mi?z.J . , 76, 48. -The properties and uses of the peculiarly plastic and absorptive clay brought to notice by W. C. Knight in Vols. 63 and 66 of the Eng. a d Min. J., and named by him, are here given in greater detail. I t promises to be largely used as a retarder for the hard-finish plaster for finishing walls, and is used to adulterate cheap candies, besides forming with glycerine the patent preparation ‘ I phlogiston,” a protective dressing in cases of croup and pneumonia. I t finds also other employment. I t s composition is : S O , , 60.18 ; A1,0, and Fe,O,, 26.58 ; CaO, 0.23 ; MgO, 1-01; Na,O, 1.23 ; K,O, 0 . 0 0 ; H,O, 10.26; total, 99.49; sp. gr., 2 . 2 when air dry. It is derived from anorthosites in the archean core of the Laramie Mountains. Albany County, Wyoming, is the type locality, but it is found also in Carbon, NaW. F. HILLEBRAKD. trona, Crook, and Weston Counties. The White Country Granite of West Sugarloaf or Bald Mountain, Boulder County, Colorado. BY CARL D. HENRY. Proc. Colo. Sci. Sac., 7, 112-116.-This is a further, but very meagre, contribution to the knowledge of the eruptive rocks of Boulder County (see this Journal, 2 0 , R j , and 24, R 71). T h e rock is faintly pinkish, and the most prominent phenocrysts are of quartz, muscovite, epidote, and labradorite. Analysis afforded J . B. Annear: SiO,, 71.434; A1,0,, 16.800; Fe,O,, 1.215; FeO, 0.157; MnO, 0.218; CaO, 0.990; MgO, 1.423; K,O, 3.48; Na,O, 3.42 ; H,O, 0.85 ; P,O,, 0.35 ; total, 99.337 ; sp. gr., 2.5jg. W. F. HILLEBRAND. Chrysocolla :A Remarkable Case of Hydration. BY CHARLES &I. PALMER.A m . J . Sci., 16, [email protected] is drawn to the large amount of loosely held water in specimens of chrysocolla from Arizona. Exposure over sulphuric acid resulted in losses of 18.96 and 20.54 per cent. without change in the color of the powder. More than the amounts lost were subsequently regained in a moist atmosphere. These same specimens yielded, in addition, 8.32 and 8.60 per cent. of water a t a low red heat. I t is suggested that in some of the older analyses of chrysocolla showing lower total percentages, this hygroscopic water niay h a r e W. F. HILLEBRAND. been overlooked. The llechanics of Igneous Intrusion. BY REGINALDA. DALY. A m . J. Sa’., 16, 108-126.-In this second paper on the same subject, further concrete illustrations are offered in support

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of a hypothesis on the development of the larger magma chambers now occupied by plutonic rocks” (see abstracts in this Journal, 25, R 2 7 2 , 2 7 3 ) , and there is further discussion of some of the main premises on which the hypothesis is based. IT.F. H I L L E B R A X D .

On the Formula of Bornite. BY B. J. HARRINGTON. Am. J . Sci., 16, 151-1 jq.-Five analyses of massive bornite and one of the crystallized minerai gave the following results agreeing with the formula Cu,FeS, instead of that hitherto accepted, Cu,FeS,. I.

11.

C u .............. 6 3 5 5 62.75 F e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.92 11.28 S ............... 25.63 25.39 InSol.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . 3 0 -_ __

...

100.10

9975

r. 63.15

63.24

11.28

11.20

24.88

2 j . j ~

111.

IY,

62.73 11.05 25.79

63.34 10.83 25.54 100.09

__ 99.55

....

___99.57

0.,;8

0.24

VI.

CUjFCS,.

63.27 11.18 25.55

........

__ -99.98 ICO.OG 5.072

Sp. gr. 15 O . . . . 5.085 5 . 0 5 5 5.090 I. Harvey Xill, P. Q. 11. Bruce Mines, Ontario. 111. Dean Channel, Howe Sound, B. C. I V . Copper Nountain, South Fork of Sitnilkameen River, B. C. V. Texada Island, B. C. VI. Bristol, Connecticut.

T h e older analyses of Cornish material by Plattner. I’arrentrapp, and Chodney, and two new ones by the author, do not conform closely to the formula Cu,FeS,. T h e older atid the now available Cornish specimens were far from pure, being not only superficially oxidized but contaminated by chalcopyrite as well. “ T h e r e is then good reason for believing that the formula Cu,FeS, was deduced from analyses of impure material. ” W. F. HJLLEBRAND.

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Significance of Silicic Acid in Waters of Mountain Streams. BY W. P. HEADDEN.A m . J . Sci., 16, 169-186.--Artesian and spring-waters of the San Luis Valley, in Colorado, were found to carry silica to the extent of 2 5 to upwards of 40 per cent. of their total mineral matter. T h e water of the Rio Grande a t Del Norte was richer in silicic acid than is usual for river waters, and richer here than further down the stream.” T h e waters of the Cache a la Poudre (and other streams draining the eastern slopes of the Rocky h.lountains) shou7 similar large, relative amounts of silica at points above where tributaries enter whose waters are not wholly gathered within and run for their whole course over ail area whose surface rocks are the metamorphic granites and schists of the region.” T h e conditions under which these waters occur preclude the application of the theory advanced to explain the presence of silicic acid in the waters of geysers and hot springs in general.” Their temperature is low, they do not issue from, nor probably in any part of their course do they pass through rocks of volcanic origin, except superficially in a few instances. They are essentially surface waters. T h e analyses reported by the author show no peculiarity other than

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the excessive relative amount of silica, far above that of river, lake, and spring-waters generally. No source for their mineral contents other than the feldspars of the granites and schists of the drainage areas seems admissible or possible, and no other solvents can have acted than the water itself and carbonic acid, unless perhaps in small degree the contained organic matter. From his own experiments the author believes the influence of this last to be insignificant. It would then seem that this high silica percentage in the mineral contents of mountain streams flowing over siliceous areas must be a normal condition, and to test this experiments were made with powdered feldspars in contact with water, the whole being agitated with a current of air mixed with a little carbon dioxide. T h e solutions thus obtained were evaporated and the residues analyzed, with results which seem to favor the view above expressed. Comparison of the composition of the residues with that of the feldspar used in the experiments shows that with only 0.31 per cent. of lime as against I I . j g of potash and 2.73 of soda in the latter, the percentages of these constituents in the residue in one case were 10.24, 10.97, and 5.25. These figures make plain the far greater solubility of the lime-soda molecules than of those containing potash. From the great excess of acidic over basic radicals in the natural waters and the artificial extracts, it is concluded that the silicic acid must exist in the free state. T h e facts thus developed ‘ i easily account for the silicification of vein matter and the deposition of chalcedonic quartz, etc., in veins and elsewhere,” and the characteristic presence of strontia and lithia in the waters finds a t the same time a ready explanation.

W. F. HILLEBRAND. Variolitic PilIow-Lava from Newfoundland.

BY REGINALD

A. DALT. Am. Geologist,32,65-78; plates, figures.-In connection with the description of a iiew occurrence, the origin of variolite W. F. HILLEBRAND. and the pillow structure is discussed. The Upper Red Beds of the Black Hills. BY GEORGEB. RICHARDSON.J. Geol., XI, 365-393; map, figures.-theu upperred beds or the Spearfish formation are described as to stratigraphy, microscopicalcharacteristics, and chemical composition. Based on the latter and 011 microscopical examination, the mineral composition is judged to be about : Quartz, 41 ; muscovite, 20; kaolin, I O : calcite, g ;magnesite, 8 ; feldspars, 5 ; hematite, 3 ; gypsum, z ; magnetite, ilmenite, chlorite, z ; total, 100. Analyses are also given of a very pure gypsum and of the water of a salt spring, all analyses being by Geo. Steiger, of the United States Geological Survey. There is a discussion of the causes of coloration of red beds in general and of those of the Spearfish formation specifically. It is deemed probable ‘‘ that the dominant factor in the production of the color of the red beds of the Black Hills was a

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residual, red soil on the land mass which supplied the sediments,” with conditions of climate and vegetation tending to minimize the reduction of the ferric matter during sedimentation. Green spots and streaks iii the red shales, the color of which is due to lower ferric oxide and higher ratio of ferrous to ferric oxide than in the red parts, are caused by the reduction of the higher oxide by organic matter locnlly present in tlie sediments, and removal of the resulting ferrous compound in solution. M’. F. HILLEBKAND.

Notes on the Cieologyzof Mount Kearsarge, New Hampshire. BY JOSEPH H. PERKY.1.Ceol., 11, 403-412 ; figures.-Descriptioiis mid analyses without titanium or pliosphorus, are giveii of the Conway granite, which makes u p the base of M t . Kearsarge anti the spur called Mt. Bartlett, arid of four varieties of quartz porphyry above. An intervening granite-porphyry wvns not analyzed. These three were formed by the solidificatiori of a single magma. T h e Conway granite is characterized h y t h e readiness with which it crumbles, 011 weathering, into a gravelly debris of orthoclase aiid quartz, by reason of the greater solubility of the plagioclase aiid mica, aided by the action of frost. \IF.. HILLEDRASD. The Chemical Composition of Limestones from Upraised Coral Islands, with Notes on Their Microscopical Structures. BY ERXESTW. SKEATS.Bull. ilfus. Co7jip. Zool., Geol. Sevies, 6, 51-126 ; figures. Reprinted, with additions, from tlie copy p i vately issued i n 1902.-For the purpose of studying theextent and causes of dolomitization in upraised coral islands, a great number of specimens collected by various expeditions have been examiiied iiiicroscopically and chemically. Many islands sliow little dolomitization, others are dolomitized from top to bottom, aiid the two conditions may occur together. “Perhaps the cccurreuce of dolomitization is iiiost usual a t the highest poiiits of the islands.” I ‘ Many of the dolomitic limestones, iti coiiipositioii, approach to, and even slightly exceed, 4 0 per cent. of magnesium carbonate. But it is an interesting circuinstarice that, u p to the present, no rock havii,g the composition of a true do!omite has yet been met with among the limestones from coral islands. The iiiaximiini value for magnesium carbonate yet recorded is 44.3 per cent., from one of the Christmas Island rocks. I ’ While occasional extensive deposits of phosphate rock are met with, the amount of calcium phosphate found in the limestones does not exceed 0 . 3 per cent. and is often much less. I ‘ Organic residue is found only in the most recent and unaltered rocks, aiid is then present in amount up to 1 . 5 per cent.” T h e insoluble residue is very low, as a rule varying from 0.01 to 0.2 per cent., the exceptions being those cases which are associated with volcanic rocks, atid ‘ I these facts may be found to be of use iii interpreting the mode

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of origin of some of the older limestones of the earth’s crust.” T h e structural and mineralogical changes which the coral formations undergo in process of time are interesting and have received much study.. T h e method of Meigen (Centralbl. f. .Win., 1901, 577-578)--boiling the powder with solution of cobalt nitratewas used with success to distinguish between calcite and aragonite, and that of Leniberg (Zfschr. a’. deutsch geol. Gesell., 40, 357 (1888)) for calcite and dolomite when the microscope alone failed. Almost the only one of the various theories proposed to account for the dolon~itizationof coral limestones that is not opposed to the facts recorded seems to be that of Dana, and it is suggested that some modification of it “ will be found to harmonize more closely with the evidence than any view which has, a s yet, been put before geologists.” W. F. HILLEBRAND. Notes on the Theories of Origin of Gypsum Deposits. BY R. S. SHERWIN.Trans. K a n s a s Acad. Sa‘., 18,85-88.-Objections are raised to the theory of formation of gypsum deposits in Kansas and Oklahoma by the evaporation of lakes and seas. T h e author prefers to seek the source of the calcium in large limestone beds east of the gypsum deposits, and of the sulphur in the waters of springs which may have existed. w. F. H I L L E B R A N D . Gold in Kansas Shales. BY J . T. LOVEWELL.Trans. K a n sas Acud. Sci., 18, 129-133. Gold in Kansas. BY J . T. LOVEWELL. Trans. K a n s a s Acad. sei, 18, 134-137.-1n these papers, written about a year apart, are many statements as to the assay value and mill-run returns in gold and silver of shales from Western Kansas. T h e presence of zinc is repeatedly affirmed. See, however, this Journal, 24, R 522. W. F. HILLEBRAND. Report of the Section of Chemistry and Mineralogy. BY G . CHR. HOFFMANN.Ann. Rep. GeoC. Szcrvey of Canada, 12, 1900, Part R , 67 pp.-Besides analyses of chrompicotite, faujasite, native antimony, edenite, and magnesite, there are notes on asbestos, azurite, bismuthinite, native copper, cuprite, lampadite, malachite, Inelaconite, rutile, native tellurium, tremolite and uvarovite, besides the usual numerous analyses and assays of limestones, coals, marls, waters, ores of iron, nickel, cobalt, gold, silver, etc. T h e magnesite above mentioned occurs in some parts of Argenteuil County, Township of Grenville, in abundance as a rock-forming mineral. Nearly all of the analyses of it show considerable calcium carbonate. W. F. HILLEBRAND. Petrography of Some Igneous Rocks of the Kettle River Mining Division, British Columbia. BY I,. P. SILVER.U t f a w a Naturalist, 17, 85-91 .-Most of the specimens described represent andesites or related rocks. Chemical data are wanting. Mi. F. HILLEBRAND.

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Oil Fields of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coastal Plain.

BY C .

lv, HAYESAND \~ItT.IA>\.r KENSEDY. u.s.Geol. S?lI.UeJ!,RZlll. A70. 212, 174 p p , ; maps, plates.

W ,F. HILLEBRAKD.

Catalogue and Index of the Publications of the United States Geological Survey, 1901 to 1903. BY P. C. WARXAX. CT. S. If-. F. HILLBBRXSD. GeoZ. Suiwey, Bzdl. NO. zr5! 234 pp. Chemical Analyses of Igneous Rocks Published from 1884 to 1900, with a Critical Discussion of the Character and Use of Analyses. BY HENRYSTEPHENS WASHINGTOS.Lr. S. Geol. Sziiyy, Professioiial Papev h’o. 1 4 , 495 pp.-The character of this most important work, a fit successor to Roth‘s Tabellen, the , i n large measure last instalment of which appeared in I S S ~ is iudicated by its title, b u t a few sentences from the Letter of Transmittal to the Director of the Survey by Whitmati Cross, geologist in charge section of petrology. may Tell be reproduced. ‘‘ This work is primarily a compilation of chemical analyses, and is especially valuable to petrographers and chemists, for it places in one volume material gathered from a great many scattered sources. T h e critical discussion of the value and use of rock arialyses, with comments on methods of aualysis and a review of the bearing of this mass of material upon rock classification, is also of much iniportauce to petrographers and chemists. T h e arrangemeut of the analyses according to the quantitative system for the classification of igneous rocks (see this Journal, 25, 3 f 9 , and R , 7) permits one to compare readily any new analysis w t h many others of closely allied rocks. A work of this kind is necessarily very expensive when published by a commercial house, and i f so issued would be beyond the reach of many who would desire to use it. I t is particularly appropriate that the Survey should publish this work, because a very large proportion of the rock analyses here included have been made in the laboratory of the United States Geological Surrey. upon material which is preserved in its petrographic reference collection.” \Ir, F. HILLEBRAND. Building and Ornamental Stones of Washington.

BY S.

SHEDD.Pavt 1of A n n . Rep. P V a s h i ~ z ~ f oGeol. n Szwney, VoZ.11, 1902, pp. 1-163; plates.-Analyses are given of graiiites, tufas, W. F. HILLEBRAND. sandstones, marbles, and serpentines.

Coal Deposits of Washington. BY HENRY LANDES A N D C. A. RUDDY.Pavt ZZ of A m . R e p , IVashiizgfotz Geol. Szwvey, VoZ.lZ,1902, pp. 165-277; map, figures. W.F. HILLEBRAND. Copper Deposits of New Jersey. BY WALTERHARVEY WEED. A m . Re). State Geologist of Neswjevsej~,1 9 0 2 , pp. 125139.-Deoelopments of late years in the workings of the American Copper Co. near Somerville h a w shown that with depth the oxi-

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dized ores, which have furnished most of the copper mined in the state during and since colonial days, change to native copper, a fact which possibly augurs well for the revival of mining in the region, provided the average content should exceed 1’1, per cent. T h e deposits occur for the most part in the upper part of an altered shale underlying overflows of a chloritized basalt. T h e facts are believed to show that the copper comes from the basalt ; that the solutions carrying it contained alkaline carbonates, and precipitated copper and glance with calcite. If the copper came from decomposing chalcopyrite of either the shale or basalt, the solution would be acid and calcite attacked. Where organic niatter, such as plant remains, occurred, the copper sulphide would be reduced to native copper.” From the complete absence of ferric oxide with the copper and the occurrence of the latter, I ‘ only in those portions of the ore bed in which the ferric oxide has been reduced” it is evident that the active reducing agent was not a ferrous salt, but must have been of an organic nature. T h e following reaction is suggested : Cu,S C H,O 50= W. F. HILLEBRARD. 2Cu $- H,SO, CO,.

+

Production of Graphite.

+ +

+

BY J. STRUTHERS. Iron Age, May

2 8 , 1903 (advance sheets of report U. S. GeologicalSurvey, 1902).

-The output of manufactured graphite in 1902 was 2,358,000 pounds, of which I ,475,000 pounds were in granular or powdered form, and 883,000 pounds as graphitized electrodes. T h e average value was 4.69 cents per pound. Of natural graphite, the United States output in 1902 was 1209 tons of amorphous, valued at $19,764, and4,176,842 poundsof crystalline, valued at$153,117. Details of occurrence and production in Canada are also given. J . W. RICHARDS.

The Burro Mountain Turquoise District. BY G. D. REID, Eng. Min. May 23, 1go3.-The bulk of the United States market is supplied from this district, on the northern edge of the Burro Mountains, in Grant County, N. M. I n 1882, the Occidental and Oriental Turquoise Mining Co., began to operate the mines, but it was not until 1901 that the popularity of “turquoise matrix” created a large demand, and since then the “Gem T u r quoise and Copper Company,” successor to the first-named company, has mined continuously, and sends weekly shipments of fine gem material to New York. T h e Azure Mining Co. employs fifteen men a t a shift, and has been operating continuously for eleven years. T h e country rock is granite, with the feldspars extensively kaolinized towards the outer edges of the district. T h e turquoise occurs in small seams or veinlets, or as nodules in the country rock, the latter giving the best stones. Most of the mining is done in open cuts or by chaneling. T h e gem material brings from $5 to $IO per carat, at retail. J. W. RICHARDS.

I.,

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Asphalt Rock in Kentucky. BY W.E. BROCK. E ? g . Mii7i. 2 7 , 1903 ( , f r o m a&. sheets oy :Winei*al IudustYy).-The " black-rock ' ' strata coiitairi u p to 4 per cent. of bituminous matter, and are of no commercial value, :he interveiling asphaltic strata are j to I j feet i n thickiiess and coiitairi j to 15 per cent. Of the total bituminous content, one-fifth is asphaltene and fourfifths petrolene. After the bitumen is extracted, the sandstone which it impregnated falls to a very fine powder. Only tile deposits near the railways are being worked. For street coniposition, the rock is crnshed a t or near the quarries, and mixed. when used, with pulverized limestone or marl aiid an asphaltic cement composed of Trinidad gum asphalt or petroleum residue. Details are given respecting the various deposits. T h e value of the outJ . 11'. R r c I r A R m . put i n 1902 was $68,704.

3.,June

ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY. Refractometers and Some of Their Uses in Analytical Chemistry. BY W. F. EDWARDS. PYOC. Colo. Sci. SOC., 7 , 85-102 ; figures-Devoid of original matter. T h e author regards it as very unfortunate that arbitrary scale instruments are in use in the case of fixed oils and fats. H e wishes that instrument makers would furnish them with tables whereby the readings could be used to find the iiidex of refraction, and that investigators would use these tables instead of publishing arbitrary numbers. W.F. HILLEBRAND. Report of the Committee Appointed by the Ohio Gas Light Association to Determine Standard Methods of Testing Fuel Gas Appliances. Anter. Gas Light /., 78, 84~-88g.-The committee, Messrs. H. L. Doherty, F. W. Stone, and John Franklin, give rigid methods for determining the efficiency of instantaneous and illdependent water heaters, and of the top-burners, ovens, and broilers of gas-ranges. All of these appliances are made to heat water flowing at such a rate as to be discharged a t a fixed temperature. T h e conditions under which this is to be done for each appliance and the apparatus for it are given in much detail. T h e efficiency is to be determined for varying rates of consumptiori of the gas ; it is to be stated in per cent., and is determined by dividing the total heat added to the water by the total heat the gas is capable of developing. This last quantity is to be determiiied by calorinietric measurement or by calculation. T h e losses are due in all cases to radiation and to the sensible heat carried off by the products of combustion, this being divided into necessary loss and that due to over-ventilation. I n the case of ovens, the committee adds t h e loss due to incomplete combustion, which may be determined by analysis of the products of combustion. T h e losses due to sensible heat carried off are deteriniued