H-M21 -Н H-M 27

15 25-M23- 12.22

0778 47° Kr.

0'772 40° Kr. 0749 80° Kr. 0740 99° Kr. 0742 90° Kr. 0746 99° Kr.

15 25-M21 -12 22

0779 51° Kr.

H

0748 99° Kr.

.. 0.789 15° .. 0792 15 .. 0 795 15 .. 0799 15 .. 0800 15° ... o 802 15°

15 25-M27 -12 22

0780 50 Kr.

15 25-M1- 12.22 15 25-M2-12:22

0781 68° Kr.

0781 70° Kr.

.. 0817 15°

Formula.

H-M, -H H-M1-H H-M. -H H-M, H 230H-MB H H-M, H-M,-H

... 0.58 15°

0.841

0.812 59° Kr.

0.785 99° Kr

0841 15°

0'903

o'862 54° Va.

0'90 15°

0.897

0.846 76° Va.

0.89 15°

0.893

0852 69° Sh.

0.843 80° Va

... 0.899 15°

H-M31 H H-M327 -H Fifth Deduction. -Methyl has the volume 3167 (=16*42+15′25) at one end of a carbon chain, and the volume 28.64 (=16′42+12:22) at the other end. Sixth Deduction.- When an atom of hydrogen, whose volume is 15.25, is displaced by CH,, the volume of the latter is 16:42+15:25; and when an atom of H, whose volume is 12:22, is displaced by CH,, the volume of the latter is 16:42 +12*22.

Seventh Deduction.-The two valencies of carbon so far concerned are distinguished from one another by the fact that H has the volume 15:25 in one position, and 12:22 in the other. (The

former will be called the "first position," and the | latter the "second position.”).

As said before, it is evident that perfect regularity in the relative volumes of molecules exists at the temperature of 15° C.; so that it is quite plain that Kopp's very inaccurate conclusions with regard to the relative volumes of molecules at their various boiling points have misled scientists for more than half-a-century.

It is necessary to remember that it is impossible to find exact regularity in 250 molecules, if it is not really there to be discovered.

There is no other explanation possible of the above results than that an atom of hydrogen occupies a volume of 15.25 in the first position of the carbon atom, and of 12:22 in the second position.

If chemists like to consider that these two volumes include co-volumes, they must then admit that these atoms are differentiated by their covolumes.

The exact volumes of the two H-atoms in methylene (CH2) will be shown later, and it will then be seen that the four valencies of carbon can easily be differentiated. They will also be differentiated in other ways.

The doctrine that the four valencies of carbon are indistinguishable from one another is the greatest stumbling-block that has ever been placed in the way of scientists, and accounts for the apparently inextricable confusion in the higher regions of chemistry.

1500

There are three ways of estimating specific heats between 14° and o° A.

(1) From the specific heats curve the specific heat of lead appears to be zero at about 6° A.

(2) If we plot the above specific heats against absolute temperatures, and produce the curve to o° A., the following specific heats are obtained :—

T

S

10° A.

0.0053

5° A.

0.0027

A.

0'0022

A

0.0012

A.

0'00005

(3) We can apply Debige's Law (atomic heat=kT) below 14° A., and get the following values::

The values of (degree of polymerisation) calculated from each series of specific heats are widely different (see Table I.).

The serious objection to the third set of results is their magnitude, for between 10-0° A. each lead polymer of (Pb,+) is transformed into a huge one of (Pba-4000)-a miracle of molecular activity! The second result, where p = 18, appears to be not unlikely.

The results for water are also obtained in the same three ways (see Table II.).

The third set of values seem beyond the reach even of the imagination, and the second set give water a polymericular weight of 140× 18=2520 at the absolute zero. The behaviour of other elements, referred to later, makes p=30, a more probable value.

The values of for copper are given in Table III.

The results for carbon (diamond) are obtained in the same way, but are very much larger in magnitude. Thus, the most likely polymericular weights are:

(1) If the values of had been calculated from Debige's specific heats, they would all have been enormously higher.

(2) Certain discrepancies, e.., the low value for naphthalene, would disappear on plotting polymericular weights against absolute boiling-points.

(3) The curve would be still more reliable if it were based on the behaviour of, say, half-a-dozen substances.

(4) The numbers of atoms in the benzene, naphthalene, and anthracene polymers at o' A are about 84, 100, and 132 respectively.

PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE GRANT
OF MINERAL CONCESSIONS IN INDIA.
BY THE HON. SIR THOMAS H. HOLLAND,
K.C.S.I., K.C.I.E., D.Sc., LL.D., F.R.S.

IT is the business of a mining company to make as much profit as possible out of a mineral deposit during the period of its mining lease: it is the business of Government to safeguard a national

asset of vital importance which cannot be replaced or renewed. But it is better for a country that its mineral deposits should be worked than that they should be left lying idle in the ground. The problem before Government, therefore, or before any large owner of mineral rights, is to frame conditions for the grant of mineral concessions which will ensure a fair return to the State, without undue waste, and yet be liberal enough to attract the investor in mines.

The mineral policy of a Government is thus the choice of a judicious mean between extravagance and conservatism. And as the values of minerals vary with the industrial development of a country and that of the countries with which it is in trade communication, this judicous mean wll gradually shift its position between the two extremes. Yet, to attract the investor, stability of policy is also necessary; and thus, whilst the rules for the grant of mineral concessions should be modified from time to time to safeguard the interests of the State, frequent changes which will unsettle private enterprise must be avoided.

In a country as large as India, a mineral that is workable in one province may be unworkable in another, where fuel may be scarce, means of transport undeveloped, or markets unobtainable. Thus, some local variations in the conditions for the grant of mineral concessions may be necessary; yet, because the development of one mineral is often not possible without the simultaneous development of another, the rules should prescribe limiting conditions sufficiently narrow to ensure a judicious degree of uniformity over wide areas. The whole problem of framing and workng a mineral policy for all India is, thus, the choice of a judicious mean in all things-rents, royalties, terms, areas, and conditions of tenure.

As justification for conservatism, the Government has to realise :

(1) That mineral products are essential for the maintenance of modern civilised activities; when they approach exhauston, the country will be absolutely dependent on foreign sources.

(2) That a mineral once worked is lost to the country for ever: nothing can renew a mineral deposit.

(3) That the miner works only those parts of the deposit that are commercially profitable at the time, often leaving behind far larger quantities of the same mineral in a condition even less fitted

than before for profitable exploitation; a mineral deposit which is not worth working to-day may become of great value when processes are improved, or when, through industrial development, local markets become changed.

(4) That, when a company obtains a mining lease, the State, as the owner of mineral rights, goes into effective partnership with the company. The State contributes the mineral deposit as its share of the capital, whilst the mining company provides the working capital. At the end of the lease, when the mineral deposit has been worked out, the State's share of the capital has disappeared, whilst the mining company has secured the profits, and, if successful, has redeemed the whole of its investment. A mineral deposit, therefore, becomes a wasting State asset from the date on which it is leased to an active mining company, and the only compensation that the State obtains for the exhaustion of its mineral deposits

is (a) the royalty paid, and (b) the money spent in local work. As the royalty rates now prescribed in India are rarely more than one-fortieth of the actual mineral values, the return to the State under present conditions is less than the potential value of the mineral; for the royalty is paid on the mineral actually sold by the miner, and not on that left behind through his bad working, or because, at the time, the deposits are locally too poor to be worth exploitation.

The whole process of mineral exploitation is, thus, essentially wasteful: large quantities of rich mineral are left behind for various reasons: larger quantities are damaged by disturbance of the ground in mining; a large percentage of each mineral is lost during the process of dressing for the market or the smelter; and, in the case of ores, a serious percentage is lost in the process of smelting. Finally, the refined product is used in the Arts, and thus scattered too widely to make it payable to collect again into workable form. A workable mineral deposit is the product of natural

processes of concentration which have been going on for geological ages; but the results of these slow processes are undone in a few years by the miner, whose every mistake is irreparable. It has been well said that, whilst the results of bad farming can be recovered and the fertility of

The oil output therefore amounted to 7 per cent of the fuel output of the world, reckoned in tons. If reckoned in potential therms, the figure would be raised to 10 per cent.

in Mexico, it may be taken that last year she controlled 75 to 80 per cent of the total output of It is therefore significant that, in the world. official quarters, grave anxiety has been expressed as to the probable exhaustion of these resources in view of the rapid development in the use of motor port by sea.

As the United States has extensive oil interests

lisers for worked-out mines.

As justification, on the other hand, for liberality, it is necessary to remember :—

(1) That most mining enterprises are highly speculative, and the investor wants the encouragement of generous terms before he will risk his capital in an unproved country.

(2) That most of the capital is sunk in an irrecoverable form: the miner cannot sell underground galleries and shafts in the open market; he must, therefore, hope to recover his capital outlay from profits and that in a relatively short period.

(3) That, unless a miner can now and then reap the benefit of an occasional windfall, he will not be justified in writing off the losses due to the large number of unlucky ventures which seem to be the constant accompaniments of mining enterprises.

(4) That mineral products are essential to most industries, and it is much better to use them even wastefully than to leave so much national capita) lying idle. Journal of Indian Industries and Labour, May, 1921.

THE June and July issue of the Journal of the Franklin Institute contains a paper that was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Institute held in January, by John E. Lieb, M.E., detailing the remarkable discoveries and experiments of Leonardo da Vinci in engineering. The article is very fully illustrated. The multiplicity of devices is remarkable, and include a cyclometer, a pedometer, a dynamometer, a spring-driven automobile, a friction-driven fire escape, and wings for a flying machine. Numerous extracts from his diary show that he lived much in advance of his time, and many of his devices are of present-day interest.

While we are justified in discounting to some extent the elements of popular panic which have been obvious in much that has appeared in technical journals, as well as in the daily Press, the fact remains that, but for the rapid development of production in Mexico, and the extensive interests of the United States in this production, the actual danger of shortage in America would have already become more acute.

The following extract from a statement by Mr. J. O. Lewis, Chief Petroleum Technologist to the United States Bureau of Mines, expresses so very clearly the American view of the oil problem of the future that I cannot do better than quote it in extenso. No mere paraphrase would convey the same impression of reality.

The

"The United States Geological Survey during the last ten years has made several estimates of the quantity of oil left in our old fields. most recent estimate-that of David White-indicates that about 40 per cent of the oil had been brought to the surface, and that the 60 per cent remaining underground, if recovery as needed were possible, would last barely 20 years at the present rate of consumption. As the period in which an oil field can be made to yield its oil is not wholly within the control of man, the domestic production will undoubtedly be spread over a much longer period than that estimated; but, on the other hand, the peak of production will be passed long before 20 years, and thereafter production will be at a declining rate. Of course, such estimates are by no means infallible, as many obscure factors are involved. However, this statement represents the opinion of the agency best qualified to make such an estimate, and is indicative of a condition which, were there no other solution to the problem, would be highly unsatisfactory,

*Delivered in the theatre of the Institution of Civil Engineers, London. Inserted by favour of the Gas Journal, June 29, 1921.