CHEMICAL NEWS, May 4, 1917 Grain Size Measurements in Metals: mended that all important determinations have at least 50 grains included within the circle. Since 0.581 is nearer to 06 than to 0.5, the author has adopted o'6 as a general factor for all determinations. It should be noted that an error of 1 per cent in the determination of the whole-grain equivalent of the boundary grains makes an error of less than 0.25 per cent in the final result, since more than 75 per cent of the total area of the circle is occupied by the included grains. The following is an example of how the factor is used: 6. Comparison of the Various Methods with the Planimeter Method.-In making the calculations for the comparison of methods the actual number of grains per unit of area was not figured, the number of grains per square inch on the drawing being sufficient for comparison. The percentage of error was figured in the following manner :— Suppose the planimeter method gave 50 grains per square inch, the intercept method 542, Heyn's method 55.6. The percentage of error in the intercept method is 4.2 X 100 = 8.4 per cent, and in Heyn's method 50 207 The square of the mean of any group of miscellaneous numbers is always less than the mean of the squares of those numbers. The following example illustrates this condition : Suppose that the lengths of the grain intercepts whenThe mean of this group of figures is 3 and its square is 9. cut by a straight line are in the ratio of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The mean of the squares of this group of figures is 11. Taking the mean of the squares as the most probable figure for mathematical accuracy, the square of the mean, which is the figure used in the Heyn and the intercept methods, is only 81.8 per cent. By either of these methods, therefore, the indicated area per grain would be low, which would make the number of grains per unit of area high. The greater the difference in magnitude of the individual numbers in any group the greater will be the error due to this cause. For example, if we take simply the first and last figures in the above group, namely, I and 5, the mean will be 3 and the square of the mean 9, yet the mean of the squares is 13. Assuming 13 as 100 per cent, the figure 9 would represent only 69.2 per cent of the proper area. From this it would seem that the larger the grain used in either the Heyn or the intercept methods the greater would be the percentage of error, since some grains will be intersected near the edge, thus making the minimum intercept approximately the same for all sizes of grains, while the maximum intercept will increase as the size of the grain increases. The resulte obtained indicate that no correction factor can be applied to either the Heyn or the intercept method with the expectation of compensating for the errors encountered. The safest way would be to measure each intercept, square it, and take the mean of the squares. The method cannot be carried out practically in this manner, since the time for making a determination would be excessive. In the author's method it is suggested that the reason the factory is greater than o'5 is that the o'5 point would be realised more nearly if cords were drawn at the intersection of the circumference of the circle with the grain boundaries. It is apparent that the arc will include a greater portion of a grain than the cord. If this line of reasoning is correct as the size of the circle increases, other conditions remaining the same, the factory should approach o 5. 21 56 35 0.6 7'068 IIO 4I 9.6 7'068 93 40 0.6 7:068 117'0 75 37 0.6 7:068 97'2 103 43 0.6 7:068 128.8 77'0 73.69 134'6 137.80 2.3 4'5 116.97 0'0 37'5 No attempt was made to test the accuracy of the ocular comparison method. It is apparent that this method would present the largest errors due to the personal equation. 0'41 13'05 17 515 3.82 21'9 It will be found that the number of grains as determined by the Heyn and intercept methods is usually greater than by the planimeter method. This should be true for the following mathematical reason: Average percentage of error, 2'4 per cent. The average of plus and minus errors in 187 determinations was plus o'25 per cent. The largest error found was 6.4 per cent, and the average error 2.1 per cent. An average or 30 representative determinations showed that 78.5 per cent of the total area of the circle was occupied by the included grains. This portion is determined accurately by the author's method. The factor is used in that an error of 5 per cent in estimating the boundary determining only 21.5 per cent of the number of grains, so grain portion makes an error of slightly over I per cent in the final result. To be continued), FISCHER'S SYNTHESIS OF DEPSIDES AND TANNING SUBSTANCES.* By Prof. J. A. WILKINSON, M.A., F.C.S. THE work carried out by Prof. Emil Fischer and his pupils on the polypeptides, which has contributed so largely to the extension of our knowledge of the proteins and their derivatives, is well known, and led indirectly to the work outlined here, culminating in the synthesis of a substance which possesses practically all the properties of tannic acid, and the preparation of a large number of others strictly allied both in prop.rties and composition. Whilst engaged in the synthesis of polypeptides of tyrosin, he desired to prepare a chloride of chloracetyl tyrosin in order to obtain glycyl tyrosyl glycin. On treating with phos phorus trichloride it was found that the free phenol groups Fresent in the molecule caused trouble, and hence he conceived the idea of fixing them in the meanwhile by means of a group, which could afterwards be removed easily and the original phenol group restored. For this purpose the methyl ester of chlorcarbonic acid, Cl.COOCH,, was used, the hydrogen of the phenolic hydroxyl being replaced by the methyl carbonato group -COOCH3. The methyl carbonato compounds thus produced were then treated with phosphorus chloride, yielding the methyl carbonatochlorides, which on subsequent treatment with sodium hydroxide re-introduced the original phenol group. The success of this procedure in the case mentioned led to its trial with the phenol carboxylic acids, the results of which are detailed in a series of brilliant papers entitled "The Methyl Carbonato derivatives of Phenol Carboxylic Acids, and their Use for Synthetic Operations," the first of which appeared in 1908. In these it was shown that the chlorides of these acids were unobtainable by the ordinary methods of preparing acid chlorides, owing to the fact that the phosphorus chlorides attack both the hydroxyl and carboxyl groups, and yield products of variable composition, as had been shown previously by R. Anschutz. The reactions which take place may be exemplified thus:Starting with parahydroxybenzoic acid CO.O.C6H4CO.O.C6H4COOH and so on. According to the number of phenolcarboxylic acids coupled together, we distinguish between di-, tri-, tetra-depsides, just as in the case of the polysaccharides and polypeptides. Up to 1913, Prof. Fischer had prepared in a state of purity twenty-eight di-depsides, two tri- and two tetra-depsides. These substances are by no means new, a few of the simpler ones having been prepared formerly. H. Schiff and others prepared from gallic acid, by means of silver nitrate or arsenic acid, and then phosphorus oxychloride, a substance to which the name digallic acid was given and formula C14H10O9, supposed to be identical with tannic acid, a statement found in text-books even to-day, but which, in the light of Fischer's work, cannot be maintained. This investigation was extended later to a whole series of other phenolcarboxylic acids, but unfortunately most of the substances he obtained were amorphous, and hence have been criticised, especially with respect to uniformity of composition. It is worthy of note, however, that these researches gave rise to the commercial preparation of artificial tanning materials. Further, Klepl, in 1883, by heating parahydroxybenzoic acid, obtained both the above substances, but this simple method is inapplicable in other cases. In addition to the depsides, which are pronounced acids, the phenol carboxylic acids can also form neutral anhydrides. The introduction of the methyl carbonato group, by use of the methyl ester of chlorcarbonic acid, is not difficult to effect in the case of the meta and parahydroxybenzoic acids, and this is found to be general if the phenol groups are in these positions with respect to the carboxyl group. At the same time the number of hydroxyl groups present makes but little difference. The hydroxyl groups in protocatechuic and gallic acids are completely converted with slightly more than the theoretical quantity of methyl chlorcarbonate. But the case is quite different if the hydroxylgroup stands in the ortho-position to the carboxyl-group. The replacement sometimes succeeds if excess of the chlorcarbonic ester be used in aqueous alkaline solution-e.g., with orsellinic and pyrogallol carboxylic acids-but examples of this are rare. The general method used in this case was first employed by F. Hofmann for the preparation of orthoethylcarbonatobenzoic acid by the action of ethyl chlorcarbonate on a mixture of salicylic acid and dimethylaniline in an indifferent solvent-e.g., benzene. Prof, Fischer used this method to convert the two hydroxy! groups in gentisinic and B-resorcylic acids into methyl carbonato groups, from which the chlorides were afterwards prepared (Ber., 1909, 215). More difficulty was experienced with the phloroglucin carboxylic acids, but this was overcome by using large excess of methyl chlorcarbonate and dimethylaniline, and afterwards treating with bicarbonate in acetone solution. If the carboxyl group is not united directly to the benzene ring, e.g., orthocoumaric acid, no difficulty is experienced, and the reaction proceeds well in aqueous alkaline solution. By these methods a large number of the phenol carboxylic acids have been completely converted into the corresponding methyl carbonato compounds. Partial replace CHEMICAL NEWS, May 4, 1917 Citizenship and Health Questions in War Time, ment may also occur, this being chiefly dependent on the active mass of the reagents used, but in these cases also it has been found that the para-compound is the one most generally formed, and next the meta-derivative. The complete re-conversion of the methyl carbonato group to the phenol group is easily carried out by using excess of cold aqueous alkali, and more slowly with normal ammonia solution; but in the latter case the group splits off, not as carbonate, but as urethane, NH2 COOCH3 Neutral alkali carbonate acts even more slowly, whilst bicarbonate is apparently indifferent, and hence is useful for dissolving out the acids. Partial removal also takes place with smaller quantities of alkali, the para-groups being first attacked. By this means the monomethyl carbonato compounds can be prepared from the dimethy! carbonato compounds. The chlorides of these methylcarbonatocarboxylic acids are prepared by the action of PC's either by gentle heat or shaking the acid with PC and dry chloroform. Generally speaking, they crystallise well, and show the reactions of acid chlorides, such as benzoyl chloride. By replacement of the methylcarbonato group with the original phenol group, the acid chlorides themselves are obtained. The latter have been obtained directly by H. Meyer, but the products he obtained do not crystallise, remaining as oils, and cannot be compared in importance with those obtained as above by Fischer's method. Further, the chlorides of the completely methylated or acylated phenolcarboxylic acids have been known for a long time, and are stable enough to serve for synthetic purposes, but the removal of the methyl or acyl groups afterwards is difficult. These methylcarbonato acid chlorides have been used for the following syntheses: 1. With alcohol they form esters, which on subsequent saponification with alkali are changed to the esters of the free phenolcarboxylic acids. This reaction is of especial importance in the case of the polybasic alcohols of the sugar class, as will be exemplified later. 2. With the amino-acid esters in aqueous alkaline solution, they couple themselves directly, as shown in the case of parahydroxyhippuric acid given above. By this means the isomeric orthosalicyluric acid has also been prepared. 3. In the presence of aluminium chloride direct union with benzene takes place, as shown in the synthesis of paraoxybenzophenone; thus C6H4 +C6H6 = C6H4 + HCI, O.COOCH3 O.COOCH3 COCI CO.C6H5 saponification removing the methylcarbonato group. It is noteworthy here that pyrogallol carboxylic acid yields 2.3.4-trihydroxybenzophenone, identical with alizarin yellow A, whose formula, CO[C6H2(OH)3]2, is now conclusively established. 4. The free phenolcarboxylic acids also react directly with the chloride, forming di-depsides, as already shown, and similarly for tri- and tetra-depsides. In the case of the di- and trihydroxybenzoic acids contailing two and three hydroxy groups, isomeric methylcarbonato depsides result, as also complicated derivatives, which are difficult to separate and purify. So far one case only has been fully worked out-the coupling of dimethyl carbonato orsellinic acid chloride with orsellinic acid necessary for the synthesis of lecanoric acid. Di-gallic, di protocatechuic acids, as well as a large number of other di-depsides, have been prepared by this method, and their constitution thus clearly established. Many of these substances, as has already been mentioned. show the reactions of the tannins in greater or lesser degree. On the subject of these chlorides, Prof. Fischer further remarks that their applicability for synthetic purposes is 209 by no means exhausted, and that they will yet prove of The re-conversion of the methylcarbonato group to phenolic hydroxyl is possible by using cold dilute alkali or aqueous ammonia at 20° C., the reaction being generally completed in half to three-quarters of an hour with normal or semi-normal solutions. If alkali be used, sufficient is added to neutralise the carboxyl group, and then 2 molecules NaOH for each methylcarbonato group. If the weaker ammonia be employed, a large excess is required. The di-depsides hitherto investigated are crystalline substances difficultly soluble in cold water, but soluble in bicarbonate solution, acid in reaction, and melt with decomposition. Like the simple phenolcarboxylic acids, they give colorations with ferric chloride. They react with diazo-methane, forming completely methylated compounds, which crystallise extremely well and melt at a lower temperature than the depsides without decomposition. Owing to these properties they have been useful for the purposes of identification. The first paper directly concerned with tannin appeared in the Berichte in 1912, and was entitled "Tannin, and the Synthesis of similar Substances." It begins with an historical introduction diseussing briefly the various researches published up to that time. These had not resulted in the establishment of a definite composition or formula for tannin which would defy criticism or investigation, but certain facts had been ascertained which Prof. Fischer thought it necessary to confirm or reject as a result of his own investigations. (To be continued). CITIZENSHIP AND HEALTH QUESTIONS IN By CHARLES PORTER, M.D., B.Sc., M.R C.P.Ed. THE lecturer said that while, as was always the case in war time, there had been an awakening to the importance of the relationship between citizenship and public health, there was still a necessity for great efforts to be made for maintaining the interest of the citizen in health questions if the best results were to be obtained. In the Boer War the awakening that took place led to the establishment of the School Medical Service and the giving of attention to the health of the school child. So far, this war had directed attention to the necessity for taking action on behalf of motherhood and young childhood, and with a view to the prevention of measles, which took so large a toll of the young. Efforts also were being made to bring the venereal diseases under control and to stamp out what was a most serious threat to the manhood of the nation. Apart from these, possibly the clearest sign of awakened citizenship was the widely felt desire for the establishment field of public health work had widened tremendously, and of a separate Ministry of Health. Of recent years the yearly was widening to such an extent that centralisation of all the activities was essential. At the present moment effort was too diffused and there were very distinct signs of waste, not only in respect of efficiency, but also of time and money. Even if reorganisation and co-ordination came about, however, the best results would not be obtained, unless the citizen recognised that his interest in public health must be continuous. Spasmodic awakenings were all very well, but something more was required. He believed that it was necessary to teach the citizen *Abstract of a Lecture delivered at the Royal Institute of Public Health, April 25, 1917. something of citizenship, and to show him how much public health did for him and how much he could do for it. Much of the teaching could be done by those engaged in the public health service, and he suggested that the time had come for a recognition by health workers of the fact that largely they were propagandists and that the propaganda work was waiting to be done. REPORT OF THE ROYAL ONTARIO NICKEL COMMISSION. THE Royal Ontario Nickel Commission, appointed by the Ontario Government on S:ptember 9, 1915, "To Investigate the Resources, Industries, and Capacities in connection with Nickel and its Ores," has presented its Report. The Commissioners are: - Geo. T. Holloway, Associate of the Royal College of Science, London, and Vice-President of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, an English metallurgical expert of high repute; Dr. W. G. Miller, Provincial Geologist; and McGregor Young, K.C., a well-known barrister of Toronto; Thomas W. Gibson, Deputy Minister of Mines, acted as Secretary. A little pink slip at the front of the Report informs the reader that in order that the Report might be placed before the Legislature at the earliest possible date, 150 advance copies have been struck off without the last chapter (which is a Bibliography of Nickel) and the Index, but both of these will be included before the Report is issued to the public at large. The Report proper is a bulky volume, containing over 600 pages, and is well illustrated with cuts, diagrams, and maps. In addition there is an appendix, of 219 pages, which contains the evidence of the witnesses who testified before the Commission, and a number of papers, memoranda, and other matter pertinent to the inquiry. The Commissioners print a summary of the Report, and their conclusions on the main points of the investigation at the forefront of the volume, and thus enable the reader to obtain the gist of the Report without difficulty. After references to the various countries they visited, in cluding the United States, Great Britain, France, Norway, Cuba, Australia, and New Caledonia, and to numerous mines, works, plants, smelters, &c., on this side of the Atlantic and on the other, and also to their interviews and conversations with Mr. Bonar Law, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, and other British Government officials, the Commissioners go on to say : "The two questions that have been uppermost in the numerous discussions that have taken place concerning Ontario's nickel industry during the last twenty-five years, are:-(1) Can nickel be economically refined in Ontario? and (2) Are the nickel deposits of Ontario of such a character that this province can compete successfully as a nickel producer with any other country? It will be seen that the Commissioners have no hesitation in answering both of these questions in the affirmative." The Report goes on to state that the Commissioners are of the opinion : I. "The nickel ore deposits of Ontario are much more extensive and offer better facilities for the production of nickel as a low cost than do those of any other country. Nickel-bearing ores occur in many parts of the world, but the great extent of the deposits in this province, their richness and uniformity in metal contents, and the success of the industry, point strongly to the conclusion that Ontario nickel has little to fear from competition. 2. "Any of the processes now in use for refining nickel could be successfully worked in Ontario, and conditions and facilities are at least as good in this province as in any other part of Canada. 3. "In view of the fact that practically no chemicals are required, that there is a much more complete saving of the precious metals, especially platinum and palladium, and that electric power is cheap and abundant, the most satisfactory method of refining in Ontario will be the electrolytic. 4. "The refining of nicke! in Ontatio will not only benefit the nickel industry, but will promote the welfare of existing branches of the chemical and metallurgical industries, and lead to the introduction of others. 5. "The methods employed at the Ontario plants of the two operating nickel companies are modern and efficient, although there are differences in both mining and smelting practice. It is the consistent policy of both companies to adopt all modern improvements in plant or treatment. Even during the present time of acute pressure, the Canadian Copper Company has materially increased its output without substantial enlargement of its plant, and the losses in smelting are less, both at Copper Cliff and the Mond plant at Coniston, than they were a year ago. These companies have each had their experimental stage, neither has asked nor received any Government assistance, and both have earned the success which they have achieved. 6. "The present system of mining taxation in Ontario is just and equitable and in the public interest, and is the best system for this province. Any question of change is rather one of rate than of principle. This important question is dealt with at some length in Chapter XII. 7. "Experiments have been undertaken by the Commission in the production of nickel-copper steel direct from Sudbury ore, and also in the electrolytic refining of nickel. Certain improvements in the latter process have been made the subject of application on behalf of the Government of Ontario for patents in Canada, United States, and Great Britain." Public interest in the nickel question has been, and continues to be, very keen. It has been a matter of popular belief that Ontario has a practical monopoly of the world's nickel, and there has been something like exasperation in the public mind because of the fact that none of the nickel mined in Ontario was refined in Canada, but that it was being sent abroad, and mostly to the United States, for final treatment. The opening chapter of the Report deals with the agitation which has gone on from the beginning of the industry in favour of the refining of nickel in Ontario, the various steps which governments cr parliaments have from time to time taken to realise this desire; the negotiations with the Imperial Government for the same purpose are also summarised. The offer of the Ontario Government to the British authorities in 1891 to give the latter a substantial if not a controlling interest in the nickel mines of the province, if they would agree to establish refining plants and make nickel-steel here, is recalled. Doubt is cast, not upon the good faith of the offer, but upon the possibility of implementing it, if it included only the nickel deposits at that time remaining in the possession of the Crown. It is stated that most of the great deposits now being worked had already been parted with before the date of the offer. Nevertheless, the Report says that the action of the Government was a notable one, arguing remarkable insight into the future, and "had the offer been met with an equal degree of imagination on the part of Great Britain it is not easy to say what the results would have been. Even with the deposits found since 1891 a good deal of nickel could have been obtained, and it could always have been possible to purchase privately-owned properties." The Commissioners say that at the beginning of their enquiry it was asserted by the companies interested that nickel could not be economically refined in Ontario. They therefore naturally express gratification at the assured prospect of the erection in Ontario of two large plants for the refining of nickel. One is now being constructed by the International Nickel Company of Canada, Limited, at Port Colborne, The company has obtained a site of 400 CHEMICAL NEWS, } May 4 1917 Report of the Royal Ontario Nickel Commission. acres on which 2000 men are now at work, and is erecting a plant whose initial output will be on the basis of 15,000,000 lbs. of nickel per annum, provision being made for doubling or quadrupling this capacity. The matte to be refined here will come from the smelters of the Canadian Copper Company at Copper Cliff, for the treatment of which there will be required bituminous coal, coke, fueloil, nitre-cake, and other chemicals and materials, estimated at 100,000 tons annually. The plant is expected to be in operation and turning out refined nickel in the autumn of the present year. The second refinery is that of the British America Nickel Corporation, Limited, a company controlled and largely financed by the British Government, which has purchased the large Murray mine, the Whistle, and other deposits in the Sudbury region. This refinery will probably be erected at the Murray mine, which is about three miles from Sudbury. The refining process employed will be the electrolytic, otherwise known as the Hybinette process, from the name of the inventor who uses it in the Norwegian works. This plant will have a capacity at the beginning of 5000 tons of nickel per annum. As to compulsory measures for ensuring that the whole of the nickel output of Ontario should be refined within her borders, the Commissioners say they are advised that the Provincial Legislature has not power to prohibit export or to impose an export tax directly, and that the power of the province in effect to regulate export by differential taxation in favour of nickel refined within the province, is a matter of grave doubt. The completion and operation of these plants, in the view of the Commissioners, especially because of the probable extension of the facilities now being provided, will go far towards a solution of the question of home refining, which has so long exercised the public mind. The output of these refineries, added to the nickel now being produced in England from Ontario matte, will fully meet, if not surpass, the entire requirements of the British Empire. A custom smelter for nickel ore has sometimes been suggested by individual owners of nickel deposits or small companies. The Report states that the British America Company are prepared to consider this question, and that if such an arrangement could be effected it would answer all probable requirements. The suggestion has been made in certain quarters that Government ownership would solve many of the questions which have been raised in connection with the nickel deposi's. The Commissioners point out that to expropriate the deposits and plants of the Sudbury nickel area would probably cost not less than 100,000,000 dols., a sum approximately equal to the total paid-up capital of all the chartered banks in Canada. They add :— "There is no certainty that large profits can be made The present every year from the nickel industry. activity is in part due to well understood causes, which it is to be hoped will never recur. In the past the output has had to be curtailed at times. If the price of nickel should fall, profits will naturally decrease. The nickel industry is to a considerable extent dependent for its success on the highly trained and specialised technical men who superintend it, who command salaries far beyond those which are paid in the Government service to the most highly placed employees. Besides, nickel is not a necessity of life, nor an article of universal consumption or use, and the nickel business is in no way comparable to those connected with the operation of public utilities where Government ownership may be beneficial or expedient. In short, there does not seem to be any good reason why the people of Ontario should be asked to adventure so large a sum of money as would be required for the purchase of the nickel deposits and plants." The uses of nickel are dealt with in several chapters under the headings-"Properties and Uses of Nickel and 211 other Alloys of Nickel containing Iron." The great use of nickel is in the manufacture of nickel-steel, the ordinary form of which contains about 3 per cent of the metal. As compared with ordinary carbon steel, nickel-steel has much greater strength and ductility, and is used in various forms in a wide range of industrial operations, also in the manufacture of armour-plate, ordnance, projectiles, protective deck plate, gun-shields, and many other articles of nava and military equipment. Large bridges at New York, and over the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, dams, docks, and spillways of the Panama Canal, and other large structures illustrate the usefulness of nickel-steel. For locomotive forgings, marine engines and shafting, wire cables, automobile parts, &c., there is a large and growing use. Many useful alloys of copper and nickel are produced and used for a variety of purposes, such as bullet-casings, for coinage, plumbers' supplies, &c. The use of nickel in the electro-plating of metallic objects is widely known and needs no explanation. As finely divided metal, nickel is used as a carrier of hydrogen in the manufacture of fats from oils, and this property is largely made use of by soap. makers. Pure nickel is used in coins, in making watch and cigarette cases, and cooking utensils. It is also drawn into wire used in spark plugs and electrical leadingin wires Purchasers and leading consumers in Britain and the United States express the opinion that the uses of nickel will be extended, and that when normal peace conditions are fully restored the demand will be greater than it was before the war. A reduction of the price would undoubtedly enlarge consumption and require increased production. Chapter IV., on the Nickel Deposits of the World, contains 191 pages, and is in itself a complete treatise on this subject. The Sudbury deposits are first taken up, and their geology, mineralogy, and composition fully discussed. The extent of the ore reserves is given at 70,000,000 tons of proven ore, and of proven, probable, and possible ore at 150,000,000 tons. Mining methods are described and illustrated. New Caledonia is generally held up as the chief competitor of Ontario in the production of nickel, and the deposits there are dealt with. The ore is different from that of Sudbury and does not contain copper. It is shown that while there is a good deal of nickel in New Caledonia, the mines are small compared with those of Sudbury. The largest mine yet worked contained 600,000 tons; few exceed 250,000 tons, while in Sudbury the large deposits have tonnages ranging up to 45,000,000 tons. The cres as shipped are richer in nickel than those of Sudbury, but are gradually lowering in tenor; they are more expensive to work, are farther away from the markets, and the production is increasing very slowly. While the output of the Sudbury mines has grown ninefold during the last fifteen years, that of New Caledonia has increased by only The conclusion as to New Caledonia is summed up in the following words: 20 per cent. "The essence of the whole matter in so far as competition from New Caledonia in the open market is concerned, is the cost of the refined nickel produced from these ores. More than a dozen years ago the cost was approximately 19 cents a pound, immediately prior to the war it had not been lowered; at present with excessive freight rates and increased prices for supplies the cost is much increased. As long as the price of nickel remains about the same as it has been during recent years, New Caledonla will have an important industry. It will probably expand to some extent owing especially to the activities of the newer of the two companies that are shipping ore and smelting on the island; but there is no good reason for believing that the competition from New Caledonia will become any stronger than it has in the past. Should the price of nickel fall to 25 cents a pound or less, New Caledonia will have difficulty in keeping her mines in operation." The nickel mines of Norway are dealt with. They are its Compounds," "Non-ferrous Alloys," "Nickel-steel and ❘ of the same character as those of Sudbury, but poorer in |