152 PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. [J. F. I.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

The Blind, Their Condition and the PVork Being Done for Them in the United States, by Harry Best, Ph.D. 763 pages, i2mo. New York. The Mac- millan Company, 1919. Price, $4.

U. S. War Department, Annual Reports I918: 3 vols., illustrations, plates, maps, diagrams, 8vo. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1919.

U. S. Bureau 'of Standards: Circular No. 76. Aluminum and Its Light Alloys. 12o pages, illustrations, 8vo. Washington, Government Printing Office. Price, 2o cents.

U. S. Coast and Geodetic Surz,ey: Terrestrial Magnetism. Results of Magnetic Observations Made by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1918, by Daniel L. Hazard, Chief, Division of Terrestrial Magnetism. 32 pages, 8vo. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1919.

A Proposed " P o i s o n - G a s . " - - T h e signing of the armistice brought suddenly to a close several terrible methods of offense that were just about ready to be employed by the allied and associated powers. These methods have been more or less made known to the public, and among them is an asphyxiating gas which promised to be a valuable one for war purposes, and for which American chemists had just about succeeded in perfecting the procedure for mass manufacture when hostilities were suspended. The account of the method of manufacture was given a short time ago in the Journal o f Indus tr ia l and Eng ,neer ing Chemis t ry . Tim substance ~s methyldichlorarsin, CHaAsC1,. The process of manufacture is quite elaborate, and, as far as the experiments went, the cost of the pure product was about $2.50 per pound. The operation did not reach the extended development that was attained by mustard gas or phosgene, but was still within what was termed the " Small-scale Manufacturing Section of the C. W. S.," when Messrs. Uhlinger, Clapp and Cook, who furnish the account from which this note is quoted, were released from duty in the matter.

The properties of the substance are not given, but from its close relation to the kakodyl series it is not difficult to guess at its general nature as an asphyxiator. H . L .

Coal P roduc t ion in Germany. AxoN. ( P o w e r , vol. xlix, No. 25, p. 998, June 24, I919 . ) - -The German VVar Commissary states that Germany's coal production is decreasing in all districts, because the pay is no longer based on the work done but has a minimum of I6 to I8 marks ($3.8I to $4.28, at normal exchange) per day. The present coal production in th~ Ruhr district is 9ooo to IO,OOO tons per day, compared with 34,0oo tons in peace times and 24,0oo tons during the war. In upper Silesia the daily output has been reduced to 2ooo carloads~ compared with I4,ooo in peace times and I I,OOO during the war.