The electrical equipment for electrofusion experimentation has been completed and certain initial work in electrometallurgy has been carried on. This will be continued in the studies of ferroalloys.

An extended series of experiments to determine limitations in the oil flotation of manganese ores has been conducted by A. M. Sperry, a senior in the College of Mining.

In the hope of finding an economical and commercial method of concentrating chromite-bearing sands of the western coast, many elaborate experiments were conducted by E. V. Daveler and H. I. Altshuler. The results, while not immediately practical, are nevertheless sufficiently encouraging to justify continued investigation.

Dr. S. Trood and H. B. Hyder have, under the direction of W. S. Morley, Assistant Professor of Metallurgy, experimented on the possibilities of the direct reduction of iron, manganese and other ores; the information thus obtained led to the building of a test plant at Herroult, California. This type of work is vital to the solution of many problems in the economy of iron production in the West.

Mr. John Bouse, under the direction of Professor Hersam, conducted some large scale experiments to determine the possibilities of recovering and refining copper from waste metal such as brass, bronze and foundry sweepings, by hydroelectrolytic treatment. The result, thus far, has thrown light on the great problem of preventing waste of valuable metal and adding to the nation's supply of refined materials.

Charles A. Hyder has critically investigated the possibility of the manufacture of ferromagnesite used in the steel industry, hoping to be able to make an acceptable substitute for the magnesite heretofore imported from Austria.

Professor Morley has made a number of metallographic investigations on the steel parts used in airplane motors for the Hall-Scott Motor Company, and has also conducted

detailed microscopic analyses of steel for the Equipment Production Engineering Department of the United States Signal Corps.

L. C. Uren, Assistant Professor of Mining, made some preliminary investigations of the blanketing action of certain froths in preventing evaporation losses of oils. He also delivered a course of eight lectures on the Mechanical Handling of Industrial Materials in the Ordnance Storekeepers' School on the Campus. He devoted four hours a week to the University of California Military Bureau as assistant manager. As assistant to the Fuel Oil Administrator of California, Professor Uren has undertaken special investigative work in the California oil fields. Professor Uren has been commissioned Captain in the Chemical Warfare Service and has been sent overseas.

The Berkeley Experiment Station of the United States Bureau of Mines, under the direction of Dr. L. H. Duschak, has devoted its energies during the last year exclusively to the investigation of problems bearing directly on the production of war minerals. A few advanced students of the College of Mining have collaborated in this work.

DEPARTMENT OF PALEONTOLOGY

J. C. Merriam, Professor of Palaeontology and Historic Geology, has been made chairman of the scientific branch of the State and National Council of Defense and is now in Washington, D. C., engaged in work of a highly important character for the National Council of Defense.

Chester Stock, Research Assistant in Palaeontology, is a member of the Pacific Coast Research Conference.

Mussel Survey

The chief work of the Department of Palaeontology has been its survey of mussels in California as embodied in its report to the Zoological Committee of the State Council of Defense.

The mussel survey of the coast of California was begun by C. A. Kofoid, Professor of Zoology. The general purpose was to encourage, so far as possible, the use of mussels as food, the object being to increase both the supply and the demand. In order to increase the supply, it was planned to induce the canneries along the coast to pack mussels. As a direct aid to the canneries, it was proposed to make a survey of the coast to determine where the shellfish could be found in abundance, and also to determine as far as possible the tonnage which the canneries might expect to collect at different localities.

Professor Kofoid began his work early in the summer of 1917. The publicity part of the work was delayed, however, due to the occurrence during the summer of several cases of mussel poisoning, raising the question as to whether it was safe to encourage further the use of mussels at this time.

The Bureau of Fisheries detailed two men, E. P. Rankin, Biologist of the ship "Albatross," and H. L. Kelly, Statistician, to work under Professor Kofoid's direction. Professor Kofoid also asked Bruce L. Clark, Instructor in

Palaeontology of the University, to help in the quantitative survey. Messrs. Rankin, Kelly, and Clark were directed to make a detailed examination of the quantity of mussels along the California coast. Mr. Kelly was assigned to the coast south of San Francisco, while the coast north of San Francisco to the Oregon line was assigned to the other two. This work was begun about the last of October, 1917. On account of winds and rains the survey in the north was discontinued about December 1.

A large part of Professor Kofoid's attention was given to the study of the mussel-poisoning problem, and a series of tests on guinea pigs was made in coöperation with the State Board of Health. The final conclusions were that mussel poisoning is not apt to occur provided the shellfish are collected in the proper places and at the right time of the year and that if the proper precautions are taken in collecting the mussels, they are a good substitute for fish and meats.

When Professor Kofoid entered the Sanitary Corps of the United States Army he asked Dr. Clark to continue the work of the survey, as chairman of the subcommittee. It was agreed that Mr. Rankin should be a member of the committee and that the two, with further coöperation from Mr. Kelley, should continue the work.

The main purpose of the survey of the distribution and abundance of the mussel, Mytilus californicus, along the coast of California is to determine its possible commercial utilization as a food product. It is proposed, in carrying on this investigation, to visit all the important localities along the coast where the mussel is found in any great abundance. The preliminary report on the distribution of Mytilus californicus in California by Dr. Harold Heath et al. to the California Fish and Game Commission is being used as a guide to the most important localities. At every locality where mussels are present in sufficient quantity, an estimate is to be made of the tonnage. This will be done

by obtaining an estimate of the square yards of area covered by the mussels; from this, the weight can be computed with fair accuracy. Tests to determine the accuracy of such measurements have been made.

An estimate of the amount of meat per ton of the unshucked mussels is being made. This will be checked against canners' experience.

Notes are being taken as to the conditions under which the shellfish will have to be gathered at the various localities, and also as to the accessibility of the different localities to the market or canneries. The question of the rate of growth of the individuals has been studied in order to ascertain the proper lapse of time between successive collecting periods.

Those making the survey are securing all available information concerning the different cases of mussel poisoning, and also all possible data concerning the enemies of the mussels, and the parasitic diseases with which they may be infected.

A study is being made as to the size at which the mussel is most edible, and in this connection all data on the food value of the shellfish and methods of preparing it for the table are being collected.

Data as to period of spawning and the sexual characters of the species are being brought together, while suggestions will be sought as to methods of collecting, marketing and canning.

A campaign has been begun to acquaint the public with the possibilities of the mussel as a food. A series of articles on the mussel, its value as a food, etc., is being sent to about six hundred newspapers throughout the state. M. E. Jaffa, Professor of Nutrition, has consented to write a University bulletin, and has also prepared popular articles for newspapers on the food value of the mussel. Miss Jessica Hazzard, of the Los Angeles State Normal School, is bringing together all known recipes for cooking mussels, and is experimenting to discover new ways of preparing this food.