cent. of sulphur, and when it is
stated that the total amount of tank waste produced yearly is about
750,000 tons, containing about 100,000 tons of sulphur, it will be
seen how large is the reward held out to the successful manipulator.
Moreover, the value of the sulphur that might possibly be saved is not
the only prize held out to those who can successfully deal with the
waste, for this material is not only thrown away as useless, but much
expense is incurred in the throwing.

In Lancashire and in other inland districts land must be found on
which to deposit it, and the act of depositing is costly, for unless
it is beaten together so as to exclude the air, an intolerable
nuisance arises from it. The cost of haulage and deposit on land
varies, according to the district, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. a ton. In
Widnes it is about 1s.

In the Newcastle district the practice is to carry this material out
to sea at a cost of about 4d. a ton.

Mr. Chance's process for the recovery of sulphur from the waste
signalizes the centenary of the Leblanc process; Parnell and Simpson
are following in his wake, and lately Mr. F. Gossage, of Widnes, has
been working on a process for the production of alkali, which enables
him to save the sulphur of the sulphuric acid. In his process a
mixture of 70 parts Leblanc salt cake (sulphate of soda) and 30 parts
common salt is mixed with coal and heated in a furnace, and so reduced
to sulphide of sodium. The resulting "ash" is then dissolved in water
and exposed to the action of carbonic acid, when sulphureted hydrogen
is given off, to be dealt with as in Mr. Chance's sulphur process,
while bicarbonate of soda is formed and separates by precipitation
from the solution of undecomposed common salt.

Ere long it is expected this new method will be in active operation in
some Leblanc works, the plant of which will, in all probability, be
utilized. It has these great advantages: The absence of lime, the
recovery of the sulphur used in the first instance and the consequent
absence of the objectionable tank waste. Thus a bright promise is held
out that the days of alkali waste are numbered, and that the air in
certain parts of Lancashire will be more balmy than it has been in the
memory of the oldest inhabitant.--_Chemist and Druggist._

* * * * *

THE FUELS OF THE FUTURE.

It is undeniable that in this country, at least, we are accustomed to
regard coal as the ch