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Canadian hydro-electric power development
648
CURRENT TOPICS.
[J. F. I.
Canadian Hydra-electric Power Development. B~ysso~ CUNNINGHAM. (N a t ure, Aug. 27, rg27.)-Hydro-electric development is much more important in Canada than in Great Britain, not only because of the small amount of this type of power available in the British Isles and of the presence of great supplies of coal, but also because in Canada the two most populous provinces, Quebec and Ontario, present the most striking contrast between tile riches of their water power and the poverty of their coal fields. Of the 18>4 million horsepower available from water power in a11 of Canada about two-thirds is in these two provinces, while practically no coal is found within their borders. In the estimate just cited the total contrasts vividly with the one million h.p. given for the British Isles, yet the Canadian figure does not include streams in the north that will later literally be put on the map. The author ventures the prediction that eventually the total will reach 40,000,ooo h.p. At the present time 4,550,ooo h.p. is actually developed, IO per cent. of which is in British Columbia, 39 per cent. in Ontario and 42 per cent. in Quebec. According to the data issued by the Water Powers Branch of the Canadian Department of the Interior, Saskatchewan with possibilities of 513,ooo h.p. develops at the present time no more than 35. Each installed horsepower is counted as replacing six tons of coal per annum. Of the total horsepower obtained hydro-electrically in Canada, 81 per cent. is developed in central electric stations, 12 per cent. in paper and pulp mills and’ the remainder in other industries. For the whole Dominion with its population of g,3go,3oo on June I, 1926, the installation per 1000 inhabitants is 485. Yukon and Northwest Territory leads in this ratio with 1073 h.p. per 1000, but this is due to the smallness of its population, which is only 12,300, rather than to In Ontario and the imposing extent of its hydro-electric plants. Quebec the ratios are, respectively, 5% and 748 h.p. per 1000. In 1926 266,000 was added to the sum of Canadian installed h$roelectric horsepower and the projects under way will contribute 1,700,~ more to the already impressive total, representing investments running into the hundred millions of dollars. For the financing of new installations there is little difiiculty in securing the requisite capital because plants alreadty in operation have shown consistent earnings and their output has been absorbed with G. F. S. promptness. Sprint Running.-In a study made at Cornell University, K. FURUSAWA, A. V. HILL, and J. L. PARKINSON (Proc. Royal SW., B, 1927, 102, 43-50) found that the mechanical efficiency during sprint running was about 38 per cent. During a 2o+yard dash, the maximum velocity attained was I 1.46 yards per second with an energy output of 8.5 horsepower; the runner was then producing over 4 grams of lactic acid per second in his muscles. J. S. H.
CURRENT TOPICS.
[J. F. I.
Canadian Hydra-electric Power Development. B~ysso~ CUNNINGHAM. (N a t ure, Aug. 27, rg27.)-Hydro-electric development is much more important in Canada than in Great Britain, not only because of the small amount of this type of power available in the British Isles and of the presence of great supplies of coal, but also because in Canada the two most populous provinces, Quebec and Ontario, present the most striking contrast between tile riches of their water power and the poverty of their coal fields. Of the 18>4 million horsepower available from water power in a11 of Canada about two-thirds is in these two provinces, while practically no coal is found within their borders. In the estimate just cited the total contrasts vividly with the one million h.p. given for the British Isles, yet the Canadian figure does not include streams in the north that will later literally be put on the map. The author ventures the prediction that eventually the total will reach 40,000,ooo h.p. At the present time 4,550,ooo h.p. is actually developed, IO per cent. of which is in British Columbia, 39 per cent. in Ontario and 42 per cent. in Quebec. According to the data issued by the Water Powers Branch of the Canadian Department of the Interior, Saskatchewan with possibilities of 513,ooo h.p. develops at the present time no more than 35. Each installed horsepower is counted as replacing six tons of coal per annum. Of the total horsepower obtained hydro-electrically in Canada, 81 per cent. is developed in central electric stations, 12 per cent. in paper and pulp mills and’ the remainder in other industries. For the whole Dominion with its population of g,3go,3oo on June I, 1926, the installation per 1000 inhabitants is 485. Yukon and Northwest Territory leads in this ratio with 1073 h.p. per 1000, but this is due to the smallness of its population, which is only 12,300, rather than to In Ontario and the imposing extent of its hydro-electric plants. Quebec the ratios are, respectively, 5% and 748 h.p. per 1000. In 1926 266,000 was added to the sum of Canadian installed h$roelectric horsepower and the projects under way will contribute 1,700,~ more to the already impressive total, representing investments running into the hundred millions of dollars. For the financing of new installations there is little difiiculty in securing the requisite capital because plants alreadty in operation have shown consistent earnings and their output has been absorbed with G. F. S. promptness. Sprint Running.-In a study made at Cornell University, K. FURUSAWA, A. V. HILL, and J. L. PARKINSON (Proc. Royal SW., B, 1927, 102, 43-50) found that the mechanical efficiency during sprint running was about 38 per cent. During a 2o+yard dash, the maximum velocity attained was I 1.46 yards per second with an energy output of 8.5 horsepower; the runner was then producing over 4 grams of lactic acid per second in his muscles. J. S. H.