The fuel problem

brought into general notice (many years ago), Dr. Benjamin Ward Richardson, a prominent English physiologist, basing his opinion on analogies then generally accepted, stated that the substance probably would come into general use as a substitute for ordinary alcohol on account of its more transient effect. Individuals differ considerablv in their susceptibility to wood alcohol ; some die or become blind from amounts which seem to do no harm to others. This is true, ho\\-ever, of all poisons. Death or blindness has resulted from two teaspoonfuls and one or tlvo tablespoonfuls of the poison. Sixty to seventy-five of those taking four ounces, that is, a quarter of a pint or half a glassful. have died or become permanently blind. That wood alcohol is properly placed in the list of dead1.y poisons is evident from the fact that the mortality from arsenic poisoning is only fifty to seventy-five per cent. and that from mercury dichloride even less. Of a group of 730 men who drank a mixture of wood and grain alcohol all1 but 32 died or became blind. Crude methyl alcohol is one of the ingredients of denatured grain alcohol, and as this article is sold at less than a dollar per gallon against about eight times that sum for beverage alcohol under present tax laws, the temptation to use the impure liquid is very great. It is claimed by some that many of the recent cases of methyl alcohol poisoning have been of this type, but until scientific reports are available, positive opinion on this point must be reservetl. A striking fact is that in many of the States in which prohibition has been established for years, scarcely any cases of wood alcohol poisoning have been reported. In a case of poisoning recently reported (Jo&. AIRCY. Med. in f 1 SSII.. January 3, 1920, p. 25) a portion of the liquid remaining the bottle was foulid to contain 87 per cent. methyl alcohol. H. L. The Fuel Problem.-The dominance of oil as a fuel grows apace. A very interesting review of the question is presented by Professor Chester L. Jones, of the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, but at present Commercial Attach6 to the American Embassy at Madrid. Th e article entitled “Caribbean Petroleum” appeared in Oil NCK~S (December 20, 1919), and calls attention to the efforts steadily pursued by the British to secure control of oil fields, and points out that the United States should make efforts in the same direction, and especially to prevent foreign control of the oil sources in the West Indies. Oil-burning steamships are rapidly replacing those using coal, and if improvements in the Diesel engine continue, even steam-driven ships may find competition too severe. A Scotch ship with Diesel engines has just been turned out, which, it is estimated, can run from London to Australia and half way back on one loading of oil. A report on the I.rlsitaGn some months before it was sunk stated that if

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CURRENT TOPICS.

[J. F. I.

oil could be used as fuel, ninety per cent. of the firemen could be dropped, and it is further stated that the Mauretania could be navigated with 27 firemen in the place of over 300 now employed. A ton of oil takes five cubic feet of space less than a ton of coal, and produces more steam. Oil is not subject to shifting in rough weather, and the machinery does not need any more repairing than with coal. As oil increases the ship’s steaming radius, the maintenance of fuel stations is less exacting. In 1907 Great Britain and Russia made a treaty dividing Persia into “ sphers of influence,” Russia taking a northern portion and Great Britain a southern, leaving a small middle area for the Persians. The southern area, which it seems has lately been confirmed by a new treaty, contains the oil sources, and this is, of course, the secret of the British action. Notwithstanding Great Britain’s immense possessions, these include few oil lands, and hence the present activity of that nation. Professor Jones states that all around the Caribbean area are indications of undeveloped oil sources, and three are now producing the material. Trinidad delivered over one million and a half barrels in 1917, and a larger yield is reported for 1918. In Venezuela an oil region is developing around Lake Maricaibo. A British company has a concession in Venezuela covering over six million acres. In this connection some statements that have appeared in the Mexican Review (vol. iii, 1919, No. 7, p. IO) are interesting. They relate to the business of the Royal Dutch Shell, as it is now known in the stock market. The “ Shell Transport Company ” was formed about twenty years ago with a capital of nearly $~o,ooo,ooo. Its issued capital is now over $50,ooo,ooo and the market value of the shares is about $35o,ooo,ooo. About twelve years ago the interests of this company were fused with the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and the assets of both companies were transferred to a British company (The Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company) and a Dutch company. Of the shares 6o per cent. are held by the Royal Dutch and 40 per cent. by the Shell. The properties of the concern are in Dutch Indies, Rumania, Russia, Egypt, Mexico, Sanawak and the United States. Sir Marcus Samuel is Chairman of the Shell Company. For sometime past the company has paid dividends of 35 per cent. Its affairs have lately been much discussed in financial circles, because of an expected acquisition of a big interest in the Mexican Eagle Oil Company which has an issued capital of $25,ooo,ooo and declared last year year a dividend of 25 per cent. H. L. (Informatiogz Circular, U. S. Dept. A New Commercial Sugar. of Agriculture.)-The sugar question has become one of the most important phases in the high cost of living. Not only is the price