370 CURRENT TOPICS. [J. F. I.

Rubber in Whale Fishery. India Rubber World, August I, I929. The formation of a German whaling company calls attention to whale fishing and the production of whale oil. There are two whal- ing ships in the harbor of Hamburg at present, where the whale blubber is worked into oil. The whales that have been caught are brought alongside these boats and are kept afloat by means of air that is pumped into them with the help of long rubber tubes measuring about 30 meters in length and having an inside diameter of 25 mm. On the whale, which may weigh 200 tons, stand the men who cut up the body into convenient sections that are conveyed to the deck of the ship by means of a rubber belt 1,5oo mm. wide and I5 mm. thick. When the oil has been extracted, it is led into tanks through rubber tubes IO m. long. The waste is worked into fish meal, and for carting this material a number of electric carts or barrows are used which are furnished with suitably protected tires to prevent slipping on the greasy decks.

That whaling is still an active industry may be judged from the fact that within four months of this year no fewer than 1,4oo whales were caught, and some 40,000 casks of whale oil, each containing I,OOO kilos of oil, were produced.

R.

Nitrogen Fixation. Commerce Reports, August I9, I929. The nitrogen-fixation industry in Japan originated in I9O8, when a small hydroelectric plant was built at Sogi, Kyushu, for the manufacture of cyanamide under the Frank Caro process. Actual production began in the plant in I9O9, and in I9I I Mr. Fujiyama, one of the principals of this company, discovered a process less expensive than the Caro process. His invention was registered and a new company, the Nihon Chisso Kabushiki Kaisha, was formed. The Mitsubishi interests are large holders in this concern, which has steadily devel- oped and is now the largest single producer of ammonium sulphate in Japan, production during I928 having reached Ioo,ooo tons. The rights of the Casale process for nitrogen fixation were acquired by this firm and that process is now used in their two mills at Mizumata and Nobeoka, Miyasaki Prefecture, Kyushu. This company has under construction a hydro-electric plant in Chosen, which will shortly be completed. This plant is to manufacture ammonium sulphate, the estimated annual production to be xoo,ooo tons. Another plant, which will be located in Chosen, is also planned and will have an annual capacity of 200,000 tons.

R.