248 EASTIMAX KODAK COMPANY NOTES.

tion or intensification was obtained by redeveloping veloper having a suitable concentration of sulphide.

The process of intensification was repeated five

[J. F. I.

in pyro de-

times upon a single negative, which gave it a printing contrast nearly three times that of the original negative. The advantages of this method are that, within certain limits, any degree of intensifica- tion or reduction can be produced by suitable variations in the sulphite concentration of the redeveloper; the reduction or inten- sification is proportional, the contrast being changed by the same ratio for all parts of the negative. The degree of reduction or intensification that can be o’btained compares favorably with that of other methods.

Desiccated Vegetables .-PHILIP B. HAWK of Jefferson Medi- cal College (Science, 1919, xlix, 329-330) comments on the behavior of desiccated vegetables. When they are immersed in water for a few hours they assume a form closely approaching that of the fresh vegetable. If the swollen mass be removed from the water and permitted to remain at room temperature for twenty-four to thirty- six hours, it returns to the anhydrous state, and therefore behaves in an entirely different manner from a fresh article. Hence a fresh vegetable and a swo811en desiccated vegetable are entirely different structurally. The failure of the swollen desiccated product to re- tain its water as well as the fresh article may be due to a change in the colloids of the vegetable cells with an accompanying decrease in their power to hold water, or may be due to removal of salts during the soaking and a resulting decrease in inhibition power of the colloids.

J. S. H.

Utilization of the Rhone in French Territory.-In August, 1919, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies adopted articles pro- viding for this great engineering work. The estimated cost is 2,500,- ooo,ooo francs and fifteen years will be spent on the project. From Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean there is a fall of 372 metres. It is estimated that ~,Soo,oco horsepower can be developed. “ The Rhone represents a mine as rich as all the coal fields of the north of France,” a fortunate circumstance for France in view of the systematic destruction of her coal mines by the Germans.

In addition to the development of power the navigation of the river will be improved. At present there is almost no use made of the stream from Geneva to Lyons as a waterway. Water for irriga- tion will be provided for the departments of Gard, Bouches-du- Rhone and elsewhere.

G. F. S.