MINERAL PRODUCTS. 
41 
tant, because sulphuric acid is so extensively used in the chemical 
industries that its consumption has come to be regarded as a gauge 
of chemical activities in general. 
MAGNESITE. 
Up to the present the United States has been dependent largely 
upon foreign sources for its supply of magnesite or carbonate of 
magnesia, the imports in 1913 amounting to 172,591 short tons, as 
compared with only 9,632 tons produced in this country. It is 
interesting to note that the major portion of the imports (163,715 
short tons) came from Austria-Hungary, one of the belligerent 
nations, and that most of the remainder came from Greece, and was 
landed for calcining at Hamburg and Rotterdam before being re 
shipped to this country. The question of the adequacy of the 
domestic supply to meet our needs therefore assumes much impor 
tance. Magnesite is valuable for a variety of purposes, which may 
be summarized as follows: (1) Various refractory uses, as brick, 
furnace hearths, crucibles, etc.; (2) as magnesium sulphite for the 
digestion and whitening of wood-pulp paper; (3) in crude form for 
the manufacture of carbon dioxide; (4) calcined and ground for 
oxychloride or Sorel cement; (5) miscellaneous applications in crude 
or calcined form ; (6) miscellaneous uses of refined magnesia salts. 
The magnesite from Austria-Hungary is received chiefly at Phila 
delphia and is used in the manufacture of refractory brick. The 
Grecian magnesite enters chiefly at New York and is used for all 
the purposes enumerated above. 
The dependence of American users of magnesite on the foreign 
supplies is due to several causes. One is the location of the American 
deposits in California, at so great a distance from the eastern markets 
that the freight rates have been prohibitive. The establishment of 
water transportation through the Panama Canal may be expected to 
alleviate this difficulty. A second cause is the difference in composi 
tion between the magnesites of Austria-Hungary and those of Cali 
fornia. The former generally contain 6 to 8 per cent of iron, which 
appears to be beneficial in the manufacture of refractory brick. 
With the cutting off of the Austro-Hungarian and possibly of the 
Grecian supplies there would seem to be every reason why the Cali 
fornia industry should be materially advanced. The deposits in that 
State are numerous, and many of them are fairly large and of high 
grade. In the opening and development of these mines their near 
ness to railroad transportation seems to have been of more impor 
tance than the character or extent of the deposits. Certain deposits, 
notably in Santa Clara and San Benito counties, are known to be 
large in extent and of good character of material, but they lie idle