BUREAU OF STANDARDS.

The Bureau of Standards has continued to encourage and make possible uniform and exact measurements, by the improvement of standards, measuring instruments, and methods of measurement, and to promote the intelligent use of materials in the arts and industries by the determination of such physical properties as are of importance in their manufacture, distribution, or use.

During the year the services of the Bureau have been utilized by many manufacturing industries requiring standards and measurements of every description, by the scientific investigators of the principal universities, colleges, and technical schools, by weights-andmeasures officials throughout the country, by public-service commissions, and by all departments of the Government doing scientific or construction work.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

The Bureau has encouraged and assisted several States in the preparation of regulations governing the use of weights and measures and in the establishment of efficient methods of inspection of the weights and measures used in local trade and of the meters used in the distribution of public utilities. In one State a new law has been enacted, based upon a model law recommended by the Bureau. The Territory of New Mexico procured a set of state standards, and six sets of secondary standards for the use of as many local sealers; these were compared with the standards of the Bureau. This example might well be followed by many of the States.

In addition to the inquiries received from State officials, many individuals have applied for information relative to the laws and practices as to weights and measures in their own and other States. The Bureau should be provided with the means for collecting and publishing this information, since it would tend to promote uniformity in such matters throughout the country. While the inspection of commercial weights and measures should be left in the hands of the local authorities, there is an urgent need for national laws fixing the standard weights and sizes of packages, barrels, crates, etc., since commodities sold in such containers frequently are packed in one State and sold in others.

ELECTRICITY.

In view of the meeting of the International Conference on Electrical Units and Standards in London, October 12-21, 1908, considerable work has been done during the year on the improvement of the

standards of electromotive force and standards of resistance, and on the determination of electric current in absolute measure-the practical units in terms of which all electric current and power are measured. In order that these units shall be the same throughout the world, international conferences or congresses have been held from time to time to agree upon their values. The units now in use were agreed upon at the International Electrical Congress held in Chicago in 1893, and they were enacted into law by act of Congress approved July 12, 1894. Subsequent investigation has shown the necessity for changes in some of the units and a revision of their definitions, and it is for this reason that the researches mentioned above are of especial importance. The results of this work will be reported to the Electrical Congress and will doubtless form an important factor in the conclusions reached.

The Bureau has done much work during the year in the testing of electrical instruments and standards, in the development of methods of measurement, and in the improvement of the instruments employed.

Several important problems involved in the measurement of the magnetic properties of iron and steel, including the iron so extensively used by manufacturers of electrical machinery, have been investigated, and the Bureau is now in position to prepare specifications for and test specimens of these materials.

HEAT AND THERMOMETRY.

The demands made upon the Bureau for the testing of heatmeasuring instruments have been far in excess of its facilities; this is especially true of precision thermometers used in scientific laboratories, and the instruments for measuring high temperatures-known as pyrometers on the indications of which depend the quality of the product of many manufacturing industries. Such instruments. are also used in determining the melting points, specific heats, conductivities, and radiating power of various substances, the properties of refractory materials, and the critical temperatures of steels and other alloys. So great has been the demand for the Bureau's services in this direction that it has been unable to make the investigations necessary for the establishment of its own standards or to do much. work toward the determination of the heat constants, many of which are very much needed in connection with the standardization of heat measurements and in the use of materials. One such investigation, however, has been nearly completed, namely, the determination of the specific heat of calcium chloride brine, a constant used by refrigerating engineers in calculating the capacity of refrigerating plants and in designing refrigerating machinery. The heat value of coal, gas, and other fuels is measured by instruments known as calorim

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eters; the Bureau is planning to carry out an intercomparison and investigation of such instruments and to determine the heat value of pure substances to be used in their standardization.

Since the measurement of very high temperatures depends upon a knowledge of the laws of radiation, several investigations have been completed with the view to determining these laws with greater

accuracy.

PHOTOMETRY.

The photometric work of the Bureau includes the study of problems in the accurate measurement of light sources and standards of candlepower, the testing and certification of such standards, and the inspection and testing of electric lamps purchased by the Government. The Bureau maintains the standard of candlepower for the electrical industries of the country, thereby insuring uniformity of electric lamps. An effort is being made to secure uniformity in the value of the standard candle in England, France, and the United States, by a slight modification of the units employed at present, and to induce the gas industry of this country to adopt the modified unit, in order that a candlepower may be the same in gas and electric lighting. The International Photometric Conference held at Zurich in 1907 recommended that the several national laboratories undertake a redetermination of the Violle standards of light. The national laboratories of England and Germany are preparing to carry on their part of this work and it is very important that the Bureau should cooperate with them.

SPECTROSCOPY AND POLARIMETRY.

In addition to photometry, the optical work of the Bureau includes such branches of spectroscopy as refer to standards of illumination, color, wave length, or the optical properties of materials; and polarimetry, which deals with measurements and methods dependent upon polarized light, an important application of which may be found in the analysis of imported sugars in connection with the collection of duties. As the authority on questions relating to polariscopic testing, the Bureau is called upon to certify as to the accuracy of polariscopes, quartz-control plates, and other instruments used in sugar analysis, as well as to provide chemically pure sugar for standardization purposes and to maintain a testing laboratory for sugars in which a daily check is kept on the work of the laboratories of those custom-houses where duty on sugar is collected.

CHEMISTRY.

The importance of the work of the chemical division to that of the various other divisions of the Bureau can not be overestimated, since scarcely any problem arises in connection with standards or the

properties of materials that does not involve the services of a chemist. This is true to such an extent that the Bureau has never been able to assign sufficient space or assistance to chemistry to meet even the most urgent cases of its own work. Furthermore, the work of this division is as closely related to the industrial and scientific interests of the country as is that of any of the other divisions of the Bureau.

There is also a wide field of chemical usefulness open to the Bureau in lines of investigation relating to the purchase of government supplies. The requests for assistance in the preparation of specifications and the testing of supplies purchased by the Government have been so numerous that the Bureau has only been able to give attention to a few of the most urgent cases. It is earnestly hoped that facilities will soon be provided for placing this very important branch of the Bureau's work upon a much larger and more effective basis, since the investigations aiming at the improvement in the quality and in the methods of testing the materials purchased for the Government have hardly been begun and will consume much time if results of real value are to be attained.

At the request of the American Foundrymen's Association and the Association of American Steel Manufacturers, the Bureau issues samples of standardized irons and steels of known composition, which are used to check the analyses made of these materials in connection with their manufacture and sale. The rapidly increasing demand for these samples on the part of industrial and commercial chemists is an indication of their great value to the iron and steel industries.

The Bureau is also cooperating with the American Chemical Society with respect to securing uniformity in technical analyses and improving the quality of chemical reagents.

NEW BUILDING.

The new building provided for by Congress at its last session will afford additional space for several divisions of the Bureau's work, and especially for the testing of engineering instruments and the determination of the properties of materials. This building will also provide quarters for the testing machines recently transferred from the Watertown Arsenal to the Department of Commerce and Labor. This additional space and equipment will enable the Bureau to determine many properties of materials which are urgently needed in connection with their use in construction. The work of these machines in the past has been of great service to the engineering interests, and it is hoped that their usefulness may be increased by associating them with the Bureau's facilities in other branches of physical and chemical research.

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY.

APPOINTMENT DIVISION.

The Appointment Division was organized in February, 1904. On July 1, 1906, it became recognized by statute. The Division recently completed the fourth year of its existence, and at the present time is organized and equipped for the performance of any kind of work that may properly be assigned to it.

STATISTICS OF THE PERSONNEL.

The accompanying table shows the number of regular positions in the service of the Department on July 1, 1908. Items of actual decrease in the personnel during the past year are the discontinuance of some 750 special agents in the Bureau of the Census and 127 laborers and mechanics in the Light-House Service. The principal items of increase are in the Bureau of Labor (91) and in the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (170). The increase in the Bureau first named is occasioned entirely by the investigation now being conducted into the condition of woman and child workers.

POSITIONS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR, JULY 1, 1908.

Of 69 removals made for cause during the year, there were 15 cases in which the Department did not require that reasons be submitted to the employees in writing, and a reasonable time allowed for reply,