An investigation of the comparative adaptability of gasoline and alcohol to use in internal-combustion engines, consisting of more than 2,000 tests, was made at the temporary fuel-testing plant of the Geological Survey, at Norfolk, Va., in 1907. A detailed report of these tests is in preparation.[24] A similar investigation of the comparative adaptability of kerosenes has been commenced, with a view to obtaining data on their economical use, leading up to the investigation of the comparative fuel values of the cheaper distillates and crude petroleum, as before discussed. _Washing and Coking Tests._--The investigations relating to the preparation of low-grade coals, such as those high in ash or sulphur, by processes that will give them a higher market value or increase their efficiency in use, are in charge of Mr. A. W. Belden. They include the washing and coking tests of coals, and the briquetting of slack and low-grade coal and culm-bank refuse so as to adapt these fuels for combustion in furnaces, etc. This work has been conducted in the washery and coking plant temporarily located at Denver, Colo., and in Building No. 32 at the Pittsburg testing station, where briquetting is in progress. The details of these tests are set forth in the various bulletins issued by the Geological Survey.[25] The washing tests are carried out in the following manner: As the raw coal is received at the plant, it is shoveled from the railroad cars to the hopper scale, and weighed. It then passes through the tooth-roll crusher, where the lumps are broken down to a maximum size of 2½ in. An apron conveyor delivers the coal to an elevator which raises it to one of the storage bins. As the coal is being elevated, an average sample representing the whole shipment is taken. An analysis is made of this sample of raw coal and float-and-sink tests are run to determine the size to which it is necessary to crush before washing, and the percentage of refuse with the best separation. From the data thus obtained, the washing machines are adjusted so that the washing test is made with full knowledge of the separations possible under varying percentages of refuse. The raw coal is drawn from the bin and delivered to a corrugated-roll disintegrator, where it is crushed to the size found most suitable, and is then delivered by the raw-coal elevator to another storage bin. The arrangement of the plant is such that the coal may be first washed on a Stewart jig, and the refuse then delivered to and re-washed on a special jig, or the refuse may be re-crushed and then re-washed.