The preservation and standardisation of South African hides and skins
- Authors: Kritzinger, Carl Cronje
- Date: 1946
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:21052 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6157
- Description: During the past fifty years the problems of the leather industry have been tackled from various aspects by scientific research workers all over the world, and "works control" today forms one of .the important foundation stones of efficiently run tanneries and footwear factories. The raw materials of the tanning industry, hides and skins, constitute the largest proportion of the cost of production, and it is ' only natural that the improvement of these valuable raw materials should be given primary attention by any leather scientist. Until only a few years ago, however, the South African hide and skin industry was at a serious ·disadvantage in that it had to base recommendations for improved production methods almost exclusively on overseas experience and practice. The importance of the differences existing between South Africa and European or American countries with regard to climate, slaughtering, hide and skin production in general, transport and sale, however, necessitates a different approach to our specific problems. The overseas hide and skin industry has had, since the beginning of this century, the support and particularly the guidance of scientific research; but it was not until 1935, when, through the support of the Hide and Skin advisory Board, Prof. W. F. Barker founded the original Tanning, Hides and Skins Research Department at Rhodes University College, Grahamstown, that science actively entered the field of hide and skin production in this country. Much of the work done had of course to be based on the results obtained by overseas research institutions, and the adaptation of such results to suit our own problems for some time formed a considerable part of the investigations undertaken. This thesis embodies the results of work undertaken by the writer since 1943 on specific problems of the South African hide and skin industry. Much of the work has already received publication through the Circulars and Journals of this Institute, but it is embodied here again in order to maintain the continuity. The attitude throughout has been to evolve methods of production suited to our own conditions, and the adoption of the recommendations contained in this thesis should lead to improvement in the quality of our hides and skins. Much still remains to be done, and it is the sincere hope of the writer that this work will stimulate and form the basis for subsequent investigations. For that reason more or less detailed descriptions are given of all experiments conducted, and the theory of curing in its relation to tanning is briefly discussed . The literature in each of the four Parts has been attached at the end of that Part to facilitate reference work. At the same time, however, the writer kept in mind the requirements of the trade itself, therefore much of the work is discussed in popular terms. It is hoped that the correct balance between the two extremes has been arrived at.
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A preliminary investigation of the chemical nature of wattle tannin
- Authors: Corbett, John Henry
- Date: 1945
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:21062 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6201
- Description: From Introduction: Although the tannins of wattle bark extract are generally considered to be of the class known as condensed tannins, a review of the general chemical nature of the tannins is given for the sake of completeness. This constitutes Part I of the thesis. Part II describes the preliminary investigation of the chemical nature of black wattle extract.
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A study of the errors involved in the sampling of soils
- Authors: Steyn, Willem Johannes Abraham
- Date: 1945
- Subjects: Soils -- Analysis , Soil chemistry
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4505 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013290
- Description: The importnnce of representative soil sampling is now beginning to receive more general recognition. The analysis of the sample, and any chemical or physical treatment it may undergo in the laboratory, is of little practical value if it is not known with reasonable certainty that this sample represents fairly the area from which it as taken. It has been said over and over again, that the existence of the world's whole civilization is dependent upon a mere strip of soil, only 9 inches in depth. The study of the soil is therefore of special importance if only for the practical end of replacing any nutrient deficiencies which may be found. Intro., p. 1.
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Interrelations between learning abilities in various situations
- Authors: Lundie, Carol Frances
- Date: 1942
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:21159 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6629
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The determination of selenium and tellurium in blister copper and copper concentrates
- Authors: Gray, Douglas James Skirving
- Date: 1940
- Subjects: Selenium , Tellurium , Copper
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4478 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012090
- Description: Selenium and tellurium do not occur to any great extent in Nature and they are seldom studied in any detail. However, a general understanding of their properties, both physical and chemical, is essential in an investigation of their analytical determination. A general account may be found in many of the text-books on inorganic chemistry, but the following resumè has been included in this dissertation for the sake of completeness.
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The governorship of Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole
- Authors: Scheepers, Unus
- Date: 1940
- Subjects: Cole, Galbraith Lowry, Sir, 1772-1842 , Colonial administrators -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) History -- 1814-1835 , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Race relations , Slaves -- Emancipation -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Xhosa (African people) -- History -- 19th century , Xhosa (African people) -- Colonization -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Khoikhoi (African people) -- History -- 19th century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2600 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007899 , Cole, Galbraith Lowry, Sir, 1772-1842 , Colonial administrators -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) History -- 1814-1835 , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Race relations , Slaves -- Emancipation -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Xhosa (African people) -- History -- 19th century , Xhosa (African people) -- Colonization -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Khoikhoi (African people) -- History -- 19th century
- Description: From Conclusion: There were no great upheavals during Cole's governership, but his rule has been a very interesting study. The old order of things was coming to a close. The way was prepared under Cole for freeing of the slaves; and the old despotic rule became a thing of the past. The British Settlers agitated for and obtained a free press; thus the foundation was laid for democratic institutions. He was the first governor to lay emphasis on the necessity of municipal councils not only as a way of decreasing expenditure, but also as a school for representative government. The Boers were becoming race conscious and the present orientation of the political parties had their origin in this period, though subsequent events have made the political struggle embittered. Above all the stage was being set for the Great Trek and the opening up of the whole of the present Union of South Africa and Rhodesia ... Last but not least the native question was entering upon its modern phase. Chiefs were losing their power, they admitted that they could not control their subjects, and natives were entering the service of Europeans; not only to steal with greater impunity but also to be able to enjoy the security offered by a well organised and disciplined society.
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The development of native policy in the Transkei and in Glen Gray between 1870 and 1900
- Authors: Griffiths, M S
- Date: 1939
- Subjects: Transkei (South Africa) -- History , Black people -- South Africa -- Legal status, Laws, etc. -- South Africa -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2607 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012098 , Transkei (South Africa) -- History , Black people -- South Africa -- Legal status, Laws, etc. -- South Africa -- History
- Description: The Transkeian Territories extend over a stretch of 17000 square miles between the north eastern border of the Cape Colony and the southern border of Natal. In 1870 this was an exclusively Native area ; inhabited by some half million natives tribally organised under independent chiefs and grouped into racial entities according to origln; customs, and language dialects.
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A polarographic study : the estimation of sodium and potassium in the presence of each other
- Authors: Carter, Austin John
- Date: 1938
- Subjects: Polarographs , Polarography , Potassium , Sodium
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4455 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010434
- Description: The polarographic method has been described, and an attempt made to describe the difficulty of the simultaneous deposition of sodium and potassium. Various methods have been examined, of which precipitation of potassium with magnesium dipicrylaminate seems the most promising. The quantitative results were unsatisfactory, and possible sources of error are discussed. The method, while very convenient, rapid and labour-saving, is not sufficiently standardised to be trustworthy.
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A study of production and consumption of certain foodstuffs in South Africa during the period 1929-49, in relation to the increase in population and national income
- Authors: Baker, G C
- Date: 1936
- Subjects: Food consumption -- South Africa , Food supply -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1109 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013445
- Description: From Introduction: South Africa has experienced an almost revolutionary change in her food position in the last 10 years, what was previously a "farm problem" of assisting the primary producer has now become a "food problem" and this is a study of the development of those factors leading up to such a change. It is an empirical study attempting to measure the production and consumption of certain selected foodstuffs and to compare them with changes observed in the population and the National Income.
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An anatomical investigation of jointed cactus (Opuntia aurantiaca, Lindley) with germination tests, and observations on the movements of the stomata
- Authors: Archibald, E E A
- Date: 1936
- Subjects: Cactus -- Anatomy , Opuntia , Stomata , Germination
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4264 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013444
- Description: From Introduction: In 1934 the Government started an active campaign on the eradiction of Jointed Cactus. This plant was causing considerable damage to the farms and commonages of the Eastern Province, and was spreading at an alarming rate. The Officer in Charge of eradication, Mr E. du Toit, was stationed at Grahamstown which is fairly centrally situated in the infested area. In 1935 Dr A. Leemann of the Division of Plant Industry made his headquarters at Rhodes University College.
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An investigation into the circumstances relating to the cattle-killing delusion in Kaffraria, 1856-1857
- Authors: Dowsley, Eileen D'Altera
- Date: 1932
- Subjects: Cattle Killing, 1856-1857 , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1853-1871 , Xhosa (African people) -- History , Grey, George, Sir, 1812-1898 , Nongqawuse, 1841-1898 , Mhlakaza -- Xhosa seer -- 1800?-1857 , Sarhili -- Xhosa paramount chief -- ca.1814-1892
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2538 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002390
- Description: Introductory: If the relations existing between the Native chiefs and the Colony which Sir George Grey found on his arrival are to be fully understood, a brief consideration of Cathcart’s policy and Frontier settlement is necessary. When Cathcart came out as Governor in 1852, he found the rebel chief Sandile, with associate chieftans’ and large bands of followers, still occupying their locations in the Amatola ranges. From this haunt no force had as yet been able to drive them. During the series of skirmishes known as the Eighth Kaffir War, their first crop of Indian corn was destroyed so early in the season as to allow of a second crop springing up. This unusual phenomenon inspired prophet Umlangeni to claim that he had worked a miracle. Fortunately later reverses and the expulsion of Sanailli from his mountain fastness discredited this thoughtful opportunist. Sandilli, as paramount chief of the Gaikas, might have held and influential position in the councils of the Kaffrarian chiefs, that he did not hold such a position, was due, in Charles Brownlee’s opinion, to his timid and suspicious nature and to the fact that his mental capacity was ‘hardly above mediocrity’. He was unable to fight owing to lameness, and he lacked ‘sufficient’ resciution and strength of mind to resist the evil influence of the bad advisers, nevertheless he could be obstinate and he never, to the end of his life, gave up on the idea of getting back to this old locations in the Amatolas. Macomo with some three thousand followers had likewise evaded all attempts to turn him out of this haunts in the mountain range. He, together with his associate the Tambookie chief Quesha, and diverse rebel Hotttentots, indulged in the frequent marauding forays into the surrounding country. Macomo was the eldest of Gaika’s sons and was “allowed by all to be the greatest politician and best warrior in Kaffraria’. During the minority of Sandilli Macomo had acted as his regent and had attained great influence over the tribe; this he afterwards lost for he moved to the neighbourhood of Fort Beaufort, where in a state of intoxication most of this time was passed. He had in Brownlee’s opinion, done more mischief in the war than any other chief. Great jealously was felt between Macomo and Sandilli, especially on the part of the former; this was shown through the cattle killing period in his efforts to involve Sandilli, while attempting to keep on the right side of the Government himself. Further south, indeed within the Colony itself, such petty chiefs as Seyolo and Botman, lurking in the Fish River bush, and the Keiskamma kloofs, rendered the main road dangerous, and even succeeded, for a time, in completely cutting the ling of communication between Kingwilliamstown and Grahamstown.
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East London: its foundation and early development as a port
- Authors: Gordon, B C
- Date: 1932
- Subjects: Smith, Harry George Wakelyn, Sir, 1788-1860 D'Urban, Benjamin, Sir, 1777-1849 Harbors -- South Africa -- East London East London (South Africa) -- History -- 1836-1866
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2606 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012046
- Description: The flourishing city of East London has received but scant attention from historians. Its importance has been overshadowed by that of Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth, each with a foundation bordering on the romantic. The introduction to this thesis indicates traces of the existence of primitive man in these parts. The historical survey will commence with notices taken of the region by nautical and land expeditions in search of either shipwrecked sailors, or news of native races. The first serious notice of East London taken by the white people came in the time of Sir Benjamin D'Urban who sought a seaport for his new province of Queen Adelaide. Our port was opened in 1836 under the appellation of Port Rex, but faded into temporary insignificance, almost oblivion, with the reversal of Sir. B. D'Urban's frontier policy by Lord Glenelg and the abandonment of the new province in 1837. It was not destined to remain forgotten, for Sir Harry Smith at the end of 1847, saw in the mouth of the Buffalo River the same possibilities as had struck the advisers of Sir B. D'Urban. To him it was the future London of the East, and the connecting link between British Kaffraria and the world outside. From that time East London has grown steadily, and of recent years very rapidly. It is not proposed to carry this survey much beyond 1866 in which year British Kaffraria was annexed to the Cape Colony.
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Crocidolite in the districts of Prieska and Hay
- Authors: Schoeman, H E
- Date: 1930
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6539 , vital:21133
- Description: From Introduction: The belt of hilly country extending from the southern extremity of the Doornbergen, through Prieska, Niekerkshoop, Griquatown and Kuruman, to a point far north or the latter, constitutes a region or great scientific and economic interest. Spoken of generally as the “Blue Asbestos Belt”, it has ramifications stretching in north, and north-westerly directions from Prieska. In the south it is known as the Doornbergen, passing into the “Asbestos Mountains” north of the Orange River, while farther north it becomes the Kuruman Hills. This large area is unique in that enormous deposits of fibrous crocido1ite or "blue asbestos" are known to occur scattered more or less irregularly over the entire belt. The mineral, often accompanied by some or all of its variations and alteration products, has been reported from nearly every farm, excepting only that portion covered by Ongeluk Volcanics, and the UPPER BEDS OF THE LOWER GRIQUATOWN SERIES, which thus form the only interruption to an otherwise unbroken extension of crocidolite bearing strata.
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Clays derived from the Lower Dwyka Shales, occurring in the vicinity of Grahamstown
- Authors: Blignaut, J J G
- Date: 1928
- Subjects: Clay -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Clay -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Geology -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Mineralogy -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4935 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005547
- Description: The Lower Dwyka Shales in South Africa oocur south of latitude 32⁰; resting conformably upon the Witteberg quartzites, which extend as coastal mountain rangee along the length of the South Coast. The shales, being less resistant to weathering than the quartzites below, and the Dwyka Tillite immediately above, are consequently found in valleys between these two formations. In one of these valleys Grahamstown is situated; where the Lower Dwyka Shales have been eroded by the various rivulets forming the eource of the Blaauwkrantz River. A geological map of the country round Grahamstown was prepared in eome detail, showing all the various rock formations occurring in the area, the full extent of the Lower Dwyka Shales being mapped with the Dwyka Tillite and the Witteberg Quartzite along its margins. The map includes an area of about six miles by three, with the Cathedral spire occupying an approximately central position, and is prepared on a scale of 5.65 inches to one mile. Traversing was done by means of prismatic compass and pacing.
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