List of Titles

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A study of the E region of the ionosphere

- Barnard, A J

Authors: Barnard, A J
Date: 1950
Subjects: Ionosphere -- Research
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:5549 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013464
Description: After a brief historical introduction, the apparatus used in the investigation of the ionosphere in Grahamstown, is described with special reference to the recording equipment, which consists essentially of a camera focussed on the screen of a C.R.O. with z-axis deflection. The equations of the magneto-ionic theory are quoted. The basic formulae of the theories of layer formation in an isothermal (Chapman's),and linear temperature gradient (Gledhill and Szendrei) atmosphere are also quoted.
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Date Issued: 1950

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An investigation of certain complex ions of trivalent chromium by spectrophotometric and other physical methods

- Burley, Ralph Walter

Authors: Burley, Ralph Walter
Date: 1950
Subjects: Chromium
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:4521 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014675
Description: Although chromium coordination compounds are of considerable technological importance, they have been subjected to few thorough investigations since Werner's original experlments, in spite of the fact that we now possess a number of accurate physical methods, not available in Werner's time for the study of coordination complexes, The object of the work described in this thesis was to obtain further information on the chemistry of complex chromium(III) ions with special reference to the dioxalato-diaquochromiate system, [Cr(C₂0₄)₂(H₂0)₂]. For this purpose; spectrophotometric and potentlometrlc measurements were combined to yield information on a number of topics, The spectrophotometric investigations consisted in measuring the absorption spectra of the potassium salts of the complexes under consideration and in observing the changes in light absorption which occur during their formatlon and decomposition. The instrument used was a Beckmann Quartz Spectrophotometer model du. More than than twelve new absorption spectra were measured in this work and in conjunction with the spectra of other chromium and cobalt complexes reported by earlier workers, these are used to review the position of spectrophotometry as a method of investigating chromium complexes. The reasons for the shapes of the absorption spectra are discussed and it is concluded that spectrophotometry is useful for observing the progress of reactions involving complex ions and for analysing solutions, but that more fundamental data cannot be expected from the absorption curves.
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Date Issued: 1950

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Studies in the plant ecology of Fern Kloof near Grahamstown

- Seagrief, S C

Authors: Seagrief, S C
Date: 1950
Subjects: Plant communities -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Plant ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Plants -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Forest ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:4267 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014299
Description: The area studied at Fern Kloof, near Grahamstown, consists of a strip of vegetation approximately 260 yds. long and 50 yds. wide, in which there are two communities: 1) indigenous forest 2) exotic Pine forest (which has only one tree species Pinus pinaster). Throughout the thesis this species is referred to as the pine. The object of the investigation has been to determine whether these communities are natural or not. This has involved a study of the floristic composition, the life forms and the structure of the plant communities. In addition, various soil and environmental factors have been studied.
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Date Issued: 1950

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The anodic oxidation of calcium lactate : an estimation of the products of electrolysis and an investigation into some of the problems involved

- Impey, Norman Robert Murray

Authors: Impey, Norman Robert Murray
Date: 1949
Subjects: Electrolytic oxidation
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:4480 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012556 , Electrolytic oxidation
Description: The subject of this thesis was chosen originally as a result of a suggestion made by a manufacturer of lactic acid. Lactic acid is made by a fermentation process from molasses and the acid is extracted from the fermentation liquors as calcium lactate. The conversion of the calcium lactate back to lactic acid is a tedious process from an industrial point of view. It was therefore suggested that the conversion may be more easily accomplished by electrolysis. The first experimental work was conducted with this object in view, but it soon became apparent that it was unlikely that lactic acid could be produced in suitable quantities for industrial purposes by this means. There was no reference in the literature to the electrolysis of calcium lactate, and little reference to the electrolysis of lactates in general, and what there was appeared to be conflicting, so it was decided to continue the investigation into the subject in order to determine what are the products of the anodic oxidation of calcium lactate. Intro., p.1.
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Date Issued: 1949

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The construction of a precision conductance bridge and its application to a study of chromium sulphate complexes

- Goddard, Errol Desmond

Authors: Goddard, Errol Desmond
Date: 1949
Subjects: Chromium
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:4476 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012038 , Chromium
Description: A constant temperature room employing the comparatively new method of temperature control by means of a thyratron relay has been constructed. A high precision conductance bridge has been built in a very convenient form. Improvements include the incorporation of a cathode ray oscilloscope as null detector and the inclusion of a very stable oscillator of the phase shift type which is capable of giving a very pure wave form. Tests carried out on a system of degenerative tuning showed the the system is not easily applicable to high gain amplifiers. A new form of conductometric titration cell, employing the dipping type electrodes has been designed with special precautions against possible Parker Effect. A series of tests has been carried out on three types of cell to ascertain the effects of absorption, polarisation and Parker Effect on the accuracy of an ordinary conductometric titration. Conductometric titrations of NaOH solutions of violet and green chromic sulphate has been carried out, and the effect of aging these solutions closely studied. In addition, conductometric titrations of BaCL₂ into the chromic solutions have been made, and the NaOH titrations have been studied potentiometrically as well.
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Date Issued: 1949

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A critical evaluation of the analytical method used for the separation and estimation of copper and nickel

- Sismey, J E

Authors: Sismey, J E
Date: 1948
Subjects: Copper -- Analysis , Nickel -- Analysis
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:4519 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014335
Description: [From Introduction]. This thesis deals with the determination of copper and nickel both separately and in each other's presence. The work is divided into two sections, one of which treats the subject from the theoretical side while the other contains an account of the practical work performed by the author. In the theoretical section, an attempt is made to summarise the better-known methods for the determination of copper and nickel, and at the same time, to incorporate such improvements, criticism and variations as have appeared in the literature. The subject is so vast that its summary in so short a space must necessarily be incomplete. Yoe and Server, for example, quote 111 references on the subject of the nickel-dimethylglyoxine with other ions. Only a fraction of the literature was available, and space permitted only a fraction of this to be abstracted in the following pages.
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Date Issued: 1948

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A study of conditions in the upper atmosphere and their deduction from radio measurements

- Gledhill, J A, Szendrei, M E

Authors: Gledhill, J A , Szendrei, M E
Date: 1948
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
Identifier: vital:21181 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6795
Description: Summary: In part 1 (a), after a brief historical outline of methods of ionospheric investigation and their development, the construction in this laboratory of manually operated equipment for sounding the ionosphere is described. Photographic records of good definition were taken at regular intervals over a period of four months during the summer of 1945-6. These were fully sealed for critical frequencies, true heights and thicknesses of all the layers present, and mean monthly values of these quantities for each hour are tabulated. An extensive correlation with magnetic data from Hermanus indicated good correlation between magnetic activity and disturbed ionospheric conditions. On these grounds some disturbed days were rejected, and others were eliminated on ionospheric grounds. Smoothed mean values are tabulated and graphs drawn. These are presented in concise form on "electron density maps", which are graphs showing lines of constant electron density plotted as functions of time and height. In part 1 (b), a new theory of layer-formation is developed, in which the temperature is assumed to vary linearly with height. The equations are compared at each step with those obtained by Chapman in his theory of layer-formation in an isothermal atmosphere. The equations for the maximum of electron density and its height are also given. The effect of the parameters on the shape of the layer is shown in graphical form. The equations are somewhat complex in form, but an ingenious graphical method has been devised suitable for the application of the theory to results given in the form of those in section 1 (a). From this application values are obtained for the temperature gradient, the temperature at 200 km. and its variation over the middle part of the day. The results obtained are in accordance with previous estimates, and offer numerical confirmation of the theory that the atmosphere expands bodily upwards during the middle part of a summer day.
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Date Issued: 1948

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The economics of state assistance to agriculture with special reference to future policy in South Africa

- Threlfell, R L

Authors: Threlfell, R L
Date: 1948
Subjects: Agriculture and state -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
Identifier: vital:1107 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013399
Description: [From the Introduction] The argument by which it is shown that, under a system of open competition, prices are determined in a way which secures to consumers a maximum aggregate of satisfaction consonant with the relative security of the means of production is the familiar material of many treatises on economics, and does not need to be repeated here. In Economics (as distinct from Politics) this argument provided in a simple form the logical justification for the advocacy of laissez faire in State policy during the early 19th century even though "it was the actual success of private enterprise and the inefficiency and corruption of Government control that caused laissez faire to be an acceptable policy". No-one, of course, contended that pure competition did in fact characterize the economic relations of the time. Quite the reverse. It was argued that if the hindrances to competition were removed, society as a whole would reap the benefits indicated by the theory.
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Date Issued: 1948

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A preliminary investigation of the determination of ionic mobilities by conductometric titration

- Festenstein, Gerald Norman

Authors: Festenstein, Gerald Norman
Date: 1947
Subjects: Ionic mobility , Conductometric analysis
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:4472 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011810 , Ionic mobility , Conductometric analysis
Description: The determination of ionic mobilities by conductometric titration was first suggested by Barker, Rowler and Shuttleworth in discussing the theory of conductometric titration of acids, bases and neutral salts. Intro. p. 1.
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Date Issued: 1947

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A report on the comparative performance of coloured and European factory workers on four tests of ability

- Gough, Margaret Frances

Authors: Gough, Margaret Frances
Date: 1947
Subjects: Cross-cultural psychology , Employees -- South Africa , Colored people (South Africa) -- Psychology
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:3246 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014980
Description: This thesis is a report on the results or four psychological tests, applied to two groups or workers in Port Elizabeth factories; the one group consisting of European, the other of Coloured workers. The abilities selected for testing were believed to be necessary, to some extent, in certain Industrial operations.
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Date Issued: 1947

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A study of the comparative anatomy of the lateral compound eyes of arthropods

- Glaholm, J

Authors: Glaholm, J
Date: 1947
Subjects: Arthropoda -- Anatomy
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:5908 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014966
Description: In this thesis the interest has centered mainly on the comparative anatomy of the lateral eyes of Arthropods especially the compound eyes, with some particular reference to those of Chilopoda. The comparative anatomy of the eyes of Chilopoda seemed to be of interest, since they possess in most cases simple lateral eyes, which are not characteristic of the adults of any other group of Arthropoda, except Arachnids, to which the Chilopoda are only remotely related In a few cases - in the Scutigeridae - "compound" eyes are present, which are very unusual in their internal anatomy. The following possibilities with regard to the relationships of the Chilopod eyes present themselves. The simple eyes may be the products of degeneration of a compound eye. Alternatively they may be ocelli of a very primitive pre-compound eye type, persisting where in some cases a compound eye has failed to develop. As a third possibility they may have been separately evolved in forms, in which the compound eye was lost or failed to develop. In the last case they would appear to be unrelated to those of any other Arthropods, except possibly those of Diplopods, to which they are very similar in structure. The "compound" eyes may be or the same type as the compound eyes in the remaining Arthropods, with the differences due to degeneration, or to specialisation. Alternatively they may be of a separate type and formed secondarily, either as a single new structure. or a coalescence of ocelli. The enquiry into the interrelationship of these eyes and their relation to the eyes of other Arthropoda raises several points for investigation. For the compound eyes it is necessary to decide whether they were primarily present in the ancestors of some or all of the classes or Arthropods, and whether they have a common or more or less diverse origin with some evolutionary convergence. For the lateral simple eyes it is necessary to decide whether there are any indications in phylogeny, ontogeny or anatomy of the primitive or secondary formation of a compound eye by the aggregation of numerous ocelli or the elaboration of one or these. Such information might be expected to throw light on the origin of the Scutigerid eye. Alternatively any indications of the formation of simple from compound eyes might show whether the Chilopod simple eyes could have evolved in this way from a Scutigerid or some other compound eye. Median eyes are present in some Trilobites, Eurypterida, Crustacea, Hexapods and Arachnida. Although they exhibit considerable variations in structure, they are all clearly simple eyes. As they are absent in Chilopoda and in the remaining Arthropods are entirely separate in origin from the lateral eyes, with a separate seat of innervation, their comparative anatomy is of little interest in this case. The main portion of the thesis deals with the comparative anatomy, origins and relationships of the different types of compound lateral eyes. The second part comprises a short appendix dealing with similar aspects of the lateral ocelli. Detailed descriptions and figures have been given for the eyes of eight species. Some mention is also made of points observed in the internal or external anatomy of species which were studied in less detail. The theoretical conclusions are based on material from the available literature and from these descriptions.
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Date Issued: 1947

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The high pressure catalytic hydrogenation of the tannin of black wattle (Acacia mollissima Willd)

- Silk, M H

Authors: Silk, M H
Date: 1947
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:21132 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6528
Description: From Introduction: The wattle industry in South Africa has, from its commencement in the middle of the last century, gradually assumed a position of increasing importance in the economic structure of the country. Apart from the provision of a valuable tanning extract for home use and for export, the tree itself has proved of considerable importance to the Union’s mining industries. In addition there would appear to be possibilities for the utilisation in the near future, of the raw ground bark and the wattle extract for the manufacture of a number of by-products, including certain types of plastics.
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Date Issued: 1947

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The missionary work of the first Anglican Bishop of Natal, the Rt. Reverend John William Colenso, between the years 1852-1873

- Burnett, B B

Authors: Burnett, B B
Date: 1947
Subjects: Colenso, John William, 1814-1883
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:2621 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014679
Description: At the outset it had been my intention to make only the slightest of references to the Church Controversy in which Bishop Colenso was involved and to have touched only lightly on his theological position. Apart from anything else I hesitated to enter the arena in which so many had already collided violently and where my own prejudices might be enlisted on one side or the other. It became evident however that Colenso the Controversialist, the Theologian could not be dissociated from Colenso the missionary, without giving an inadequate, and even misleading history of his missionary activities. The Controversy had a serious and deleterious effect on his missionary work, and no estimate of the value of a missionary's labours would be valid without some consideration of his teaching, more especially when his orthodoxy is suspect. I have therefore dealt as briefly as I could with these questions in Chapter V because of their relevance, and because to produce a work on an ecclesiastic without some reference to his tenets would be like writing a biography of Louis Botha without any allusion to his political 'faith', or of Wellington, without any mention of Waterloo. it would represent a distortion of history to write about a Missionary Bishop as though he were an amateur politician, or of a missionary as though he were interested only in finance and administration.
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Date Issued: 1947

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A critical examination of the evidence regarding the size of manufacturing units in the footwear industry of South Africa, Great Britain, Canada and the U.S.A. with an assessment of the economic implications and consequences of these conditions in relation to the South African customs tariff

- Brits, Rudolph N

Authors: Brits, Rudolph N
Date: 1946
Subjects: Footwear industry -- South Africa , Footwear industry , Tariff -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
Identifier: vital:1080 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009755 , Footwear industry -- South Africa , Footwear industry , Tariff -- South Africa
Description: Before the formation of Union in 1910 there were a few scattered boot and shoe factories in South Africa. Unfortunately, owing to lack of statistics, it is impossible to tell which of these establishments were actually manufacturing boots and shoes, and which were only engaged in repair work.
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Date Issued: 1946

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Base exchange in soils : a study of the reproducibility of base exchange values for some South African soils, as indicated by leaching with normal ammonium acetate solution

- Pienaar, D J

Authors: Pienaar, D J
Date: 1946
Subjects: Soil chemistry , Soils
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:4489 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013038
Description: A very reliable method for the total analysis of the ammonium acetate leachate has been outlined. This is both simple and straight forward and is more rapid than any which have been seen in the literature. It is particularly applicable where a worker must perform a large number of routine analyses in the minimum of time. Shirley (29) and other workers have shown that 1000 ml. of leaching solution is generally necessary to extract all the exchangeable gases. The present investigation has shown that the time of leaching makes no appreciable difference to the amounts of bases replaced, as long as this exceeds four hours. Two alternative methods have been introduced for the rapid determination of the total exchangeable bases in a soil and there are considered to be more reliable than that of Bray and White. It is suggested that the two new methods might yield a still greater degree of accuracy if larger aliquots were to be used for each determination. It is further pointed out that the values obtained by the chloride methods are more likely to represent correct values than the sum totals of the bases as determined individually, since these are arrived at by summing the results of four different estimations, each of which is liable to experimental error, whereas in the chloride methods there is only one perfectly straightforward determination. The values for the total exchangeable bases in the soils examined were found to vary over the range 2.50 to 14.28 m.e. per 100 g. soil, with a variance of up to ± 0.2sm.e. per 100 g., corresponding to a percentage error of up to ± 4.7%. These figures are based on the analysis of 12 separate leachings of each soil with normal ammonium acetate solution of pH 7.00. This rather wide variance can be attributed to the fact that the exchangeable bases in some soils are more easily replaceable than in other soils. It is regretted that the shortage of time and the non-availability of a complete range of samples of all typical South African soils has prevented the attainment of an original objective, namely, a statistical evaluation of the base exchange figures for all South African soil types. It would also have been of great interest to have been able to establish exactly the composition of the double salt of calcium and magnesium, whose existence has been postulated to explain the effect of the Ca/Mg ratio on the results yielded by the first chloride method. Summary, p. 67-68.
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Date Issued: 1946

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The morphology and biology of Anomala vetula Wied : an arthropod pest of turf in South Africa

- Bradford, B

Authors: Bradford, B
Date: 1946
Subjects: Anomala
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:5903 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013545
Description: From Introduction: For the past eight years, the Zoology Department of Rhodes University College, in co-operation with African Explosives & Chemical Industries Ltd., has been studying certain entomological problems relating to turf on the golf course along the coastal belt of the Eastern Cape Province. The position is briefly as follows:- On the golf courses at Mossel Bay, Humewood (Port Elizabeth), Port Alfred and East London, vast damage has been done to the greens and fairways by "white grubs", the larval stages of Scarabaeidae. It would appear that these beetles had been present in the environs of the courses for many years, but it was only when large areas of the natural veld were converted into fairways, with a more or less uniform cover of grass, with Cynodon dactylon Pers. predominating, that conditions were inadvertently created which favoured the development of the beetles. It was not long after the establishment of these golf courses, that the beetles assumed the proportions of a pest, and the larvae began destroying the root system of the grasses covering the greens and fairways.
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Date Issued: 1946

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