The native pear as a toxic plant

THE Native Pear (Xylomelum angustifolium) has recently been associated with stock losses in the Marchagee district, and a sample of the leaves of sucker shoots, which were submitted for chemical analysis, showed small amounts of prussic acid. This is the first occasion on which the species has come under notice as a toxic plant, although a related species (X pyriforme), which occurs in the Eastern States, has long been known to contain the same toxic principle under certain circumstances

The distribution of some important toxic plants of South-Western Australia

From the earliest days of settlement in Western Australia, native species of J- plants have been responsible for stock losses. As early as 1837, the plant now known as York Road Poison, was apparently causing the death of cattle, sheep and goats in the Guildford area, although the cause of the losses was at that time unknown. By 1842, James Drummond, the earliest of the botanical workers in Western Australia, had identified at least three species of Gastrolobium and one species of Oxylobium as being toxic. Subsequent experience in the field, together with experimental evidence has proved that 25 species of Gastrolobium and six species of Oxylobium are toxic to stock

Poison sedge and cyanogenesis

During the afternoon of April 14 of this year, a flock of 800 sheep on a property in the Carnamah district was turned into an old stubble paddock which had been spelled for two months, after having carried the same sheep for the previous paddock, death having apparently occurred suddenly and without any struggling. The rapidity and severity of the losses, together with the lack of observed symptoms, suggested that the trouble had been due to a cyanogenetic plant (a plant capable of killing stock by the liberation of prussic acid after ingestion.

Experimental evaluation of two turning vane designs for fan drive corner of 0.1-scale model of NASA Lewis Research Center's proposed altitude wind tunnel

Two turning vane designs were experimentally evaluated for corner 2 of a 0.1 scale model of the NASA Lewis Research Center's proposed Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT). Corner 2 contained a simulated shaft fairing for a fan drive system to be located downstream of the corner. The corner was tested with a bellmouth inlet followed by a 0.1 scale model of the crossleg diffuser designed to connect corners 1 and 2 of the AWT. Vane A was a controlled-diffusion airfoil shape; vane B was a circular-arc airfoil shape. The A vanes were tested in several arrangements which included the resetting of the vane angle by -5 degrees or the removal of the outer vane. The lowest total pressure loss for vane A configuration was obtained at the negative reset angle. The loss coefficient increased slightly with the Mach number, ranging from 0.165 to 0.175 with a loss coefficient of 0.170 at the inlet design Mach number of 0.24. Removal of the outer vane did not alter the loss. Vane B loss coefficients were essentially the same as those for the reset vane A configurations. The crossleg diffuser loss coefficient was 0.018 at the inlet design Mach number of 0.33

New danger from Hoary cress

HOARY CRESS is undoubtedly one of the worst weeds introduced into Australia. It is a vigorous deep rooted perennial which competes strongly with crop plants and seriously decreases yields. The importance of three recent discoveries of this weed in Western Australia therefore need hardly be stressed. G. R. W. Meadly, Offlcer-in-Charge of the Weeds and Seeds Branch, and R. D. Royce, Offlcer-in- Charge of the Botany Branch, report on two recently found infestations of hoary cross in the Great Southern, and one at Jerramongup. An intensive eradication programme is under way

Plant specimens for identification

PLANT names and the naming of plant specimens are of fundamental importance in the science of botany. In applied botany as well, proper identification is of the utmost importance. In agriculture for instance, accuracy in naming poisonous plants and weeds, as well as fodder and pasture species, can save farmers considerable sums of money, and may be responsible for avoiding heavy stock losses

Experimental Evaluation of Turning Vane Designs for High-speed and Coupled Fan-drive Corners of 0.1-scale Model of NASA Lewis Research Center's Proposed Altitude Wind Tunnel

Two turning vane designs were experimentally evaluated for the fan-drive corner (corner 2) coupled to an upstream diffuser and the high-speed corner (corner 1) of the 0.1 scale model of NASA Lewis Research Center's proposed Altitude Wind Tunnel. For corner 2 both a controlled-diffusion vane design (vane A4) and a circular-arc vane design (vane B) were studied. The corner 2 total pressure loss coefficient was about 0.12 with either vane design. This was about 25 percent less loss than when corner 2 was tested alone. Although the vane A4 design has the advantage of 20 percent fewer vanes than the vane B design, its vane shape is more complex. The effects of simulated inlet flow distortion on the overall losses for corner 1 or 2 were small

Experimental evaluation of corner turning vanes

Two types of turning vane airfoils (a controlled-diffusion shape and a circular arc shape) have been evaluated in the high-speed and fan-drive corners of a 0.1-scale model of NASA Lewis Research Center's proposed Altitude Wind Tunnel. The high-speed corner was evaluated with and without a simulated engine exhaust removal scoop. The fan-drive corner was evaluated with and without the high-speed corner. Flow surveys of pressure and flow angle were taken for both the corners and the vanes to determine their respective losses. The two-dimensional vane losses were low; however, the overall corner losses were higher because three-dimensional flow was generated by the complex geometry resulting from the turning vanes intersecting the end wall. The three-dimensional effects were especially pronounced in the outer region of the circular corner

Supersonic through-flow fan design

The NASA Lewis Research Center has embarked on a program to experimentally prove the concept of a supersonic through-flow fan which is to maintain supersonic velocities throughout the compression system with only weak shock-wave flow losses. The detailed design of a supersonic through-flow fan and estimated off-design performance with the use of advanced computational codes are described. A multistage compressor facility is being modified for the newly designed supersonic through-flow fan and the major aspects of this modification are briefly described

Detailed flow surveys of turning vanes designed for a 0.1-scale model of NASA Lewis Research Center's proposed altitude wind tunnel

Detailed flow surveys downstream of the corner turning vanes and downstream of the fan inlet guide vanes have been obtained in a 0.1-scale model of the NASA Lewis Research Center's proposed Altitude Wind Tunnel. Two turning vane designs were evaluated in both corners 1 and 2 (the corners between the test section and the drive fan). Vane A was a controlled-diffusion airfoil and vane B was a circular-arc airfoil. At given flows the turning vane wakes were surveyed to determine the vane pressure losses. For both corners the vane A turning vane configuration gave lower losses than the vane B configuration in the regions where the flow regime should be representative of two-dimensional flow. For both vane sets the vane loss coefficient increased rapidly near the walls