Articles

Industrial minerals shown on postage stamps

Industrial minerals are usually divided into three groups. The first group is abundant in all geologic environments. These industrial minerals are used in large amounts. And they are relatively cheap. Some examples include limestone, clay, sand, gravel and stones.

Collecting: A desire to acquire

For contemporary art lover Robert Hiscox, chairman of leading insurance company Hiscox, collecting is less about completing the set and more about acquiring certain, sometimes unattainable, things. Hiscox has been interested in art since childhood and delights in the fact that it's something he can indulge in wherever he is in the world. Contemporary art holds most appeal for Hiscox. Carl Openshaw, a retired director and chairman of Kent County Cricket Club, collects cricket memorabilia. It's this interest which has fuelled Openshaw's desire to collect the bible of cricketing literature, Wisden Cricketers' Almanac, and he is now the proud owner of a complete set of Wisdens. Chartered surveyor Ian Loncaster has a passion for pens that goes back 20 years. Confessing that he's a bit of a Luddite when it comes to computers, he also bemoans the fact that people no longer write. Loncaster has a collection of around 100 pens, many of them Parkers, including some of earliest fountain pens.

Ethical Pediatrics
Ethical dilemmas infiltrate our practices of pediatrics regularly, resulting in some of our most challenging (and interesting) clinical issues and problems. It is our intent in this issue of Pediatric Annals to review and highlight the clinical circumstances in which ethics issues arise in the course of the practice of pediatrics. All of us have faced some or even most of the issues discussed by the contributors of the articles included here and undoubtedly have struggled from time to time as we try to make the best decisions for our patients and their families.

Collectable concerns
In a judgment in the Cape Supreme Court in 1981 concerning Customs and Excise duties, Mr. Justice Marais delivered an erudite judgment worthy of a doctorate in fine arts. He had to rule whether sets of high quality reproduction silver spoons were collectors' pieces of historical interest. At stake was a great deal of sales and excise duty for, if they were collectors' pieces within the meaning of the legislation, they were exempt from duty. In his ruling, he stated that while a collector may applaud their craftsmanship and excellence, he will not regard the replicas as collectors' pieces of historical interest. So the law is clear. Original collectables of historical interest as well as antiques of an age exceeding 100 years are exempt from Customs Duty. The Receiver of Revenue is less generous for income tax purposes, and losses from dealing in these items may be ring-fenced in certain circumstances.

Release agents for stamping concrete

In 1956 Bill Stegmeier, president of the Stegmeier Corp., Arlington, Texas, developed a powdered release agent which not only provided the release between texturing tools and plastic concrete but also imparted colored highlights and antique effects to decorative finishes. Now 80 years old, Stegmeier says he originally developed the product for use with their "Cool Deck" process. He added, "I hold 102 patents for things we've invented over the years, but I didn't patent this process." He also developed a wood-texturing stamp, which simulated wood plank patterns 12 inches wide and of varying lengths. In 1976 he granted the Bomanite Corporation a license to use his invention and several years later sold them the rights.