From Introduction: "Work on this project was begun early in 1944; and the results with respect to shale oil are reported in this Bulletin. Since this bulletin is only an index to this large repository of ideas relating to the the treatment of shale oil, the material is presented in the form of short notices describing the subject material of each patent, which consist of an abridgment of the patent (if British or Australian) or a typical claim in the case of the United States or foreign patents."

From Introduction: "The material is presented in three parts, as follows: III. Belgium, French, German, Italian, and Swedish Patents. Some of the Foreign Patents were collected at the same time and a few of them later in 1961."

From Introduction: "Some results of the work already done are presented in this bulletin, which gives a historical review of the development of electric furnaces for making iron and steel, and discusses the problems that remain to be solved in the use of electric furnaces for the smelting of iron ores and the production of pig iron at a profit on a commercial scale."