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units were not identical. From work that is now being done on other species, in order to determine whether such units are common to all woods, it appears that the previous treatment of the fibers has an effect on the ease with which the fibrils may be dissected into the smaller units. Within the author’s knowledge, the units are newly dis-
Vol. 21, No. 3
covered bodies, which were separated and photographed for the first time in the investigation reported here. Hence, they have been given the descriptive name “fusiform bodies.” Progressive steps in the separation of the fibrils and the fusiform bodies are shown in the accompanying photomicrographs.
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARIES David Wesson
D
AVID WESSON has taken such a prominent part in the technical and professional advancement of our times that he seems to be an integral part of it. While the most social of men, he still has a personality and individuality which is all his own. I n this respect none of his contemporaries could take his place in our professional circles. He is characteristically American in his ancestry, education, and professional career. Born in Brooklyn, X. Y., in 1861, he received his primary education in the public schools and prepared for college in the, a t that time, very popular collegiate department of the Polytechnic I n s t i t u t e of Brooklyn. His technical education was obtained a t the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received the degree of bachelor of science in chemistry in 1883. Wesson’s first professionalengagement was with William Ripley h’ichols, professor of general chemistry and chemical philosophy a t Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as his assistant in connection with his work on water and air for the Massachusetts State Board of Health, as well as preparing and setting up his lecture experiments and assisting in laboratory c l a s s r o o m w o r k . Such work is almost equal t o a post-,graduate course. A year later he went to-work for t h e N. K. Fairbanks Company, of Chicago, and in this soap factory he started his lifelong specialty by working on soaps, lard oils, cottonseed oil, and other fats. I n 1890, David after six years’ service in Chicago, Wesson moved t o New York with the W. J. Wilcox Lard and Refining Company, a branch of the American Cotton Oil Trust, which had previously absorbed the N. K. Fairbanks Company. Then followed five years as chief chemist of the American Cotton Oil Company a t its Guttenberg, N. J., plant, where he had the opportunity of coming into contact with the fat and oil trade and also obtained valuable plant experience. In 1895 he resigned from the American Cotton Oil Company and organized the Wesson Manufacturing Company, a t Cortland, N. Y., for the manufacture of bicycles. Here in 1899 work was begun which resulted in the development of Wesson oil, which has added many million dollars t o the value of the cotton crop and constitutes one of the many developments of the chemist and chemical engineer which have so greatly enriched our country. For the purpose of developing the process, the Wesson Process Company was organized in 1899 with Wesson as the general manager and also chemist with the Southern Cotton Oil Company. I n the winter of 1900 sufficient progress had been made to warrant starting a n installation a t the plant of the Southern Cotton Oil Company at Savannah, Ga. Wesson’s chemical en-
gineering training and experience were utilized to overcome the manufacturing difficulties that were encountered, and the new product was soon put upon the market. Sixteen years had elapsed since Wesson first began the study of fats and oils, including cottonseed oil, and now the manufacture and sale of Wesson oil in ever increasing quantities has continued for twentyeight years since it was first produced. Mr. Wesson has continued his connection with the Southern Cotton Oil Company, as manager of the technical department from 1903 t o 1920 and as technical advisor since 1920. Theyears 1912 to 1913 were spent in starting refineries in Germany and England. While David Wesson is well known as an expert on the technology of fats and oils, he has also acquired a broad knowledge of the entire food industry and has not neglected t o keep pace with the developments and improvements in the growing field of chemical engineering. His earlier work in industrial chemistry was concerned chiefly with the improvement of the analytical methods in use in vegetable-oil refineries. I n 1887 he organized and operated the first a n a l y t i c a l laboratory for the systematic analysis of cottonseed-oil mill products. He also established physical auditing methods for cotton-oil-refining operations. I n connection with plant operations he made careful studies of the properties and utilization of fuller’s earth, hydrogenation of oils, and the manufacture of catalysts, rancidity and Wesson its causes, and the colorimetry of oils and fats. His chemical engineering work has included the design, construction, and operation of vegetable-oil refineries, both in this country and in England and Germany. Wesson’s publications have included numerous papers in INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY, Transactions of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, as well as various trade journals of the fat and oil industries. I n addition, he has made numerous addresses before chemical societies and trade associations. As a speaker he is animated and forceful and always interesting and instructive. He does not belong t o the class of chemists who have hidden their light under a bushel. Wesson has made a very material contribution t o the campaign of publicity which has helped so materially in educating the public concerning the economic value of chemistry. A sketch of David Wesson’s life would not be complete without some account of his more human qualities. He is the best and most congenial of companions with a keen sense of humor. His friends can always count on him for a few good stories or jokes. The sport he seems t o enjoy most is sailing. He is fond of roses and will expend infinite care in raising the finest varieties. He
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also finds great pleasure in exploring an antique shop for specimens of the art of a past generation. A s usual, keenness of observation and a wide range of interests are found associated with technical success and ability. Wesson has always given generously of his time and enthusiasm to the support of the chemical societies. He has held offices in most of these societies, beginning with that of secretary of the Chicago Chemical Society when he went to that city as a young chemist. He was a charter member of the American Institute
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of Chemical Engineers, was president in 1919-1920, and is a t present auditor. He was active in the organization of the New Jersey Chemical Society and was its president for two years until it was merged with the AMERICAN CHENICAL SOCIETY. He then served two years as chairman of the North Jersey Section and is now active as chairman of the program committee. For the last two years he has been chairman of the New Jersey state committee of the AXERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY Prize Essay Contest. J. C. OLSEN
BOOK REVIEWS Thyroxine. BY E. C. KENDALL. A. C. S. Monograph No. 47. 265 pages. The Chemical Catalog Co., Inc., h-ew York, 1929. Price, $5.50. In this well printed and illustrated monograph Doctor Kendall gives a remarkably complete account of the essential chemical facts concerning the thyroid gland, including necessarily the diseases associated with the gland and the biological manifestations following administration of thyroid preparations and of thyroxine. Saturally the monograph is largely concerned with thyroxine itself, whose isolation associates Kendall’s name for all time with thyroid chemistry. Full credit is given Harington for his brilliant elucidation of the true constitution of thyroxine. Few points are open to criticism. His comment that “there seems to be no apparent reason why thyroxine cannot be used to supplant desiccated thyroid completely” for administration to patients does not take into account the high cost of thyroxine, which every physician really interested in his patients will consider, since desiccated thyroid put out by reputable firms and standardized for iodine content is just as good for almost all patients. He recognizes that thyroxine does not represent full thyroid activity and suggests an ingenious explanation. I t is doubtful if he lays sufficient stress on the probability that one of the two optically active isomers may be practically twice as active as the racemic mixture so far tested. Harington has recently separated these isomers; further information will therefore doubtless soon be available. The writer has elsewhere pointed out that “thyroxine” is a term misleading to the student, since the compound is now known not to be an oxy-indole derivative. Surely some name closely similar to Kendall’s term can be coined which will more truly denote the nature of the substance and prevent propagating t o generations of students an account of the only serious mistake in Kendall’s brilliant researches. Every student of endocrine problems, every physician interested in thyroid diseases, and all students specializing in biochemistry should read this book.-A. T. CAMERON
grease, sea-animal oils, cottonseed soapstock, and black grease, which play so important a role in the production of American laundry products. The chapter on candles is entirely too brief to be of any value as a guide to production. In many instances the formulas and methods of production are more European than American, and in the chapter on settled soaps and soap-powders they are not in keeping with the best American practice. In the methods of sampling and analysis of soap products and the raw materials used in their production, it is unfortunate for the sake of standardization that the authors did not adopt the SOCLETY and the standard methods of the AMERICANCHEMICAL American Oil Chemists Society. The cuts of apparatus are very good; wider diversity might have been obtained by use of a greater number of manufacturers’ catalogs. The treatise is sadly lacking in bibliography; a chapter devoted to this important feature would have been a valuable adjunct. The text is fairly free from errors and the subject matter is clearly arranged and presented in a manner to be a valuable aid to any one desiring a clear general outline of the subject.-.%RcHIBALD CAMPBELL Impurities in Metals. Their Influence on Structure and Prop157 pages. John erties. BY COLIN J. SMITHELLS.xi Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1928. Price, $5.00.
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The preface rehearses the fact that the few spectroscopically pure metals recently prepared exhibit unusual properties, and that the careful study and control of the effects of minor constituents-i. e., those occurring in about 1 per cent or less-will help solve many metallurgical problems. The impurities are considered under three groups-metallic, nonmetallic, and gaseous-with further subdivision according to their solubility in the metal or alloy. Chapter I deals with methods of studying metallic structuremicroscope, physical tests, and x-rays. Chapter I1 gives an epitome of x-ray analysis of metals-the Laue, Bragg, and pinhole methods, and their general results. Chapter I11 considers the structure of pure metals-cast, worked, and electrodeposited. Chapter IV deals with the structure of alloys. The remaining American Soap Maker’s Guide. An Up-to-Date Treatise on the five chapters cover the effects of minor constituents on structure Art and Science of the Manufacture of Soaps, Candles, and (two Shapters), mechanical properties, electrical properties, and corrosion. STANISLAUS The book is interesting, informative, and suggestive, but by Allied Toilet Preparations. BY I. V. STANLEY AND P. B. MEERBOTT. 3rd edition. 709 pages. Henry Carey no means comprehensive. Metallurgists seem to have been suffering too long from the effects of inbreeding and, ensconced Baird & Co., Inc., New York, 1928. Price, $10.00. in a terminology peculiar to their branch of science, often fail to In presenting the third edition of this work the authors on the understand the correlation of it to other branches. Consetitle page lay claim to “the most complete and exhaustive book quently, the book is strongest in those things which metallurin the English language.” The twenty-nine chapters of the gists know-i. e., physical and microstructure-and weakest or treatise include a historical review of soaps; chemical constituentirely deficient in those things which they are just glimpsing or tion of raw materials used in the manufacture of soaps; saponifi- are ignoring-ultra-microstructures. No mention seems to be cation of fats; modern views on the cleansing properties of soap; made of the astounding facts educed by H. B. Baker, of London, occurrence and methods of producing, refining, and hydrogenatthat traces of water lower the boiling point of ethyl alcohol from ing fats and oils; methods of analysis of fats, oils, alkalies, per- about 130” C. to about 78’ C., and many other organic liquids fumes, soaps, and toilet preparations; machinery used in the behave similarly. Baker’s report that the boiling point of superindustry; formulas and technic for producing various kinds of dried metallic mercury is similarly affected, appears overlooked. laundry, textile, toilet and special soaps, soap-powders, and So does the interesting work of petrographers on dendrites, martoilet preparations including perfume mixtures for the same; also gerites, etc., although Sir J. S.Flett has done outstanding work a brief chapter on candles and one on useful tables. in this field. The chapter on “Modern Views on the Cleansing Properties On pages 57 and 69 the author refers to some 1926 and 1923 of Soap” is a valuable addition to the subject matter. In the views as to protective colloid effects, but seems quite unaware of treatment of raw materials greater stress should have been laid the previous papers dealing with such views and the colloidal o n such fats as glue grease, house grease, grease stearins, garbage concept of metals, perhaps the earliest mention of which is in a
