AMERICAN CONTEMPORARIES
I
flcsh of the beef animal. This involved the feedN THE fall of 1896 a class of freslimerI in ing of a number of steers on varied rations and general chemistry at the University of Michithe subsequent analysis of the flesh of these gan gathered for their fint laboratory period. animals slaughtered a t various stages of fatness Each student had been assigned a desk and was and at different ages. Careful planning of all busy checking over his list of apparatus. It was details in advance was required in order to obnecessary for the writer. a member of this class, tain correct weights of the separated parts and to visit the dispensing window to get some piece to conduct a n accurate analysis of this perishable of apparatus. A short man. with a pleasant exm a t e d in as nearly the original state as possible. pression on his smooth face, greeted ine. His Hard and disagreeable tasks, coupled wit11 long head was crowned with thick black hair. and he hours of work, were necessary a t times. In all moved about in an alert, businesslike manner, this the Doctor usas foremost, throwing hirnself which attracted and held my attention. This into the work with untiring energy and o m was my first meeting with Perry F. Trowbridge, municating his enthusiasm t o all his associates. accountant in the chemical laboratory and inThe fact that this work, covering a period of apstructor in organic chemistry. In like manner, Perry For ‘I ‘rowbridge proximately eight ycars, was carried through every student in chemistry came to know Mr. without serious loss to the data is a tribute to Trowbridge, as he was called then, for everyone had to confer with him in adjusting laboratory accounts a t the the man wlio so carefully planned it. Notable progress hrts been made a t the North Dakota A ~ beginning and end of each come. The early life of Perry 1s. Trowbridge was marked with strug- cultural Experiment Station since Iloctor Trowbridge became gles to secure an education. With nine children in the family, director. Seven new departments have been organized, while thc father an invalid, it was iiecrssary for the boy Perry to work the payroll and budget of the station have been more than on farms and in factories to help out with the family income. doubled. A t present, in addition to his directorship duties, he is His great desire was to attend the Agricultural College and be- senriiig as a member of the National Research Council and has come a farmer. In later ycars he confessed to a n admiration for acted 5 s chairman of the committee on the national cotipcrative the life and work of a country doctor and had thought of this as research project, involving the study of factors influencing the quality and palatability of meat. a carter. But after doing some district-school teaching and During my college days I came to know Mr. Trowbridge, the attending some teachers’ institutcs, the impulse to teach prevailed. and he entered the Michigan State Normal School, teacher, through certain social contacts. His jovial boyish Ypsilanti, from which he graduated in 1889 with special honors. manner and hearty laugh made him the center of the fun in any He continued his studies a t the University of Michigan. receiving group of young people, as well as in the circle of his older associates. In the c l a ~ ~ r whe m constantly held the attention of tlic his bachclor’s degree in 1892. students, and impressed them with his alert manner and clear, H e was instructor in mathematics and science at Kalaniazoo College for a part of the time until 1894. when he became in- forceful explanations of some procedure in analysis. Agaiii, while a t Missouri, I was able to observe his ability to awaken the structor in organic chemistry and purchaser oi supplies and interest of students, particularly in researcli problems. He accountant of the chemical laboratory a t the University of Michigan. One year he spent in Germany, pursuing studies in encouraged his assistants and students to work on problems for pharmaceutical and beet sugar chemistry. In 1902 he became advanced degrees, and a t each commencement there was usually connected with the new beet sugar industry in Michigan, taking one or more candidate receiving a master’s or doctor’s degree from charge of agricultural operations for oiie of the factories. This his department. The Doctor himself was always ready to begin a new research problem, no matter how many prolilems or was fallowed by one year in Ornard, Calif.. as chemist a i t h the Anlerican Beet Sugar Company. He then entered the Uni- projects he alrvady had undcr way. H e did not complete many of thcm for as soon as they were blocked out and gotten under versity of Illinois as rcsearch assistant. Iris studies there with Doctor Grindlcy and research on the chemistry of fie.sh earned for way, he turned them over t o others to finish. His succcsso~sa t Missouri have prepared and published much of his research him his doctor‘s degree in 1906. One year prior to this he had received his master’s degree from the University of Michigan, and results. When the Doctor stood before an audience, hc commanded it, 1912 t l x honorary degree of master of pedagogy was conferred upon him by Michigan State Normal School. In 1907 instant and interested attention. As a lecturer he gave his he was called to the professorship of agricultural chemistry a t hearers a feeling of anticipation that something of urrusual inthe University of Missouri, wherc his major work was in the line terest was coming-like the conjurer about to produce a rabbit of animal nutrition. I n August, 1918, he accepted a n appoint- from the hat. This was especially noticeable when he gave his demonstration lectures on meat-cutting and curing before tlre ment as director of t h c North Dakota Agricultural Experiment fanners gathered a t the College of Agriculture during the annual Station, which position he now holds. My interesting association with Doctor Trowbridge, succeeding Farmers’ Week. His interest in the things he was trying to that of my student days, began in 1907 when I went to Missouri demonstrate made attention from his hearers a natural attitude. Doctor Trowbridge was always ready for a romp with Ids boys, to work with him on the cliemical studies in nutrition. IIe had and even with his grown-up fricnds when they wcre so inclined. just complcted research studics a t Illinois on the chemistry of flesh and was taking up the new nutrition project a t Missouri He engaged in friendly boxing and wrcstling matdies with them with much enthusiasm. The projcct included a study of the and spanked his boys the requisite number of times on their effect of different planes of nutrition upon the composition of the birthdays after the old-time custom. He confessed that this
.
August, 1931
I N D USTRIAL A N D ENGINEERI'G! CHEMISTRY
969
grew more difficult year by year, and he was curious to see how interest in civic matters. He built his home in a new part of the long he could successfully do it. I remember how he reported city and became a leader in his neighborhood in the plans for with glee one morning that the older son had prevented his dad street improvements and home building. Besides his own from carrying out the program. Another incident I recall home, he built two others on adjacent lots, superintending the occurred one hot summer evening. He and the boys engaged in a construction and handling certain parts of the work himself durthree-cornered water battle, and a t the height of the fun, when ing the summer vacation period. His period of service in the Association of Official Agricultural the two boys were busy trying to douse each other, the Doctor Chemists began with his going to Missouri in 1907. For six years stole t o the roof of the porch with a bucket of water and dashed its contents on the two boys before they knew he was near. he was chairman of the committee on revision of methods-one of For many years he was superintendent of the Sunday School of the most arduous and exacting tasks in the association-in the First Baptist Church and, with his natural interest in young addition to conducting collaborative studies along various lines. people and children, he performed his duties with signal success. He served one year as vice president, and two years as president He participated in many of the children's entertainments and of the association. In 1894 Doctor Trowbridge married Grace Hall, of Albion, often took the part of Santa Claus a t Christmas-time. It was hard to tell who had the most fun-the Doctor or the children. Michigan-a friend of his normal school days. Two sons and While a t Llissouri he was'active as a director of Y. M. C. A. three daughters have been born to them, all of whom are now activities, and during the World War he worked enthusiastically married except the youngest daughter. An illness suffered two years ago has caused the Doctor to for the support of the social program of the organization in the soldiers' camps. In scientific circles, the AMERICANCHEMICAL curtail much of the strenuous physical activity so familiar to his SOCIETY, Sigma Xi, Phi Lambda Upsilon, Alpha Chi Sigma, and old associates. But that hustling spirit is still in evidence for, Gamma Sigma Delta enlist much of his time and effort. according to his own statement, there are yet many things in life In 1912 Doctor Trowbridge planned the new $100,000 Missouri which he wants to accomplish. This untiring will to be up and University building for agricultural chemistry. This was occu- doing has been the motivating power throughout Doctor. Trowpied in June, 1913, and is called "Schweitzer Hall," in honor of bridge's interesting and varied career, and explains the success his illustrious predecessor, Paul Schweitzer. This building pro- and achievements which are recorded to his credit. It is hoped vides equipment for studies in nutrition, as well as laboratories that the coming years may see other tasks accomplished for his abiding satisfaction. for the strictly chemical work. As a citizen of the community the Doctor is conspicuous for his L. D. HAIGH
NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE X-Ray Study of the Copper End of the Copper-Silver System Editor of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: I t is generally supposed by x-ray crystallographers that the diffraction pattern of an alloy even under the best conditions will not show a constituent unless i t is present to an extent greater than about 1 per cent. A paper was recently published by Drier [IND.ENG.CHEM.,23, 404 (1931)] in which it was claimed that 0.003 per cent silver in copper had been detected, and on this basis the statement was made that silver is insoluble in copper. Even those alloys quenched from 850' C. showed silver lines, and only a sample spectroscopically free from silver failed to develop lines which on measurement were found to agree with those produced by the silver lattice. Since this is in direct disagreement with the microscopic work of Stockdale [Inst. Metals, Adv. Copy No. 559 (March, 1931)] and the writer (paper to be presented to the Am. Inst. Mining Eng., September, 1931), and the x-ray work of Erdal [Avhandlinger Norske Videnskapakademi, Oslo, N o . 12, (1925)], Wienbaum [ Z . Metallkunde, 21,397 (1929)], and Ageew, Hansen, and Sachs [Z. Physik, 66, 350 (1930)], to mention only the more recent investigations, it seems very improbable that such is the case. A simple calculation shows that the diffraction pattern produced by copper with the molybdenum Kg radiation is almost identical with that produced by silver with the K , radiation, and i t is highly probable that Drier mistook such a spectrum for that of silver. He used the standard diffraction apparatus manufactured by the General Electric Company and employed a molybdenum target with a zirconia filter to give monochromatic radiation. The zirconia does not filter out the Kg radiation completely and if a sufficiently long exposure is given, lines due to this wave length will appear with any sample. The lines in Drier's
patterns corresponded to silver with 0.5 per cent contraction dye to copper in solution, which makes the lattice parameter 4.06 A . , giving even closer agreement with the Kg pattern of copper than would otherwise be the case. From Bragg's formula nX = 2d Sin 8 , it is obvious that the angle of diffraction of x-rays by two families of planes of spacing D1 and D Z will be equal if the wave lengths Xi and Xz of the radiation are in the inverse ratio-i. e., hl/X1 = DJDZ. This is exactly what happens in the case of the molybdenum radiation with the copper and silver lattices. The ratio
while the ratio of AoAg = _ 4.0' _ - 1,127 AoCu 3.603 A. the values agreeing within 0.5 per cent Table I-Values d/a
PLANE
Ao = 3.603
111 100 110 331 111(2) 110 ( 2 ) 331 210 211 111(3)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5773 5000 3636 3014 2885 2.500 2292 2234 2040 1923
of Sin 8
SPACING SPACING ----Sin IN Cu, IN Ag, Cu Ao
=
4.06
A.
A.
2.080 1.801 1.274 1.086 1,039 0.9007 0,8258 0 8049 0.7350 0 691'9
2.344 2.030 1.436 1.224 1.171 1 015 0.9306 0.9070 0 8282 0.7807
x=
8 = A/2d---
cu
x =
x""=
0.708
0 631
0.708
0 1702 0.1966 0.2779 0 3260 0 3407 0 3930 0 4287 0 4398 0 4SlCI 0 5109
0.1517 0.1752 0.2476 0.2905 0.3037 0.3503 0.3820
0.1510 0.1744
0.3920
0,4293 0.4553
0.2465
0,2892 0.3023 0.3488 0.3804 0,3903 0 4274 0.4534
Table I shows the values for Sin 8 calculated for the first ten planes of the silver lattice, using the Kg radiation, and the copper lattice using both Kg and K , wave lengths. The Kg radiation
