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T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
been able to accomplish very little; in fact there is less uniformity a t the present time than there was a few years ago. In this connection I have considered it desirable to review briefly some of the efforts which have been made towards bringing about uniform laws in the different states. As far as I can learn from the records, the first fertilizer law in this country worth considering was enacted by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1869; this proved inadequate for the reason that there was no provision for its execution and was amended in 1873, in which form it remained for a number of years. This served as a model for other states and we find in the early laws a striking similarity to the Massachusetts law. I n the subsequent years additions and changes have been made so that a t the present time the laws in the different states are far from uniform This lack of uniformity does not lie so much in the general principles of the law, but rather in the elaboration of these principles and the mode of expressing the details. The Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, recognizing the disadvantages of having the laws unlike in different states, not only from the standpoint of inspection and analysis but also on account of the hardships imposed on the manufacturers, appointed a committee “on uniform methods of fertilizer control.” A like committee was also appointed by the “Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations.” These committees did a considerabIe amount of work on the subject and finally after consulting with manufacturers drew up a statement of principles which was quite satisfactory to all parties concerned and made a report to the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists a t their Annual Meeting in 1897. This committee was continued as a standing committee, taking up different phases of fertilizer laws, including questions relating t o national legislation, reporting annually to the association. I n 1909, the committee presented to the Association, for their endorsement, a proposed form of National Fertilizer law. This, however, did not meet with their approval, it appearing that there was no necessity for such a law as the different states were prepared t o attend to the inspection work in a satisfactory manner. On a motion of the chairman the committee was discharged and since that time there has been no Committee on Fertilizer Legislation either in the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists or the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations. At the organization of the Fertilizer Division of the American Chemical Society a Committee on Fertilizer Legislation was appointed, which has used its influence against the passage of unwise and unjust laws, but has been unable to accomplish much along the lines of uniform fertilizer legislation. The National Fertilizer Association maintains a legislative committee and points out in their last report the futility of hoping for the adoption of a uniform fertilizer law by the various states a s illustrated by the fact t h a t not a single state has taken the law proposed by the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists as a basis of revision. The most that has been accomplished along the line of uniformity was effected when, about fifteen years ago, some ten of the southern states practically agreed on a uniform law, which was framed by the state chemists and Commissioners of Agriculture in a n Association known as the Cotton States Association of Commissioners of Agriculture. Since this time, however, these states have so modified and amended their laws that there is, at the present time, no more uniformity t h a n i n other parts of the country. From the efforts which have been made and the results attained it would appear t h a t there is little hope of ever having a uniform fertilizer law which will be effective in the different states. The question of federal legislation has been suggested as a means of bringing the individual states in line, i t being argued t h a t if a model law were passed by Congress there would
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be little difficulty in having this enacted by the different states. If this could be effected there is no doubt that manufacturers would favor federal legislation. but there are so many obstacles t o be overcome and so much doubt of ultimate success that they prefer to let the matter stand as it is rather thar, t o take chances in having additional complications in the already complex system of legal requirements, which applies especially t o those who do an interstate business. Notwithstanding the fact that there appears to be no hope of uniform laws there is no doubt that the various committees and organizations, which have been referred to, have done much t o bring about reasonable legislation as well as to maintain some points in common in different state laws. It is to be regretted that any of these committees have been discharged, especially that of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, and I hope a t their next meeting a standing committee may b e appointed to direct our law-makers when a change in the state laws is contemplated. Many fertilizer bills which are presented to the legislatures are drawn by parties who have no knowledge of the fertilizer business or the necessary requirements to safeguard the interests either of the manufacturer or consumer. Often these bills are prompted by some personal grievance and if enacted would work hardships on both manufacturer and It is important, therefore, for those who are interconsumer. ested in fair and impartial legislation and in enactment of uniform laws to work together in an effort t o bring about t h e desired results. Our laws are enacted for the protection of both producer and consumer and it is the duty of our agricultural departments to use their influence, as far as possible, i n behalf of fair and impartial legislation. While it may appear that our committee and the other committees, which have been mentioned, have accomplished little in bringing about uniformity, under the existing conditions, i t is only through organized effort that anything can be accomplished and I am not .only strongly in favor of maintaihing a standing committee in our division, but also of urging the appointment of similar committees in the organizations interested in the welfare of the fertilizer manufacturing and agricultural industries. F. B. CARPENTER,Chairman AMERICAN CHEMICAL JOURNAL TO BE COMBINED WITH THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY The Directors of the American Chemical Society have entered into an agreement with Dr. Ira Remsen, Editor of the American Chemical Journal, whereby, a t the completion of its fiftieth volume, the American Chemical Journal wi!l be discontinued a s a separate publication and will be incorporated from January, 1914, with the Journal of the American Chemical Society. AMERICAN PETROLEUM SOCIETY The American Petroleum Society was organized September Ioth, a t the Experiment Station of the U. S.Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, Pa. This organization is the result of an effort of the Bureau for the past seven years t o bring together the men interested in the petroleum industry. Invitations were sent out in July to the secretaries of twentyfour of the great National Societies of the United States, inviting them to be present and cooperate in this organization. Eighteen of these societies responded a t a meeting on August 1st a t the Bureau of Mines. A similar invitation was sent out in August t o eight additional societies, making a total of thirty-two societies that were invited to attend the September conference. A large number of these were represented when the final organization was completed. This society will concern itself with the study of all phases of natural gases and petroleum, including the origin, statistics,
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T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING CHEiMISTRY
conservation, drilling methods, production, transportation, storage, refining and specifications for refined products. When i t is considered that each year, within the United States alone, there is produced crude petroleum and natural gases having a value in excess of $zoo,ooo,ooo, i t is reasonable to suppose that the future of this society is assured. There is to-day a tremendous waste of natural gases which, by proper methods of drilling, could be prevented. Also there is a great waste of crude oil itself by improper methods of production, since in the fields producing paraffin oils the paraffin is allowed to congeal around the well, sealing in the oil strata and thus preventing the recovery of the oil. The necessity for a critical study of petroleum and gas production and conservation is evident. At the meeting on September roth a t the Bureau of Mines the constitution and by-laws were adopted, and officers were elected as follows: President, c. D. C~AMBERLAIN,National Petroleum Association, ‘Cleveland, 0. V i c e - p r e s i d e n t , R. GALBREATH, Independent Oil and Gas Producers Association of Oklahoma, Tulsa, Okla. Secretary, IRVING C. ALLEN,U. S. Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, Pa. Treasurer, WARRENC. PLATT. Independent Petroleum Marketers’ Association, Cleveland, 0 . Acting Past President. FRANK B. FRETTER,Western Petroleum Refiners’ Association, Coffeyville, Kan. EXGCUTIVE COMMITTEE RALPH ARKOLD, Los Angeles. Cal. EDMUND O’NEILL, Univ. of Cal., C . F. CLARKSON, SOC.Automobile Berkeley Cal. Eng., N. Y . E. B. RICH, Gasoline Producers’ G . M. SWINDELL, Chamber of Mines .4ssoc., Parkersburg, W. Va. GEO. H. TABER,Gulf Refining Co., and Oil, Los Angeles, Cal. Pittsburgh.
The first annual meeting will probably take place in the spring of 1914, and the second annual meeting will be held a t the Panama Pacific Universal Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. A t the 1915 meeting it is hoped that all the petroleum societies in the country will meet in one great congress where many things of interest and of value will be presented. An official invitation has been sent from the president of the Exposition a t San Francisco to the president of the International Petroleum Commission, which convenes in January, 1914, in Bucharest, Roumania, to hold its annual meeting for 1915 in San Francisco. Plans are already being formulated for this great 1915 meeting, which will be part of the great assembly of the petroleum industries of America, where the foremost petroleurn technologists and scientists of the world will congregate. OBITUARY-JULIUS LEWKOWITSCH Dr. Julius Lewkowitsch, consulting and analytical chemist and chemical engineer, of London, England, died September
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16th a t Chamonix, Switzerland, after only a brief illness. Dr. Lewkowitsch was born a t Ostrovo, Prussian Silesia, in 1857. After a brilliant university career a t Breslau, he graduated as Doctor of Philosophy. He carried out a considerable quantity of original investigation under Professor Victor von Richter a t Breslau. Afterwards he took a position under Professor Hans’Landolt in the Chemical Laboratory of the Berlin Agricultural High School, and later was assistant to Professor Victor von Meyer in the University of Heidelberg. During these early years he published much original experimental work on stereochemistry, which was a t that time a new and undeveloped subject . Dr. Lewkowitsch went to England about z 5 years ago and, becoming naturalized, took up the study of the industrial technology of fats and oils. By assiduous labor he achieved the position of one of the foremost authorities on vegetable and animal fats and oils. A large number of processes which are widely employed in the utilization and valuation of these important raw materials were devised by him, and his writings on these subjects are regarded as standard works of reference. He also won a considerable reputation as a chemical engineer, while his linguistic attainments were truly remarkable, for he could converse fluently on scientific subjects in most current European languages, These gifts were placed unstintingly a t the service of the various scientific societies to which he belonged. Dr. Lewkowitsch was a fellow and a past member of the Council of both the London Chemical Society and the Institute of Chemistry, and a,past member of the Council of the Society of Public Analysts. He was a vice-president and a t the time of his decease honorary foreign secretary of the Society of Chemical Industry, He had acted with conspicuous success as chairman of the London Section of this Society and was one of the most active members of the Society’s Publication Committee. He published numerous papers (over I Z O ) on oils, fats and waxes during the last thirty years. His “Chemical Technology and Analysis of Oils, Fats, and Waxes” has passed through four editions as well as appearing in German and French. The first volume of the fifth edition was published on Sept. 4, 1913, and the remaining volumes are now in the press. He also wrote a “Laboratory Companion to Fats and Oils Industries” (English edition, 1901, German edition, 1902), the article “Oils and Fats” in “British Encyclopaedia,” and articles on various oils, and fats in Thorpe’s “Dictionary of Applied Chemistry.” Dr. Lewkowitsch found his chief recreation in mountaineering, being particularly attached to the Swiss ,41ps among which he died. He was married in 1902, and is survived by his widow, a son and a daughter.
N O T 0 AND CORRJSPONDENCE.
ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE RATIO OF LIME TO MAGNESIA ON PLANTS Editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: In THIS JOL~RN-~L, 5,564, a second article by P. L. Gile and C. N. Ageton appeared concerning the lime-factor, but no convincing evidence was brought forward to show that my objections (THIS JOURNAL, 5 , 2 5 7 ) to their first article would not be tenable. In New York, last October, I received full information about the calcareous soils near Ponce from Mr. Ried, former auditor of the Guanica Co. in Porto Rico. He stated that these soils must receive a very heavy dressing of pen manure in order to produce a moderate harvest of cane. Also the proprietor of the Mercedita Cane plantation near Ponce stated to me, on inquiry by letter, that his cane soil receives heavy doses of pen manure. Pen manure, however, is relatively rich in lime and magnesia.
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As regards the pineapple plant, it is a lime-loving plant in Florida, but even if i t would not be so in other countries this plant can precipitate the excess of lime absorbed abundantly as oxalate. I would like to know those gramineae which can accomplish that in the same measure as pineapple or citrus. I have never stated that soils with a very unfavorable ratio of lime t o magnesia should be corrected to the standard ratio, but I have repeatedly pointed out that such soils should be improved by adding one or the other as the case may demand, as far as practicable. See Lendw Jahrbucher, 1910,1008. I have further never stated that the lime-magnesia ratio in the soil would also be found in every part of the plant. It is a well established fact that seeds show a ratio of mineral nutrients quite different from that of leaves. In seeds, the amount of magnesia exceeds that of lime while in leaves just the reverse
