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INDUSTRIAL A S D E.VGINEERI.VG CHEMISTRY
stalks, thereby simplifying the problem of corn-harvesting and reducing the present cost of 7 cents a bushel for cornhusking. The threatened necessity for completely removing stalks from the surface of a field in an effort t o defeat the corn borer is a new factor favoring collection. Many views are held as to the possibility of doing all these things on a commercial basis. The question is not so much whether the products claimed can be produced from corn, or from any other source of cellulose. The real point is whether or not money can be made by such operations. Pros and cons may be presented by enthusiasts, but the only real answer is a practical demonstration. We are promised such a demonstration through the medium of a 10-ton pilot plant, the site for which has been selected, and we understand that plans for its erection are progressing. Ten tons of cellulose per day will give a quantity with which factory-scale experiments can be made to determine the uses for which it is suited. There will be an opportunity to prove the efficiency of the harvesting machinery and to try out on the highways the economical hauling of baled stalks. Fortunately, all this is to be done with the money of a group supporting the project with their eyes wide open. No effort is to be made to interest the public generally until sufficient data have been obtained on large-scale operations to back up statements as to possible profits and to answer the questions in the minds of all doubters. It is profoundly to be hoped that in the interim the interest aroused through the publicity given these proposals will not be exploited by blue-sky salesmen. We think one further point should be kept in mind-that while it may prove possible to manufacture many tons of cellulose from cornstalks, and while thousands of other tons may find their way into wall boards and boards to compete with straw board, such developments, honTever important, cannot be looked upon as a solution of the much discussed farm problem. Such industries would unquestionably help a number of farmers, but it seems idle to speak of their importance in terms of all the cornstalks that are grown or any considerable portion of them. The market surely is not ready to absorb wall board a t a rate of 5 or 6 tons per capita annually in the United States, nor are the numerous outlets for cellulose materials great enough to consume all the cellulose that might be made from such a tonnage. Scientists have long since ceased to be prophets, for they know that the impossible is achieved almost daily. So far as cellulose is concerned we shall make no prophecy, but instead urge conservatism and an inquiring state of mind until circumstances permit a detailed technical discussion of what is involved and doubts are answered by demonstration.
More Methanol N T H E manufacture of butanol by the fermentation of Ihydrogen corn a large volume of gas is generated-a mixture of and carbon dioxide. It has long been known in technical circles that the Commercial Solvents Corporation proposed t o make the most of this waste hydrogen in the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen, and a plant which proved capable of producing 100 per cent above its rated capacity was erected and operated for this purpose. However, this involved wasting a considerable volume of carbon dioxide and research was undertaken to use both hydrogen and carbon dioxide for the manufacture of methanol. So far as we know, the first commercial plant to prepare pure synthetic methanol by catalytic reaction between hydrogen and carbon dioxide is now in operation under this company’s management and the volume of American-made synthetic methanol has been trebled by this procedure. This is a neat piece of work, which enables the company to manu-
Vol. 19, No. 7
facture either ammonia or methanol as markets and other conditions may require. It is to be congratulated upon the successful outcome of research which has led to a group of patents for the protection of this novel process. ii reduction in waste has been accomplished and a new source of supply for an important solvent found. Doubtless we can look for further progress as a result of additional work still in the stage of incomplete research.
An Important Accession HE statement of Judge Gary that the United States Steel Corporation has decided to undertake an important program of research brings a most encouraging accession to the ranks of those industries which have science upon their payrolls. For years the steel industry has been pointed out as one depending for its financial success more upon tonnage and marvelous mechanical devices than upon fundamental research. The apparent lack of interest in scientific work of the United States Steel Corporation in particular has, in fact, hindered the complete alliance between industry and science which many regard as so important to American industry. This restraining influence is now to disappear. This great corporation is to set u p what appears to be an ideal organization for its purposes. The finance committee is to be the supreme authority and under its auspices there has been established a Department of Research and Technology. The director of this department is John Johnston, for some time past the chairman of the Department of Chemistry at, Yale and a man promiCHEJ~ICAL SOCIETY. nent in the activities of the AMERICAN Dr. Johnston is to have the advice and assistance of an executive council made u p in part of leading scientists in this country and in part of men from the subsidiary companies of the Steel Corporation. Titles and organization may be shifted to meet situations as they arise, but it is intended to utilize to the full the skill, experience, enthusiasm, and energy of the present employees of the various companies of the corporation in initiating and promoting work to secure the best results. In discussing industrial research we, in common with others, have frequently stressed the cardinal points of successful achievement. These include the choice of a competent director of the work. His training and experience, his achievements as a scientist, his administrative ability, his tact, diplomacy, and courage lead us to venture the opinion that in Dr. Johnston the finance committee has selected an ideal man for this post. Another requisite is adequate financing. Judge Gary says that, while the corporation has ‘‘no money to waste intentionally, we have money t o expend if necessary.” ‘As for facilities, “we intend to give him the tools to enable him to work most successfully.” No decisions have as yet been made with respect to new laboratories. Recommendations as to general policy will not be made until after the new director and the executive council have had an opportunity t o visit the main plants and laboratories of the subsidiary companies to receive and consider suggestions from the men familiar with the industry. As for continuity of work, “we aim to establish and maintain a Department of Research and Technology.” John E. Teeple coined the phrase “patient money,” and we all know the importance of that attribute. Many research projects bravely begun have come to naught through the impatience of the money. It is therefore gratifying to read in Judge Gary’s statement to the research committee of the corporation: “We do not expect you can go along a t a very rapid rate to begin with, or perhaps a t any time, but we will have the patience, as you must all have patience. Remember
July, 1927
INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEAfISTRY
so far as discovering anything new or making any new suggestions is concerned, although the work will he done in a methodical way, every one of you has a very big responsibility and we think it will not be so very long-and I do not measure time by months or years-before yciu will have justified our decision in starting this department.” Another essential is the choice of a sufficient number of important problems, and we all know that in such a vast industry so many problems must exist as to afford a long list from which to make careful selections. We rejoice in the decision of the Steel Corporation, its director has our best wishes, and the progress of the work will be follon-ed with keen interest. K e predict a successful outcome.
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Unnecessary Hazards
E SUBSCRIBE to these principles: First, the purchaser is entitled to know what he buys, particularly where health may be involved; second, when there is an approved harmless process established, mere price considerations do not justify assuming even a slight risk; and third, if the question of a hazard enters, the burden of proof should rest with those offering the new method and should not involve the expenditure of public funds Lead costs approximately one-tenth as much as tin, and this has been a factor in the adoption of a method for the weighting of silk in which tin-lead phosphate is the raw material rather than tin tetrachloride. The lead becomes fixed in the fiber as lead oxide, lead phosphate, or some combination of the two. Besides being a much cheaper process, silk weighted with lead salts seems to deteriorate more slowly than silk weighted with tin. There are some disadvantages. For instance, some of the lead is extracted in the benzene baths used by dry-cleaners and is ready to combine with the sulfur which may be brought into the baths in wool. The dry-cleaners have already had some difficulty, since they are not familiar n-ith all the characterisFics of the garments they treat; an occasional white flannel suit has been both cleaned and turned gray in one operation. Lead-weighted fabrics are also sensitive to the hydrogen sulfide in the air and the lighter shades turn dark on exposure and may eventually turn almost black. Fancy what comments may be made concerning the dye and the dyer when this takes plare, and think how many laundry owners and dry-cleaners, without a chemist to make an adequate defense, will make settlement for damage laid to them rather than risk the anger of a dissatisfied cpstorner! I t iq doubtful whether the real culprit will be apprehended and trouble is made all along the line because some one, for an initial price advantage, puts a process into practice without giving thought to all the ills that may be inrolved. Although scientists generallv agree that lead poiqoning is clue more to inhalation or ingestion of lead duqtj, cases of poisoning from the free application of lead plaster have been reported. Much of the lead-weighted silk finds its may into rommerce in undermar and it is a question whether lead in silk on coming into contact with the various secretions of the skin might not be ahqorbed to some extent. fclr it is found that such silk treated with 3 per cent acetic acid a t body temperature does lose some of the weighting material. I t must also be remembered that lead is a cumulative poison and. while the hazard may be slight, individuals mho might question the desirability of wearing a lead-weighted garment should he given the facts and allowed to make their own decision. At first thought this would seem to be a prohlem for the Public Health authorities, but it is hardly fair to ask the public to pay for an investigation the outcome of which concerns first and foremost those engaged in the business of weighting
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silks. The public is not endangered by tin-weighted silks, and it seems clear to us that if such investigations were to be made some other than the public treasury should bear the expense. The difficulty of the problem is apparent, for all silks are not weighted to the same degree. They are not subjected to the same number or kinds of laundering operations, are not worn for equal periods or under the same conditions by various indiriduals and, what is even more disconcerting, individual idiosyncrasies must be considered. Speaking for ourselves, if we must have weighted silks, me prefer a tin shirt to a lead one, and Tye think our fellow sufferers should be given the information and the opportunity to choose for themselves. In particular, we protest the unnecessary exposure of the public to a potential hazard, the existence of which is not dictated by any fundamental c o n d e r ation.
Science in the Saddle HOSE representative. of the chemical industry who during the past several yeirs have come in contact with J. 11. Doran look upon his appointment as Prohibition Commissioner as a promising sign that legitimate industry will be guaranteed minimum annoyance in securing adequate supplies of the chemical raw material, alcohol. At the same time those who are more concerned with law enforcement than with any industrial consideration feel confident that Dr. Doran’s attitude regarding the Eighteenth Amendment, and his appreciation of the complex difficulties arising from the enforcement of the lams relating thereto, give promise of an administration as nearly satisfactory to them as popular opinion mill a t present permit. For all concerned, therefore, we feel that the promotion of this chemi4 to his present place of authority not only is deserved but is a wise step on the part of the Administration. It has been our privilege to work for days at a time in groups representing extremists of both factions and to see examples of straight thinking and courageou.: decisions by Dr. Doran in his capacity as chief chemist of the Unit. With the cooperation of his professional colleagues which the present Prohibition Commisqioner has a right to expect, the law-abiding chemical induqtry may look forward to the development of conditions which, in contrast with the past, will help rather than interfere with its legitimate operations.
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Discovery
ONE students of invention believe that world develop-
ment leads to conditions which practically force into being discoveries that are needed for a continuation of progress. While many inventions are perfected in advance of their need, others seem to appear in plenty at just the right time. Many examples may be cited, including the wellknown fact that the applications of hlt.xander Graham Bell arrived a t the Patent Office a scant five hours before those of another inventor covering practically the same ground. The records of the Patent Office testify t o the frequency with which applications are made to patent the same thing independently discovered by many other inventors. These numerous examples raise the question whether the inventor‘s success does not involve a large element of luck in being the first of many applicants t o obtain the basic patent in an age conducive to the development of geniu?. This is brought t o mind by the similarity between the method suggested by Mr. Bond in our May issue and one published by H. L. Payne, of our Lo, ;Ingeles Section, in 1892. We print in this issue a note from Mr. Bond on the subject. This is a clear case of independent discovery, which of course may occur in chemistry as well as in the other sciences and the arts.
