Sept., 1 9 1 9
T H E J O U R N A L O F I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGTNEERING C H E M I S T R Y
laboratory a t Georgetown is one of the best equipped which the writer has ever visited. A tropical laboratory, being far removed from the manufacturing centers of apparatus, must of necessity be more selfdependent than laboratories which are more fortunately situated, and this is particularly true in the making of repairs. To mend a platinum dish and to blow an absorption bulb are among the lost arts for most ‘chemists, yet they have become by necessity commonplace operations for Professor Harrison and his competent staff of assistants. The overhauling and repairing of balances, polariscopes, and other apparatus which are used a t mines or plantations is also a part of the work of the government laboratory. As regards polariscopes, microscopes, and other optical instruments, the necessity of repairs is not due so much t o breakage as to a tropical mold, the mycelia of which will etch and corrode the calcite prisms or glass lenses unless immediately removed. The growth of this mold is due to the excess of moisture in the air, which, as Professor Harrison pointed out, condenses upon the surfaces of the glass or calcite and carries with it from the air enough of the sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and ammonium salts to act as an excellent nutritive medium for the growth of microorganisms. Manufacturers of apparatus for the tropics have unfortunately not taken into account the peculiar needs of tropical conditions. Polariscopes, spectroscopes, and other apparatus are shipped with their lenses and prisms so encased in protective devices, that the parts which require most attention are made the least accessible. As an example of this Professor Harrison pointed out a German saccharimeter with a specially designed tropical protective equipment of great complexity which was worse than useless, for the compartments which held the analyzer and polarizer became in reality inaccessible moisture chambers, especially suited for the development of fungi. In contrast with this instrument Professor Harrison took from his cabinet two French saccharimeters which had successfully withstood the effects of the tropics for over 35 years. The instruments were so designed that their parts were readily accessible and he dissected one of them completely in a few minutes without removing a screw or using a tool, all the parts slipping or screwing easily into place. With such an instrument it is easy to remove the lenses and prisms for cleaning or for placing in desiccators during periods of non-use; accessibility of parts and the employment of glass which will not devitrify under tropical conditions of heat and humidity are two chief requisites which manufacturers should consider in designing apparatus for tropical use. Professor Harrison spoke of the immense and most attractive field of research which awaits the chemist who cares t o investigate the gums, resins, waxes, alkaloids, glucosides, essential oils, and other organic constituents of the numerous tropical plants that have as yet remained unstudied. But researches of this kind must belong to the future. In his own pioneer investigations Professor Harrison very wisely selected the agricultural, mining, industrial, and hygienic problems which were of most pressing importance t o his colony. For variety, scope, and economic value his 30 years of scientific work in British Guiana form a record without parallel and one of which a general paper of this kind can give but a fragmentary and imperfect picture. Professor Harrison has been a member of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL Socmm for 25 years and it is a satisfaction to its members t o know that he has accomplished so considerable a part OS his scientific work during the time of this connection. His American confrQes extend t o him on the occasion of this twenty-fifth anniversary their heartiest congratulations and best wishes. NEWYORKSUGAR TRADE LABORATORY, INC. 80 SOUTX STREET, N E W YORKCITY
881
CHEMICAL LITERATURE’ By HARVEY F. MACK
Chemical literature made its first appearance in Easton about thirty years ago, when Dr. Edward Hart brought out his first issue of the Journal of Analytical and Applied Chemistry. This journal, while small in number of pages-about 32 pages per issue-immediately gained favor and was readily sold. To-day unbound issues of it are unobtainable. The present journal of the SOCIETY was printed in New York in 1892 and prior thereto, but in 1893 the printing and distribution of our journal, then a comparatively small affair, was undertaken by Dr. Hart, and his Journal of Analytical and Applied Chemistry was discontinued a few months later. Its continuous issue a t this postoffice has been uninterrupted ever since. With the appearance of two chemical journals, Easton became a center for chemical literature. Easton had no other chemical journals until 1895,when Dr. Hart secured the printing of Dr. Ira Remsen’s American Chemical Journal. While manufactured in Easton and essentially one of our products of chemical Iiterature, it was not mailed a t this postoffice, but was shipped by express to Baltimore and mailed from Johns Hopkins University. It was produced in Easton continuously until merged with the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 1914. While it deserved and enjoyed a place of merit in the family of chemical journals, it never gained a large circulation, but did have a small and select one. The largest edition printed did not exceed 750 copies with an average of IOO pages per issue.
F r o I-Above: Vehicle required to transport one month’s issue of chemical literature in 1893. Below: Motor trucks required to transport one month’s issue in 1919
7897 brought the Journal of Physical Chemistry here. It was then and is still printed here but shipped t o Cornel1 University for distribution. It has an average of 500 copies of 90 pages for g numbers per volume. The next journal t o come to town was the Journal of tke American Leather Chemists’ Association. This, compared with our journal, is an infant, but yet occupies a necessary piace in its chosen field. The monthly average is 650 copies of about 50 pages. In I907 the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY started the first volume of Chemical Abstracts, issued semi-monthly. We, of course, know that this is the largest journal of its kind in the world. The year 1909 saw the first issue of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Ckemisky. This journal, issued monthly, is a peer in chemical literature. One of the latest arrivals in Easton is the JoumaZ of the Amem’can Pharmaceutical Association. The first issue of this journal was published here in 1917. This is the official organ of the 1 Address before the Lehigh Valley Section of the American Chemical Society, at Easton, Pa.,April 18, 1919.
882
7'WE J O U R X d L OF I A V D C S T R I A L Ah'D EZ;GISEEXI.VL' CH,?SlI.STKY
American l'liurmaccutical Association. It lrns a monthly circiilatiou o i 3,mo copies of an a\-cragc of I 16 i>ages. This association also issues a ycaibook containing reports o i i t h e progress of pharmacy. If is a bound voliime of 3,ooo copios to the number of from 600 to i j o pases, and has been i~siietlfrom F:aston with one eaceptioii ior the past five yvars.
Fro Z--Book ~n k i f IS one month'> m u e of cnernicai hteralwe z n 18Y3 B o d on right illiistratcs size of volume rvhtih would be required to issue one mooth'n ehemKaI btrrrfure to-dny
Last year the Ariiericaii Ceramic Society, ahich .ilndy\ Issued thex proceedings and papers in a yearbook, started their monthly ]oumal Vol I had an editron of I,)lw~copiCsof an average of 84 pages per issue. Vol. XI, 19x9, has Jumped to 2,000 copies with a tendency t o increase the iiumber of pages The latest babies to arriv Academy of Sczcncc atid the
printing of periodicals Ilaston is now known among the institutions of learning as B chemical printing center, and thiq draws many orders for university degre textbooks Close to a hundred of theses teutbooks are issued annually. QUANTITY PRODUCTION
The production of such a vast amount of literature entails the use of considerable tonnage of paper stock Some may not Sense the resources and to %hatextent they must he utilized zu order to get ISaston's present production of chemical literature into the hands of the reader. The employees of our pastofice, however, arc very intimately acquainted wzth its physical proportions Some of the monthly requirements arc as io1 lows Between 3'12 and 4 million ems of machine composition, 3 , hours ~ hand composition, I , ~ , O O D press impressions, 3 5 0 , sheets ~ to be iolded, 40,pounds paper stock These figures are not esfimatcd but are compiled from records ey are very conservative and I am positive are under the actual production They cover only the chemic81 penodsals The inclusion Qf th and textbooks would probably add another 2 5 pe COMPARISON WITA PREVIOUS YEARS
It might be interesting to compare some of the those of thirty yean ago When the first issues of Dr Hart's Journal o.f A
V d
11.
So g
APPlird Chemislry were produced it was set by hand with foundry typc. T h supply o i sorts was limited and not over 4 pages 0% aliout tlic sire of om presenl Jounzel of the .4meriialz Ciremicnl Sndeiy were set and then printed, 2 a t a timc. In fact, occasiom were rare indeed when there was enoughtype oi all kindsill thecase to set four pages without turning fhe letters. This turning oi the letters was a treaehcrous practice in the siioDs oi the olden days and involved many ~n annoying emor. Should four pages use a greater nunibcr of a certain letter than usual, the compositor, iii order to finish to a certain point, would use another letter of the same width and turn it upside down. This, in the prod, makes a rectangular black mnik oi the same dimensions as the body of the lype nnd is readily seen. When ather pages, which had been previously set and printed were distributed back into the case, these "turned letters" were removed and the correct characters substituted. You can readily see what was unless careful proofreading was exercised. 1x1 those was a luxury and the printer usually depended on the , After these iour pages d and another set of four e 9 x IZ and the press was "kicked." a. e., mi
S e p t . , 1919
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
when it came to town, was printed on a small power press four pages a t a time on a sheet 1 2 x 18. In 1893 our journal averaged 60 pages per issue of 500 to 7 0 0 copies per month; the weight mailed per month did not exceed 100 pounds. Contrast this with 40,000 pounds per month to-day. One government sack a t that time held the total month’s subscriptions to the first issue. To-day we need ten two-ton trucks to deliver Easton’s monthly quota of chemical literature to the post office and railroad trains.
I
883
The first issue of the journal contained 60 pages, the type of which was 4 x 6l/*. A journal similar in page size to contain all the chemical literature issued now in one month from Easton would have to comprise 2,000 pages. Chemical Abstracts states there are throughout the world 789 journals which contain a t one time or another papers bearing on chemical subjects, but for strictly chemical literature, I am persuaded Easton leads. EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA
FOREIGN INDUSTRIAL NEWS
1
By A. MCMILLAN, 24 Westend Patk St., Glasgow, Scotland
THE BUCKINGHAM BULLET
VACUUM ARRESTERS
One of the incendiary bullets used against Zeppelins during the war was that invented b y Mr. J. I?. Buckingham, of Dover Street, Coventry. Soon after the war broke out he devoted himself to the production of a small incendiary shell to be fired from rifles and machine guns, and decided on phosphorus as the basis of his incendiary composition. A form of construction he patented early in 1915consisted of a roll of fine metal gauze, forming a kind of wick and saturated with phosphorus, which was enclosed in a hollow projectile with a hole in the base. In the same patent was also suggested the provision of a side outlet in the bullet, whereby the contents of the latter were protected against the propellant by the barrel of the gun during the passage of the projectile down the barrel. Later the charge of phosphorus was mixed with a small quantity of metal dust and was enclosed in a hollow bullet, sealed a t the base with a metal plug. The outlet hole passed through the plug and was sealed b y a lead diaphragm which was broken down on firing and thus allowed the phosphorus composition to emerge. In a still later design the bullet consisted of a cupronickel envelope, having two hardened lead plugs inserted. One of these was serrated, and the second, acting as a base plug, was tapered a t its front end, thus formitlg an annular space, communicating with a side hole in the envelope, this hole being sealed with a fusible alloy which melted on firing. The base of the bullet was spun over and sealed by a special process. When the bullet was fired the phosphorus composition melted and ran down the serrations in the first lead plug into the annular space formed round the front of the second lead plug, whence it was ejected through the side hole in the envelope, igniting spontaneously on coming into contact with the air.
Particulars of vacuum arresters for protecting telephone and telegraph installations and their users against high-tension discharges, whether due to atmospheric conditions, such as lighting or to the effects of neighboring power circuits, are given in a pamphlet sent by Messrs. Siemens Bros. and Co. It is claimed for this form of arrester that, owing to the opposing conductors being enclosed in a partial vacuum, they may be relied upon to break down a t about 300 volts (R. M. S. value of alternating potential), so that all dangerous voltages are excluded from the line. The vacuum is designed to carry a current sufficiently great and of sufficient duration to blow fuses having a capacity higher than those usually employed in telephone or telegraph work. An insulation resistance of approximately 3,000 megohms is maintained right up to the point of breakdown. Owing to the relatively large separation of the electrodes permitted by the use of a vacuum chamber they do not become welded together with heavy discharges, nor have they to be renewed after discharge, though a damaged arrester can be readily removed and replaced by a new one. Being contained in a hermetically sealed vacuum chamber the appliance, besides being highly sensitive, is also protected against dust, damp, and insects.
FLOATING TOOL HOLDER In reaming operations some form of tool holder is required to hold the reamers in such a manner that they will be free to float and line up with the hole being reamed while under the twisting strain of cutting. In a .tool holder designed by Messrs. Netherwood and Co. (Limited), Turnbridge, Huddersfield, England, friction is reduced by employing steel balls to give a rolling movement to the various parts; consequently an axial displacement between the shank and the socket may easily be made by the reamer when it enters the hole to be reamed. Four balls are employed, set in grooves a t right angles, these grooves being cut in the ends of shank and socket and also in each side of a centerpiece and when the balls are in position sufficient clearance is given to allow of axial movement in all directions and also a swiveling movement on each set of balls. The weight of the reamer shank is supported with a spring, which may be adjusted to bring it into an approximate central position. The shanks are made either parallel or No. 3 Morse taper, the latter being more suitable for center lathes or drilling machines, while the reamers are held either in split parallel bored bushes or in a No. 4 Morse taper socket.
ZIRCONIA During the past three years, the exports of zirconia from Brazil have increased from 86,295 kilos to 2,141,182kilos. The greater part of the mineral is sent to the United States while Great Britain takes about one-quarter of the total. A summary of the literature on zirconia and its uses is given in an article by A. Granger in the Moniteur Scientifique, January 1919. Among the chief minerals mentioned are the Brazilian deposits of zirkite and baddelegite, the former a complex silicate, discovered in the state of St. Paul. The working-up of the various minerals which are all compounds of zirconia and other oxides with silica can be effected by the aid of hydrofluoric or sulfuric acids or acid sulfates, by fusion with alkalies or by transforming the zirconia into a carbide. An often troublesome impurity is iron oxide which can partly be extracted by acids. The extraction is, however, incomplete and stands in the way of a much attempted utilization of zirconia as a medium for rendering fluxes of glass and enamel opaque The minerals and zirconia are not satisfactory as abrasives on account of the difficulty of finding a suitable binder and this also prevents its use as a refractory material for which it is otherwise excellently suited. The author of the paper gives an account of his work with powdered zircon and also of his attempts to prepare zirconia crucibles and resistance furnaces. It is noteworthy that considerable economy was effected in a steel works in Westphalia by lining open hearth furnaces with zirconia bricks in spite of the high price. A lining was found t o last eight months and was only one-half the thickness of the best firebricks. Zirconia bricks are, however, attacked by fluorides and acid sulfates. Tar was used as a binder.
