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we commercialize them so as to supply a large part of our potash demands? The answer lies with the American chemist backed by the American engineer and far-sighted American men of business. E n-h e e r s Find Heaviest Gasoline Most Economical. The burning-question as t o . what fuel gives the mast miles per gallon most satisfactorily when used in American automobiles has been studied by the Society of Automotive Engineers and the results announced by Dr. H. C. ~ i c k i n i o nof the U.S. Bureau of Standards and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One of the conclusions startling t o the average driver is that the ton miles per gallon obtained is independent of the ease with which the gasoline evaporates. The experts, therefore, conclude that the heaviest fuel is the most economical. Other conclusions arrived a t after four years of tests on the part of the U.S. Bureau of Standards, the research department of the Society of Automotive Engineers, ten automobile companies and the petroleum industry, are: "Gasoline consumption is somewhat greater in winter than in summer. "Dilution of crankcase ail is consistently greater the heavier or less volatile the fuel. "Dilution of crankcase oil is much greater in cold weather than in warm. "Small differences in the initial volatility of the fuel have a large effect on engine starting. "Starting performance of the fuel is the quality most readily noted by the driver." Economy dictates the use of as heavy a fuel as possible, Dr. Dickinson explained, but a practical limit in this direction is set by the dilution of crankcase oil and the difficulty in startinp. On accolmt of the lirniring factor of the thinning of the crankcase oil, an extensive s u r w y wns undertaken to determine the methorls of reducing dilutiun. The followinr recommendations were made: Operate with high cylinder wall temperature; reduce the time required to reach normal operating temperature; always use as lean mixtures as practicable; operate with high oil temperature; ventilate the crankcase.-Sckce Semice Chemist Visions Longer Life in Next Half Century. A chemist, Dr. H. P. Cady of the University of Kansas, looked forward fifty years into the future in his vicepresidential address before the chemical section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and this is what he saw: Longer human life due to spectacular advances in the overlapping fields of organic chemistry, physiological chemistry, and medicine. Manufacture of rubber, oil, and other essential industrial materials from chemicals so as t o make man partially independent of natural processes and stores of such substances. Photosynthesis of carbohydrates, such as plants now make, fromnitrogen, water, and carbon dioxide. Metallic materials having almost any desired properties. Transmutation of one element into another with such facility that chemistry students will yawn a t demonstrations. Formation of new theory of constitution of matter to supplant present complex and conflicting theories of atomic structure. Millions of compounds of carbon where only a few hundred thousand are now known. Students taking advantage of prolonged life t o master all the new knowledge of chemistry-Science Service
