April, 1927
Ih'DUSTRIdL A N D ENGIXEERING CHEMISTRY
Laboratory First Aid YEAR ago in a laboratory accident an experimenter A suffered severe corrosive chemical burns. S o one in the laboratory knew the proper emergency treatment, and this led the father of the sufferer, a physician and an officer in the U. S. Medical Reserve Corps, to become interested in firstaid treatment for the specific burns and poisonings which might result in laboratory work. Such information as could be found was scattered and incomplete. For example, where the antidote was given the strength of the solution to be employed was sometimes omitted. When this situation was brought to our attention it seemed evident that correct information on the treatment of accidents, corrosive burns, and poisonings peculiar to laboratories should be compiled and made available in the form of a laboratory emergency chart. We learned that H. R. Moody was already collecting information and that the Fisher Scientific Company was interested in the publication of such a chart as one of the activities of its Technical Service Department. Professor Pierce, chairman of the Committee on Safeguards a t the College of the City of New York, and his staff have cooperated with Professor Moody and his assistants, with the result that a list of accidents, corrosions, and poisonings likely to occur in laboratories has been compiled. Dr. Alexander 0. Gettler, toxicologist for the medical examiner's office of New York City, has assisted in thoroughly determining the treatment of each case, the antidotes with the proper strength of solution to be employed, ctc. Several physicians requested that suggestions for their guidance be included, since no practicing physician or ambulance surgeon could be expected t o be familiar with the wide range of reagents employed in various laboratories and the effect of these reagents, as u7ell as the details of treatment. Such suggestions have been provided by Dr. Gettler and are embodied in the chart. This laboratory emergency chart is now completed and is ready for distribution without charge to any bona fide laboratory. Requests for copies should be sent to the Fisher Scientific Company, Technical Service Department, Pittsburgh, Pa. Those who have given their effort, time, and money to collect and verify this valuable information and t o put it a t the disposal of laboratories have been prompted by purely humanitarian reasons-their desire to do what was possible to prevent suffering and perhaps save life. Chemists generally will appreciate this service and we are glad to be among the first to express our gratitude.
Chromium HROAIIURI has long been recognized as a metal important in times of peace and strategic in times of war, but of late its repeated appearance in an improved or new industrial development has led to some inquiry regarding available supplies of ores. Chrome iron and steel and, more recently, the stainless steel type of alloy have required an amount of the metal insignificant in comparison with what may be required for those new types of alloys which are finding so large a use in the chemical industry. Some of these which show the best service under extreme acid conditions contain as much as 17 per cent chromium and with new developments now surging forward promise to be used in large quantities, whole towers being constructed of the alloy. There is also every promise of an extended use of chromium plate. The tangled patent situation and the form of royalties demanded are believed by some to be retarding influences, but the obvious advantages of chromium as a protective coating are such as to augur well for the future of this type
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of plating and its accompanying demand upon chromium resources. The largest demand, however, appears to be for chromite brick, now used in open-hearth furnaces. This has come primarily from an effort to find a material more satisfactory than magnesite, with the result that cheaper and better monolithic open-hearth furnace bottoms are now made with chromite brick and a special chromium cement. According to the Bureau of Mines, these large demands have increased the apparent domestic consumption of chromite 82 per cent since 1921. The total production of chromite, containing 30 per cent or more of chromic oxide, in the United States from 1845 to 1925 was 577,404 long tons. In 1925 shipments of domestic chromite, containing 45 per cent or more of chromic oxide, totaled only 108 long tons. However, there seems to be no reason for alarm, for in the same year imports reached 149,739 long tons, the ore coming principally from southern Rhodesia. Deposits there and elsewhere assure the world's consumers a sufficient reserve for many years. While domestic sources come far from supplying domestic needs, it is comforting to know that there appears to be ample chromite available in the world and that further developments in corrosion-resisting materials need not be impeded through fear of an early shortage.
Other Worlds OT long ago the secretary of one of the distinguished geographic societies publicly lamented the fact that so few quarters of the globe remained unexplored that he was finding difficulty in providing programs of exploration for those who were prepared to undertake such work. Of course there are many square miles upon which no white man has ever looked, but the secretary doubtless had in mind expeditions of such magnitude as would merit the effort of the men prepared to undertake them. Contrast this situation with the opportunities which lie before those who work in the fields of the natural sciences. I n looking backward we find ample justification for a certain amount of pride in what it has been given men to learn concerning not only our own little earth but the whole universe. A working knowledge has been acquired of some few fundamental laws and principles and a great way has been traversed in systematizing and elaborating our knowledge of the stuff of which the earth is made. If we face about, however, and take stock, we may become discouraged with our lack of knowledge of the needs that loom large. Our paucity of knowledge in some branches of biology, biochemistry, and chemotherapy is appalling. Of the thousands of organic compounds that have been prepared, only a few have been investigated with respect to their possible relations to life processes and millions more remain to be synthesized and studied. Even in the inorganic field the opportunities for constructive work are very great, while between chemistry and many other sciences lie borderlands which have long awaited intensive cultivation. The look ahead would be actually discouraging but for the confidence which past achievements engender and the belief of the scientist that the problem which has so far resisted attack will be sure to yield when continuously supported research brings reenforcements-increased knowledge, iniproved technic, and more suitable apparatus. Such discoveries as that of a new cathrode ray by W. D. Coolidge open a t once an entirely new field for investigation besides providing a new tool for research. Those who seek other worlds to conquer need only devote their talents to Chemistry, physics, and biology, where tasks large and small, and all worthy of their best efforts, may be found in abundance.
