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A. C. LANGMUIR ESTABLISHES AWARD FOR FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH According to the .lownnl gf the Anzerian Chemical Socicfy the proposal of D R . A. C. LANGMUIR, Hastings-on-Hudson, New York,outlined in the following letter, was accepted by the directors o l the society a t their rnecting in New York on January 9 last, and the president was requested to appoint a committee of three t o formulate plans for the administration of the award with the understanding that it he placed for the first time a t the Septemher, 1931, meeting of the society.
Dear Dr. Parsons:
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CONTEMPORARY NEWS
bution. of individual members. It ir as a n individual member, therelore, t h a t I propose. with your approval, to initiate this American Chemical Society Lecture in Pure Science. As 1 look at i t n o w I would not care to endow such a program, but would undertake t o keep if mnninl: a few years. T o place i t definitely before you, I wotlld agree to give t h e Society $1000.00 now for o IS131 award and t h e same sum next year for a IT32 award. If successful. I believe t h a t I should ibr
. ~ ~ , . . ~ ~ B ~ ~ O U G , . use
rbr
huildins his lilxrry or for travel abroad visiting o l h w workers in his field. . . . . . . . . . . . Should the Society accept m y oBer I feel t h a l it would thcrelly Lo some extent accept 1 1 1 ohligation for the future, which rhould give il t h e right to lreely mggesf any aiferalions in thir plan which it thinks for the best. Sincerely yours, isirned) A. C. L ~
~ ~ h t l i l r
ANDREW W. AND RICHARD B. MELLON RECEIVE A. I. C. AWARD On March 24, the occasion of the seventy-sixth birthday of ANDREW W. MELL O N , the American Institute of Chemists announced the award of its medal jointly to Mr. Mellon and his brother, R I ~ I A R D B. MELLON,lor distinguished service to the scienc~and profession of chemistry. DR. FREDERICK E. BREITIIUT, president of the American Institute of Chemists and head of the department of chemistry a t the Brooklyn College, in making . the announcement, said: "The Institute medal is awarded annually for distinguished and outstanding services to the science and profession of chemistry. Andrcw W. Mellon and Richard B. Mellon have contributed to the advancement ol chemistry in its broadest aspects and have fostered the progress of industry by their far-secing and unselfish efforts. Through the agency of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Rrsearch they have been leaders in the great fonvard march of the American chemical industry. "The Mellon Institute has made not only great industrial discoveries which have created new industries and strength-
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ened old ones, but has also provided a body of trained scientific investigators who have contributed t o consolidatina - America's position in the scientific and technical world. The Mellon Institute is the West Point of our industrial system, assisting the United States to attain and hold its foremost position amongst the industrial nations of the world. "The MeUon brothers in making this program possible have contributed to the advancement of science and technology, have made i t possible for the profession of chemistry to rise t o its powerful position in our industrial system and have given chemists numberless opportunities t o serve the country and to secure professional advancement. "A project to which Mr. Andrew W. MeUon is now devoting his interest is the establishment in Washington of the National Institute of Health, which is t o be operated for medical and chemical, and general scientific research in connection with the Department of Public Health. This Institute will be devoted primarily to a study of the causes and prevention of disease and is altogether likely t o achieve as much for the advancement of American health as the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research has achieved in the advancement of American chemistry, technology, and industry." The first award of the medal of The American Institute of Chemists was made in 1929 t o MR. and MRS. FRANCIS P. GARVAN. M R . GEORGE EASTMAN received it in 1930.
H. C. FOGG WINS BAKER ANALYTICAI. FELLOWSHIP The J. T. Baker Chemical Company Research Fellowship in Analytical Chemistry, Midwest Division, 1931-32, has been awarded to MR. H. C. Focc, formerly instructor in chemistry a t the University of New Hampshire. He will work a t the University of Michigan under the dircction of DR. H. H. WILLARD.
MAY, 1931
DR. DUGGAN APPOINTED TO LEAGUE OF NATIONS SW-COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS DR. S T E P ~P.NDZTDDAN, director of the Institute of International Education, originally chairman of the educational committee of the League of Nations Association and still active in this committee's work, has been appointed a member of the League of Nations' Sub-committee of Experts for the Instruction of Youth in thr Aims and Organization of the League of Nations. This is a subcommittee of the League's International Committee on Intellectual Cohperation, of which S m GILBERT MURRAY is president. Dr. Duggan's appointment was made by the council of the League of Nations which met in January a t Geneva. MIS?. H ELEN CLARKSON MILLER, present chairman of the educational committee of the League of Nations Association and headmistress of the Spence School in New York, was named as substitute for Dr. Duggan in the event he should be unable to attend some of the subcommittee's meetiugs. Among the educational experts from other countries serving on this sub-committee are: GIUSEPPEGALLAVRESI from Italy, professor of history a t the University of Milan, author of historical works and assessor for education a t Milan; INAZO NITOBEfrom Japan, professor a t the Imperial University of Tokyo, farmer president of the First National College, Tokyo, member of the Japanese Imperial Academy; DR. SCHELLBERG from Germany. councilor a t the Ministry of Education of Pmssia; MADAME D ~ Y P U S - B A R N of EY France, vice president of the peace section of the International Council of Women, liaison officer between the International Council of Women and the International Institute of Intellectual Cohperation. Two new members of this sub-committee appointed a t the time of Dr. Duggan's appointment are ALFRED ZJMMERN of Great Britain, former deputy-director of the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation in Paris, recently appointed t o the chair of International Relations a t
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CONTEMPORARY NEWS
Oxford, and P. T. SUN of China, director of the Franco-Chinese Institute of Lyons. -School end Society POTASH MINING BEGUN IN TEXAS The first commercial shaft ever sunk in the United States for potash has now reached a depth of a thousand feet, and potash minerals are ready to ship, the U. S. Geological Survey has been informed. The shaft has been sunk by a firm formed to develop the great potash fields in Texas, recently explored by the Geological Survey. After government scientists had put down about twenty test holes the company drilled an equal number, and then began sinking its shaft. This has now passed through several workable beds of potash minerals, the best of which consists of a salt known as silvite. Although this is the first deep-miningaperation for potash in the United States, i t is not the first time that this necessary fertilizer material bas been produced in this country. I n the arid regions of the West there are a number of highly saline lakes whose waters contain economic concentrations of potash salts. One of these, Searles Lake in California, has been actively worked for several years by a commercial firm.*-Science Sem'ce
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* See MANWIELD, "Potash in the United States," J. CHEM.EDUC.,7, 737-61 (Apr., 1930). GERMAN WAR-GAS PIONEER AIDS SEARCH FOR DEFENSE Yperite, or mustard gas, the terror of the trenches, is now being combated by the German chemist who, perhaps more than any one else. made chemical warfare an effective part of modern battle. A touch of drams is added to the search of the International Red Cross for an &ctive means for detecting mustard gas in small atmospheric concentrations, by the presence on its jury of awards of DR. FRITZHABERof Berlin-Dahlem. A prize of 100,000 gold francs has been offered for the most efficient detector, and tests of
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about a score of entries will he made here soon. Associated with Dr. Haber will he a brilliant group of scientists representing nations formerly enemies of his awn, as well as one neutral power. They are Sm WILLIAM JACKSONPOPE, professor a t Cambridge University, England; PROFEssoR M. F. S ~ A R TofZthe University of M. G. URGhent, Belgium; PROPESSOR BAIN of the Sorbonne University, France; ~ RZANCGER of the Uniand P R ~ P E S SH. versity of Ziirich. Switzerland. DR. L. DEMOLIS, technical counselor of the International Red Cross Committee, will a d as secretary of the jury. I n the near future the International Red Cross Committee hopes t o organize two similar competitions, one for the best antigas mask and the other for large-scale shelters against poison gas. The organization of competitions of this kind is in line with the campaign for the protection of civilians against chemical warfare which the International Red Cross Committee is conducting and in connection with which i t has brought about the formation in a number of countries of mixed commissions camposed of chemists, doctors, technicians, representatives of the government and of the Red Cross, to work out methods of defense. Yperite has been termed the "most formidable weapon of agg-ression" because of its unusual characteristics of permanence and insidiousness. Mere contact with the soil or contaminated objects as much as two or three days after the sttack is SUEdent for a good case of gassing. An odor af mustard is all that, a t first, tells the tale. It is only after four to six hours that the victim begins t o feel the effects-temporam blindness, suffocation, burning and blistering from the gas that penetrates all ordinary clothing. This retarded action is due to the fact that yperite is projected not in a gaseous state hut as droplets. To date yperite has eluded all attempts a t mastery. The gas mask had, by 1918. been perfected t o the point of protecting the wearer against all chemical warfare
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gases. Yperite, however, requires special protective clothing as well a s a gas mask. Although many detectors were used during the war, none was completely successful in finding the whereabouts of the elusive mustard gas. The ideal detector is still being sought. It must he sensitive enough t o signal even a feeble trace of thc gas: and function rapidly enough to give time for self-protcdion. It must be easily handled and sufficiently inconspicuous for placement in front of the lines if necessary. Finally, i t should he able to detect all the various gases used in chemical warfar?.Science Serdre
VITAMIN D NOW BAKED INTO BREAD A method of incorporating the antirachitic vitamin D in brcad has been developed by the Pediatric Research Foundation of Toronto. The method makes use of the fundamental process of incorporating vitamin D into the food in the form of irradiated ergosterol, which was of developed by D R . H A R R Y STEENB~CK the University of Wisconsin. A baking company with nation-wide distribution in the United States has been licensed under the Steenbock patents to make bread in which vitamin D is incorporated by the Toronto scientist's method. Irradiated ergosterol fat is mixed with the shortening used in the bread.-Science Service
ODORLESS VARNISH RECENT INVENTION An odorless varnish that can he used in close proximity to foodstufis without damaging their flavor has been developed commercially. I n a report to the American Chemical Society, ARTHUR J. NORTON of North Tonawanda, N. Y., states that the new varnish makes possible the use of laminated hoard in the manufacture of refrigerators. Although the use of laminated hoard has been steadily increasing in 0th- industries because of its lightness, cheapness, and durability, refrigerating companies were
MAY,1931
unable to take advantage of the new construction material because of its faint phenol odor, which is readily absorbed by almost any type of fatty product, such as butter.-Science Senz'ce
CRYSTALS OF DIGESTIVE ENZYME ISOLATED Protein crystals of great digestive power have been isolated from commercial preparations of trypsin, digestive ferment secreted by the pancreas, by Dns. JOHN H. NORTHRUP and M. KUNITZof the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, Princeton, N. J. This discovery is considered to he a n important step in the understanding of the chemical mechanism of digestion. Until recently, the digestive ferments or enzymes, of which trypsin, pepsin, and rennin are familiar, were matters of mystery t o scientist and layman alike. Rcsearch such as that of the two Rockefeller Institute scientists is helping to clear up the mystery and is giving the practicing physician new weapons with which to fight disease in the human body. Dr. Northrup has previously crystallized pepsin, the digestive ferment of the stomach. Considerable interest, for the scientist a t least, attaches to the fact that these two ferments, pepsin and trypsin, are now known to belong to the protein class of substances, to which also belong such foods as meat and nuts. "The digestive power of the crystals is about ten times t h a t of the most active commercial preparation," the investigators have reported of the trypsin crystals. They digest casein, principal protein of milk, and gelatin, another protein, in neutral solution. They are very unstable and lose some of their activity easily.-Science Senice
CHEMICAL ATOM VIBRATIONS SOUND MUSICAL CHORDS The musical vibrations of alcohol, water, and gasoline and other common chemical substances have been written and played
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CONTEMPORARY NEWS
on the piano by DR. DONALD H. ANDREWS of John Hopkins University. The seductive chord of alcohol, for instance, is not the product of Dr. Andrews' imagination but represents accurately the various vibrations occurring among the atoms of the alcohol molecule, and found in the Raman spcctrum of its light. Thus the transposed music of the atoms can he heard directly. Of the substances tried up t o this point, alcohol is first favorite with most listeners. Actually, with the exception of one note. the seven notes of the alcohol chord form a well-known harmonic comhination. The tones of the chord may, of course, be broken up t o give a melody or theme. Interesting conpcrations between the lahoratory and the concert hall will result from this simple but provocativc suggestion. Composers have already asked for the scores of these chemical themes. A chemical opera, said Dr. Andrews, can now be writtcn in which the chemical chords can he used; "Christmas night" perfume will herald the heroine, arsenic, the villain, water, the coming rain. On the other hand thc chemist with a n interest in music will soon be looking more closely into his favorite songs and symphonies. Perhaps the stirring war song is a transposition of adrenalin-the substance that pours into the blood when he gets angry. I t looks as if some jazz orchestras had come near to imitating the melody of gasolinc-for the gasoline music is a discordant comhination of many unrelated notes. A similar effect might bc produced by sitting abruptly on the piano. Wood alcohol, in spite of its close chemical relationship to grain alcohol has a harsh, sharp, bootlcg sound. Water is mysterious, pleasant without being sugary, like the murmur of a waterfall in a deep glade. This music is drrived from the light of these substances. Light rays change color on passing through a substance. The amount of the change, dircovcred two years ago by Sm CUNDRASEKHARII V. RAMAN, 1930 Nobel
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prizeman in physics, has been used by him and other scientists to measure the molecular vibrations. Millions on millions more vibrations are each second made by the chemical substance than human ears can hear. However, Dr. Andrews has for the first time transposed the chemical music on to the piano, with these interesting results.-Science Service YALE EXPEDITION TO STUDY IN NATURAL OCEAN LABORATORY A Yale expedition, equipped to study the chemistry and physics of sea water more than a mile deep, is on the way to the Bahamas. Fitted with a special winch for reeling out 7000 feet of airplane wire, carrvina . - instruments to record conditions a t that great depth, scientists on board the schooner "Abenaki" will concentrate their attention on a unique situation presented by two parallel deep troughs underlying the otherwise shallow seas around these islands off the coast of Florida. The two narrow deeps which the expedition will study are known as Tongue of the Ocean and Exuma Sound. These suhmarine valleys run parallel to each other throughout most of their lengths, but open into the ocean depths a t opposite ends very far apart. Biological collections dredged up by previous expeditions have becn so unlike that i t is believed the physical and chemical factors determining the conditions of life in the depths must he quite different. It is to get exact data on these conditions t h a t the expedition has been organized.-Sciencc Service ATTACK ON DRUG MENACE NOW MADE BY SCIENCE Science is now marshaling its forces for a reworced attack on the menaceof drug addiction. The federal government is approaching the problem in two ways. The U. S. Bureau of Narcotics is trying to control the use of narcotics according to the provisions of the present laws governing their importation, sale, and manufacture. The U. S. Public Health Service,
JOURNAL OF CHEIdICAL EDUCATION
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through its division of mental hygiene, is determining the amount of narcotic drugs required in the United States each year for medicinal and scientific requirements. The organized medical profession of the country, . through . the American Medical Association, is being given the facts an the legitimate uses of narcotics in the light of the latest scientific advances. In addition to these practical and administrative approaches, the problem is being attacked by scientific research under the direction of a special committee of the National Research Council. The program calls for replacement of habit-forming drugs with drugs that have no addiction properties. This involves studies of drugs already known, to determine the extent of their pain-relieving and nerve-quieting or sleep-inducing effects. I n addition, the dmg committee hopes t o discover new drugs, as potent in these respects as morphine, but without any dangerous habitforming properties. For this work, two research laboratories were established, one a t the University of Virginia for chemical analyses and syntheses of alkaloid substances, and the other a t the University of Michigan for the hiological testing of the narcotics and their substitutes. Two chemists were imported from Europe for the st& of the University of Virginia laboratory. This was necessary because so few American chemists have worked on alkaloid chemistry during the past twenty-five years that none were available for this new research. While this research work has already been going an for two years, first report of its progress and plans was made public recently by the chairman of the National Research Council's committee, DR. WnLIAM CHARLES WHITE of the U. S. National Institute of Health.-Science Ser~
yicc
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY TO STUDY MAGNETISM I N INTENSE COLD A new laboratory for the study of magnetic forces a t low temperatures is to be
MAY, 1931
added t o the University of Cambridge as the gift of the Royal Society of London. The use of the most intense magnetic forces is planned by DR. PETER KAPITZA, of Cavendish Laboratory, who for some years has been a leader in magnetic research. Magnetic phenomena are most simple a t very law temperatures when the complications due t o the motion of the atoms and molecules are largely avoided. The strongest electromagnets in the world have already been built by Dr. Kapitza in the course of his work, by passing enormous currents through specially designed coils. Seventy thousand amperes have been used in some of his experiments for about a fiftieth of a second. The planned laboratory will bring England backonce more into thecenter of lowtemperature research, begun in 1893 by Sm JAMES DEWAR. His invention of the Dewar vacuum flask has proved of fundamental importance in the investigation of intensely cold bodies. Liquid hydrogen was first made by Dewar in 1898 in the famous Royal Institution and solid hydrogen in 1899. Since then low temperature has been pursued with success in Holland, Germany, and Canada. Developments in this field are expected in the United States soon.-Science Service CHEMISTS HAIL METHYL FREED FOR TENTH OF SECOND Methyl, the atomic grouping found in poisonous wood alcohol as well as in a great many other natural and synthetic organic substances, has been isolated in Berlin as a free compound. But it remains uncombined for only a tenth of a second. By heating a stream of the vapor of lead tetra-methyl in a quartz tube, a substance similar to the anti-knack substance of ethyl gas, PROFESSOR F. PANET~ and W. HoaEoITz of the University of Konigsberg. have, for the first time, obtained the free radical or parent group of themethyl series of compounds. They have thus solved a problem that baffled the great chemists of the last century. The substance triphenyl-methyl, first
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prepared in 1900 by PROFESSOR MOSES GOMEERG of the University of Michigan, is the closest relation to the free methyl radical. Methyl contains one carbon atom united to three hydrogen atoms whereas in all other compounds, carbon has four bonds joining it t o other atoms or groups of atoms. Dr. Gamherg's compound and the new methyl radical of Professors Paneth and Hofeditz are like political radicals in breaking the rules of the game. But they are broken only for a short time. The methyl radical very quickly decomposes or it combines with lead or zinc and forms normal compounds in which the carbon has its usual combining power of four. The combinations of atoms like methyl or ethyl, which chemists call radicals, are found in compounds with other atoms. Thus methyl forms methyl chloride. C H r a substance used as an anesthetic and refrigerant, and methyl hydroxide CHaOH, which is wood alcohol, just as the metal sodium forms sodium chloride, which is common salt, and sodium hydroxide which is caustic soda. Methyl has the chemical formula CHJ.-Science Smn'ce HEART OF ATOM VIBRATES, PHYSICISTS DISCOVER Vibrations in the innermost core of the atom have been proved t o exist by firing high-speed alpha rays into aluminum atoms, scientists of the Physical Institute of the University of Halle report. The capture of a helium bullet by the excessively small heart or nucleus of an aluminum atom has been used in this work by DR. H. POSE and PRomsson G. HOFPXAN t o probe the last great s e a t of the structure of matter. For this collision of the alpha particle with the aluminum atom is the signal for the ejection from the aluminum nucleus of a still faster kind of rays, the proton rays. Those protons have been successfully cross-questioned by Dr. Pose and made t o tell the story of the aluminum nuclei they have so suddenly left. Actually they are the cores of hydrogen atoms in rapid mo-
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tion. Four to five million volts wonld he required to give the hydrogen cares their high speeds by artificial means. The speeds of those protons and of the particular alpha ray projectiles which start them on their way, give the new evidence of vibrations in the target atoms of the aluminum. At least Dr. Pose calls them vibrations. ~ ~ t material h i ~vibrates, ~ however. onlya mathematical function with an incomprehensible formula and the Greek psi. Physicists have heen wary of
,,
making concrete pictures of the inside of the atom recently since the arrival of the new qu,tum theory. The Psi vibrations are found in tune with oscillations which a,ompmy certain of the alpha rays on their journey, called the De Broglie waves. another of the conceptions of the new physics. A proton is ejected when these two kinds of oscillations get into step, just BS an organist by playing the right note may a building. Distances traveled by thehydrogen particles before coming to rest in the are used to measure their starting speeds, Dr. Pose found that three w u p s of hydrogens of differing speeds were sent out hy the aluminum atoms. The two faster groups which pass through 20 and 24 inches of air before stopping, appeared only when special speeds of alpha-helium rays were present in the projectile atoms. The speed of the alpha rays determines the frequency of the accompanying De Broglie waves. DR. R. W. GURNEY, working a t the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, Tokyo, Japan, had previously suggested that resonance phenomena might be found in the nucleus similar to that observed in the outer layers of the atom. Dr. Pose believes that hi.; own experiments show this. Slower projectiles with a voltage equivalent of 10 to 20 volts, for instance, cause the emission of colored light from the target atom when their speeds reach a very definite value. Recent experiments of DRS. J. C. CluoWICK. J. E. R. CONSTABLE and E. C. POLLARD a t the University of Cambridge.
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JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
MAY. 1931
American high-school principals in connection with the Office of Education's National Survey of Secondary Education. Arrangement of the high-school pragram for the welfare of the individual student is very new in the United States, according to DR. ROY 0.BILLET, School administration specialist of the National Survey, and, with the exception of variation in number of subjects a pupil may GENERAL EDUCATION BOARD carry, and special coaching of slow pupils. ELECTS NEW MEMBERS fcw schools consider any provision to be DR. R AY L YMAN WILBUR, Secretary of meeting with unusual success. Many the Interior; HAROLD S w m , president of schools fail to report any provisions for inthe Board of Trustees of the University of dividual difference in use, he says. MIMS,professor Chicago, and DR. EDTwenty per ccnt or mare of thc larger of English a t Vandcrbilt University, have schools (enrolment over 1000) use eighbeen elected to the General Education teen of the twenty-cight provisions origiBoard to fill vacancies caused by the rc- nally tabulated on the OKice of Education tirement under the age limit of sinty-five qucstionnairc. Smallcr schools wcrc found years of DR. E. A. ALDERMAN, president of to be less able than the larger ones to adapt the University of Virginia; of DR. J. H. their programs to the differing needs of DILLARD, president of the Slater Board for students. the Education of Negroes, and of ALBERT The student is aided in some iuetitutions Snnw, editor of the Review of Keuims. by advisory programs, psychological studThe General Education Board was estabies, adjustment, remedial or restoration lished in 1902 by JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER. classes or rooms. Other differences may The charter of the board granted by the he met by out-of-door projects, vocational Federal government gives its object as or educational guidance through explorabeing that of "the promotion of education tory courses, scientific study of problem within the United States of America, withcaszs, or various arrangements of study out distinction of race, or sex. or crecd." assignment. Regular classroom procedure The personnel of the board, in addition to has been modified in many instances those recently elected, is now as follows: to meet special abilities or handicaps by JR.. JEROME D. JOHN D. ROCRBFELLER, the provision of individualized instruction, GREENE,ANSONPHELPSSTORES, GEORGE ability groupings, adjustment classes or E. VINCENT, CHARLES P. HOWLAND, rooms, contract, laboratory, or various TREVOR ARNETT,JAMES R. ANGELL.h ~ other plans of instruction. Sometimes Mom B. FOsDlcn, OWEN D. YOUNG, credit is allowed for projects or studies carHAKRYW. CHASE, MAX MASON, ARTHUR ried on outside of school hours by students. WOODS,A u ~ u s r u sTROWBRIDGE.-School "Both large and small schools use proba d Society lem method, project curriculum, out-ofTHE HIGH SCHOOL SERVES THE IN- school projects, special coaching of slow pupils, individualized instruction, and DIVIDUAL STUDENT laboratory plan of instruction with about Twenty-eight different methods by equal success." Dr. Billett points out, alwhich high schools of the United States though he stresses the fact that advisory recognize and adapt their programs to programs, educational and vocational special needs of individual students were guidance through exploratory courses, opreported to the U. S. Office of Education in portunity rooms for slow pupils, scientific reply t o 23,000 questionnaires sent t o study of problem cases, psychological
England, however, show that "alpha particles which are not in resonance with the nucleus are nevertheless able to cause a detectable amount of disintegration." The alpha rays used by the investigators arc helium atom kernels given out by polonium, radioactive substance similar t o radium.-Science Service
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C O N T E M NIRARY NEWS
studies, and ability grouping are used in large schools with far greater frequency and reported success than in small schools. Individualized instruction seems equally applicable in schools of any size, special coaching of slaw pupils is practiced in morc than half of the schools of any size, and successful use of scientific study of problem cases increases as enrolment increases in the high school. WORLD FEDERATION O F EDUCATION ASSOCIATIONS TO MEET AT DENVER Denvcr will be thc scene of the fourth biennial convention of the World Federation of Education Associations, July 27 to August 2. Present indications point to an attcndance that will run well into the thousands. The homeward trek of teachers attending the N. E. A. convention a t Los A n.d e s will he interrupted a t Denver by this second meat educational convention of the summer. The World Federation of Education Associations came into existence in San Francisco in 1923 a t the time of the summer convention of t h e N. E. A. a t Oakland. Hearing rumors of the plan t o effect world concord through education, thousands of N. E. A. delegates concluded their deliberations a t Oakland and ferried across the bay t o learn just what was going on in San Francisco. Out of this beginning grew the first biennial convention a t Edinburgh in 1925. Three thousand educators were in attendance. From E d i n b u r ~ ht o Toronto in 1927 where eight thousand convention guests registered; from Toronto to Geneva in 1929, where three thousand delegates representing fifty-three nations joined in the deliberations; from Geneva to Denver in 1931, where an attendance between five and ten thousand is expected-this in brief tells the story of the World Federation so far as conventions and numbers present can tell a story. The organization of the association into
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international committees reveals, however, an amazing story of effort in attaining the following objectives: "friendship, justice, and good will among the nations of the world"; "tolerance of the rights of all nations"; "appreciation of the value of inherited gifts of nations and races." Toward these cnds committees are a t work throughout the world a t all levels of public and private school organizations. This committee work was organized on the plan of DR. DAvro STARRJ ORDAN , who, a t the 1925 convention, was awarded thc Herman prize of $25.000 for the best plan "calculated to produce world understanding and ca6peration through undcrstanding" The association includcs the following departmental organizations: the parentteachcr association, hcalth cducation, educational crafts, preparation of teachers, international aspects of library service, cducation and thc press, rural life and rural education, pre-school and kindergarten, elementary education, secondary education, the international aspect of collcgcs and universities. DR. A u c u n u s 0 . THOMAS,Augusta, Maine, is president of the World Federation of Education Associations, and DR. CHARLES H. WILLIAMS, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, is secretary. The list of committee chairmen ineludes the names of educators known throughout the world. THIRTEENTH EXPOSITION O F CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES The Thirteenth Exposition of Chemical Industries will be held a t the Grand Ccntral Palace in New York City during the week May 4-9, 1931. The Educational Division of the Thirteenth Exposition of Chemical Industries announces three students' courses and a special program for teachers. t o be conducted as follows during the period of the exposition: First Course. Elementary Chemical Engineering. A general survey of the field of chemical
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engineering, including a comparison of unit operations and processes, handling of materials, transfer of heat, materials of construction, typical unit operations, and a consideration of chemical engineering as a career. Purpose: T o answer the question "What Is Chemical Engineering?"
MAY, 1931
May 6, 9 : 00 A.M.
"Plant Layout and Development," CHARLES P. WOOD, Lockwood, Green & Company. "Small-Scale Experience for Large Scale Development." J. V. N. DORR,president, The Dorr Company. "Propress in Vaporization Process," May 4, 3:00 P.M. WALTER L. BADGER, professor of chemical "Unit Operations versus Processes," engineering, University of Michigan. S. D. KIRKPATRICK, Editor, Chemical and "Recent Contributions of Scienceand InMelaUurgicd Engineering. vention to Chemical Engineering." JAMES "Materials of Construction," W. S. CAL- R. WITHR~W, professor of chemical engicon', associate director of research, E. I. neering. Ohio State University. du Pont de Nemours & Co. May 7, 9:00 A.M. "Transfer of Heat." W. H. McAnAMs, professor of chemical engineering, Massa"General Survey of High-pressure Progchusetts Institute of Technology. ress." N. W. KRASE,associate professor "Handling of Materials," GRAHAM L. of chemical engineering, University of MONTGOMERY, managing editor, Food InIllinois. dustries. "Hiph-Pressure Equilibria." B. F . DODGE, assodate professor of chemical May 5.9:00 A.M. engineering, Yale University. "Vaporization Processes, Evaporation, "Nitrogen Fixation," CRAXLES 0 . Distillation,Drying," ALBERT B.NEWMAN. BROWN, vice president, Nitrogen Engiprofessor of chemical engineering. Cooper neering Corporation. Union. "Alloys for High-pressure and High "Agitation and Mixing." KENNETH S. Temperature Operations," EDGAR C. VAL EN TI^, The Turbo Mixer CorporaBAIN.United States Steel Corporation, tion. Third Course, Industrial Chemistry. "Classifying and Thickening," ANTHONY A study of the career of the chemist, his ANABLE,assistant to the president, The relation t o the world, his work in the plant, Dorr Company. in coBperation with chemical engineers, in "Filtration." R. GORDON WALKER, vice consulting practice, and in the legal side of president. Oliver United Filters, Inc. chemical industry, the training of chem"Chemical Engineering as a Career," ists in theuniversity, in the plant, in indusJOHN C. OLSEN,president, American Institrial fellowships. and a consideration of the tute of Chemical Engineers. future of chemistry. Purpose: To survey Second Course, Advanced Chemical En- the services and training of chemists. gineering. May 8, 9:00 A.M. Lectures covering the economic survey "Looking Forward in Chemistry," necessary for plant location, the principles of plant layout and development, progress FRANK C. WHITMORE, dean, School of in chemical engineering, what recent in- Chemistry and Physics, Pennsylvania ventions have done for chemical industries, State College. "Coaperation between Chemists and the relation of small-scale plant tests t o large-scale development, and a thorough Chemical Engineers," W. K. LEWIS. study of high-pressure technology and its professor of chemical engineering, Massaplace in chemical industry. Purpose: T o chusetts Institute of Technology. bring the young chemical engineer in touch "The Chemist in the Plant," BERT S. with modern trends and developments. T a n o x , The B. F. Goodrich Co.
VOL.8, NO. 5
CONTEMPORARY NEWS
"The Chemist as an Expert Witness," W. M. GXOSVENOR, consultant. May 9. 9:00A.M. "Training Chemists in the University." NEIL E. GOEDON, editor. JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION. "Training Chemists in Industry." H. W. ELLEY.director. Chemical Section. Dyestuffs Dept.. E. I. du Pont de Nemoun Sr Co "Industrial Fellowships as a Training for Chemists," GEORGE D. BEAL, assistant director, Mellon Institute of Industrial Research. "The Chemist in the World's Work," H. E. H o w , editor. Industrial end Engineering Chemistry. "Chemistry as a Career," M. L. CROSSLET, chief chemist, The Calco Chemical Co. Teachers' Program, May 9, 1 :30 P.M. Teachers are specially invited to attend the Saturday morning program of Course 3. Opening the program Saturday afternoon, DR. CRAELESH. HER= will speak. There will be a tour of the exhibits. Guides will be provided t o point out the high lights of the exposition t o those who desire this service. These lectures supplement and coordinate for study and comparison the exhibits of the exposition, which include chemical engineering equipment, plant accessories, materials of comttuction, raw materials for industry, products of chemical industry, presentation of work of government bureaus, new processes, lahoratory equipment, publications, and books. Guides and instructors will be provided for students not accompanied by their own instructors. Hotel Acconnodations: The Hotel Lexington, one block from Grand Central Palace offers a rate of $2.00 per day, to students attending these courses, two students t o a mom. Rooms have twin beds and each has shower and t u b bath. Special tickets to admit those who will take advantage of these courses will be sent upon application to: Thirteenth Ex-
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position of Chemical Industries, Grand Central Palace, New York City. Every second year this exposition regularly draws exhibits not only from all the forty-odd industries classified as chemical, but also from many others which produce material or equipment used in the chemical industries. No hetter opportunity is given anywhere else in the world for studying the latest designs in a vast array of equipment, and for comparing competitive products side by side. It is a natural result that the exposition draws thousands of interested visitors from many industriesplant executives. chemists, engineers, and officers of great corporations beside the students who come from many colleges and univwsities t o attend the c o m e in industrial chemistry that has became so important a part of the exposition. The solution t o many a knotty problem in plant practice has been ~ i c k e dup by an executive harassed by some unsatisfactory step in his manufacturing processes, for here is shown all of the latest equipment for chemical processes as well as the raw materials and process chemicals. It may he a trite statement t o say that industry as we know it today could not exist if i t had only the plant equipment of twenty-five years ago; but i t is a fact that is worth recalling now and then. One of the great problems of chemical manufacture in which enormous strides have been made in that time is in the handling of corrosive chemicals without undue damage to or in other words, without the eouirrment: .. undue replacement costs. Equipment made of numbers of corrosive resistant materials will be shown a t the coming exposition. I n laboratory work, glass has always been a favorite material for handling chemicals, but disadvantages too well known ta require enumeration have kept i t out of the field of large industrial equipment. Developments of recent years by one well-known glass manufacturer, however, have resulted in a glass of such low coefficient of expansion, and such tough-
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ness, that it is finding its way into many large-scale chemical installations. The exhibit to be shown by this manufacturer will feature a working model of an all-glass fractionating tower and will be 8 feet high and 12 inches in diameter. All parts coming into contact with the gas or the liquid will he madc of glass, while the connections will he of the company's new type of flanged glass pipc. In connection with the fractionating tower there will also hc a model tuhular condenser of the typc employing a nest of tubes within a cylindrical shell. Besides the industrial equipment to he included in this exhibit, the latest dcvelopments in glass laboratory apparatus also will he displayed. The chemical manufacturer with dificult problems of corrosion t o solve will find a t the exposition a wide range of corrosionresistive equipment besides that made of glass, and will therefore be able t o make a study and comparison af relative merits on the spot. Pure molded silica and highly developed alloys that resist a long list of chemicals a t high temperatures and prcss u r e now in common use are other materials that will be well represented a t the exposition. Among the alloy equipment will he a new, self-priming pump designed especially to handle acids by taking suction over the top of tanks, or pumping from sumps and other conditions where it is necessary to place the pump over the source of supply. This pump has never before been shown a t an exhibit. Other items in the same booth will be exhaust fans, valves, flanged pipe and fittings, and drain pipc and fittings-ll non-corrosive and designed for handling acid, alkaline, or other corrosive solutions. The processes of spray-drying, as employed in a great variety of industries, have a set of problems all their own. Notably in some of the food industries, and in the manufacture of glue and gelatin, fertilizers, rubber products, and sugar manufacture and refining, besides a long list of chemical industries, spray-drying is used a t one stage or another. One ex-
MAY. 1931
hibitor states that a t the coming exposition he will show recently developed spray-drying equipment, which, due to a new process and new designs, is said t o have some marked advantages over farmer designs. Initial and operating costs are low; and an unusual feature is the adaptability to small, inexpensive initial installations, with expansion as desired. Another feature of the equipment is the fact that it dries the product as rapidly as i t is producedfact that is likely to have a vital hearing on the successful handling of delicate materials. This exhibit will include a motor-driven atomizer, motor generator set and switchboard, and a new scrub tower or pre-concentrator.
DR.
SIDGWICK TO GIVE SMITH BIRTHDAY LECTURE
The Edgar F. Smith Birthday Lecture will he delivered in thc Harrison laboratory of Chemistry of the University of Pennsylvania an Friday, May 22 a t 4 o'clock. The lecturcr will be PROPES~OR N. V. Smcwrcn of Oxford University. His subject will be "Atomic Cohesion," a consideration of the forces by which atoms are attached in molecules, and molecules to one another in crystals, under different conditions.
DR. ALLISON LECTURES ON X-RAY AND ATOMIC STRUCTURE
DR.S. K. ALLISON, associate professor of physics a t the University of Chicago, presented a very interesting and instructive talk on "X-Ray and Atomic Structure" on Sunday evening, February 22, a t the Morrison Hotel, hefore the members of the Chemistry and Physics Society of De Paul University. Details of the X-ray tube were illustrated by means of lantern slides as well as the method of controlling the X-ray; its passage through the atom, as also the property characteristics in association with atomic structure, were hut a few of the important topics discussed.
VOL. 8. NO. 5
CONTEMPC)RARY NEWS
NEW MICROMETALLOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT AT COOPER UNION The department of chemical engineering has just purchased a complcte Leit7. micromctallographic equipment for use in its ncw metallography course. The machine was acquirrd partly as the rcsult of a gift of $500 by the class of 1925 and 6250 by the class of 1928, both of the Cooper Union Night School.
A. C. S. MEMBERSHIP AWARDED TO UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS STUDENT At its annual banquet on March 13th, the Alpha Sigma Chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma Fraternity awarded to MR. JOE W. FLEMINGa year's membership in thc American Chemical Society. The award is madc annually to the most representative student in thc scnior class majoring in chemistry or chemical engineering, who intends to continuc with chemistry. The selection is made by vote oi the student and faculty mcmbers of the chapter from thc four qualified studcnte who have the highest rank in all of their work in the university.
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professor of chemistry, Auburn; second nice president, H . C. HEATH, Woman's College, Montgomery; treesurer, E. A. HAWK, Ensley; editor of journal, I?. V. JONES, BirminghamSouthern College, Birmingham; coultcilor to A A . A . S., E m r r B. CARMICHAEL, University of Alabama, University; permanewt senetary, J. L. BRAKEF r s m , Howard College, Birmingham. The Academy will hold its ninth annual mecting in March, 1932, at Howard College, Birmingham, Alabama. TIN,
IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE TO JOIN INSTITUTE OF METALS IN VISIT TO AMERICA
A detailed program has been issued of thc visit that is to be paid to America next year by the Institute of Metals and the Iron & Steel Institute. These two intcrnational bodies have been invited by the Amcrican Institute of Mining & Metallurgical Engineers to hold their respective autumn meetings in Ncw York in September, 1932, the meetings to be fallowed by a tour in the United States and Canada, in the course of which many cities and industrial plants will be visited. The party, which is expected to number about one hundred European members. ALABAMA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE will leave Southampton on board a CnMEETS narder on Saturday. September 3, 1932. The Alabama Academy of Science held and is due to arrive a week later in New its annual meeting on the campus of the Yark, there to be joined by a contingent of University of Alabama on March 13 and American members, expected to number 14. More than fifty papers were read and about two hundred. After a week-end discussrd. At a banquet attended by spent sight-seeing in New York, morning lnorc than a hundrcd, PRESIDENT EMMETT technical sessions will be held on SeptemB. CARMICHAEL read a paper on "Thc ber 12-13 in the Engineering Societies' South's Contribution to Science." The Building, with local excursions to metal visiting speaker was DR. E. E. REINKE. works each afternoon. September 14 will head, department of biology, Vanderbilt be devoted to a n all-day trip to the works University, who discussed "The High- of the American Brass Company a t lands (N. C.) Museum and Biological Lab- Waterbury. On the following day the oratory Plans for a Mountain Research party will proceed to Bethlehem, Pa., visit Station in the South." the steel works and then return t o New The officersselected for the year 193132 York in readiness for a midnight start to are: president, GEORGEFEnrrc, director, Washington. Two days will be spent in Pittsburgh Testiug Labomtrrrics, Birmingthe Capital-with visits to the Bureau of ham; first vice president, HERBERT MAR- Standards. Mount Vernon, and other
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points of interest-and on September 17 Pittsburgh will be reached. Here the week-end will he spent visiting the University of Pittsburgh, the Mellon Institute, the Carnegie Institute of Technology, steel works, and aluminum works. Leaving Pittsburgh early on September 20, most of the day will be spent visiting plants a t Youngstown, followed by a night run to Detroit. Here three strenuous days will be passed. Members of the two visiting Institutes will have the great advantage of being able to take part in the visit to the exposition and technical sessions arranged by the National Metal Association, then holding its annual convention in Detroit, followed by a dinner given by the American Society for Steel Treating. They will also see some of the great motor plants for which Detroit is world famous. On September 23, the Institute's party leaves for Cleveland where w o k s visits will be made during the afternoon, followed by departure for Chicago a t midnight. Here the last weekend of the tour-now a t its westward turning pointwill be spent. Saturday, September 24, will be devoted to visits to steel and metal plants in the day-time, with a reception in the evening. The following day will be passed quietly. Niagara being reached the neat morning. After a visit to the Falls and neighboring works on September 26, the party will proceed t o Hamilton and Toronto the next day. Many interesting visits will be paid in these two cities and also in Montreal and Quebec, whence the homeward bound liner will leave on September 30, being due a t Southampton on October 8. Such, in outline, is the program of an ambitious endeavor. It represents the first combined trip ever arranged by the two institutes, and is expected t o prove very attractive. Already nearly one hundred members have indicated their intention of traveling from European starting points, these including Stockholm, M o s cow, Prague, Berlin, and Rome. The cost of the t r i p e s t i m a t e d a t the reasonable figure of £12-n he met in advance by
MAY, 1931
means of an "installment plan," in accordance with which intending participants pay £7 per month to the bankers of the Institute of Metals, interest being allowed upon their deposits, which are returnable in the event of non-participation. Full particulars of this plan and of the American trip generally can be obtained on application t o MR. G. SHAW SCOTT, MSC., secretary of the Institute of Metals, 36 Victoria Street, London, S. W. 1.. England. It is possible for eligible non-members t o join either Institute in time to take part in the trip to America. VACATION COURSES I N FRANCE, GERMANY, AND ITALY The Office National des Universitk et kcoles Franfaises, the Deutscher Akademixher Austauschdienst, and the Italian Inter-University Institute have issued attractive booklets giving full information regarding vacation courses offered this year by their respective countries. Any of the booklets may be secured by application to the Institute of International Education (2 West 45th St., New York City).N e w Bulletin of the Institute of International Education. ENGINEERS AND EDUCATORS TO TOUR RUSSIA Russiawitb its multitudinousnewexperiments in nearly every aspect of engineering, as well as in industrial management, will be the object of intense practical study and observation this summer when a tour H. to that wun* will be led by PA~KER Dhccerr, dean of the College of Engineering a t Rutgers University. Under the direction of P n o w s s o ~N. C. MILLER, head of the Rutgers University Extension Division, Russia and Europe will likewise be toured by a party of educators and a party of travelers studying social conditions. It is expected that in the engineering division of the tour, the American engineers will be provided with a singularly close view of the work being carried on in Russia during this a c i d period. Under
3RARY NEWS Dean Daggett's direction a number of important factories and industrial plants will be visited and a series of conferences with engineers, business executives, labor leaders, and men of outstanding importance in the political field have been arranged. Practical education and engineering will be combined in their most effectual forms through a course in Engineering Economics to he conducted en route. The c o m e will consist of a critical study of the work of professional engineers in the various countries visited. A comparison will be made of American and European manufacturing methods, production, and management problems. Special attention will be given to the "Five-Year Plan" in Russia. Dean Daggett has been a member of the Council of the Society for Promotion of Engineering Education and president of the National Council of State Boards ol Engineering Examiners, and has been a prominent consulting engineer for twenty years. The tour, which is now being organized with headquarters in New Brunswick, will visit, besides Russia, cities in Germany, Austria, France, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, and Poland. The entire group of these parties, which will sail from New York for Rotterdam, aboard the S. S. Rolterdam on July 4th. is under the direction of Professor Miller, a nationally recognized authority in adult education and a veteran director of tours of this nature.
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WATER TREATMENT COURSE AT UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA The second Short Course in Water Treatment was conducted by the University of Florida in connection with the fifth annual meeting of the Florida Section of the American Water Works Association, March 31, April 1, 2, and 3. The course was under the direction of the General Extension Division of the University. The lecturers were A. P. BLACK, chairman of the course, and professor of chemistry at the university; C. B. POLLARD, assistant professor; H. W. STREETER. sanitary engineer, U. S. Public Health Service, Cincinnati, Ohio; E. L. FILBY, chief, Bureau of Engineering, Florida State Board of Health, Jacksonville; HERMAN GUNTER, state geologist, Tallahassee; A. S. BEERMAN , chemical director, International Filter Company, Chicago. Illinois; PALL EATON,director of laboratories, Florida State Board of Health, Jacksonville; and J. R. TANNER. chemist, West Palm Beach Water Company. West Palm Beach.
NEW CHEMISTRY CLUB AT GALLOWAY COLLEGE
The annual entertainmrnt of the chemistry students of Galloway College was given Friday, February 20. At three o'clock the organic class gave a lecture on the "Periodic Chart of the Atoms." After M. WOLPE. discussion, MISS GTHRYN head of the chemistry department, acted ERIE SECTION, A. C. S., CONDUCTS as hostess for the first-year students SYMPOSIUM ON CHEMICAL EDUCA- a t a dinner in honor of the organic TION class. During the course of the dinner the sueDR. ALEXANDERSILYEBMAN, head of the gestion was made to organize a chemistry department of chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, led a symposium on chemical club. I t met with immediate acceptance. education before the Erie Section of the The following officerswere elected: BERNICE MEDLEN, president; MARTHA BLWA. C. S. Monday evening, March 16. G AROther speakers were PROFESSOR W. E. INS, vice president; M ARY COXNNA NER, secretary-treasurer. COON, principal of the Roosevelt High W. H. POWERS, School, Erie, PROFES~OR I t was agreed that the club meet biAlliance College, and MR. J. L. PARSONS, monthly, and the name "Phosphorescents" Hammermill Paper Company. has been adopted.
