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T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING C H E M I S T R Y
Mechanical Engineer; J. R. Brueckner, Pyrometric Engineer; R. E . Barlow, Mining Engineer; A. Betzold, Expert Glass Blower; A. Ruckstahl and F. Luchs, Precision Mechanics. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers will hold its 6th Semi-annual Meeting a t Troy, New York, June 17-20, 1914. The Rochester Section of A. C. S. had as speaker for their March 3rd meeting, LMr. W. R . Hulburt, Sales-manager of the Goldschmidt Thermit Co., whose topic was “The Theory and Practical Application of Thermit.” The lecture was elaborately illustcated by laboratory experiments, practical welding demonstrations, lantern slides and motion pictures. Mr. E . F. Platt, formerly with the Platt Iron Works of Dayton, 0. and hlr. C. A. Kurz, Jr., of the Kurz Laboratories, have recently organized the Electrolytic Gas Company. This company has secured the Western selling agency of the International Oxygen Company of New York and it is their intention to proceed with the installation of a number of electrolytic plants of the I. 0. C. System for the production of oxygen and hydrogen in different parts of the country. The Connecticut Valley Section of the A. C. S. met a t Springfield on March 2nd. The program was as follows: “Progress in our Knowledge of the Atom,” Dr. E . W. Morley; discussions of “Use of Electrical Apparatus in the Laboratory,” and “Cor5 , 905). rosion of Metal by Water” (THISJOURNAL, The Regents of the University of Wisconsin have created 15 industrial scholarships t o aid in satisfying the demand €or professionally trained mechanics to teach in industrial schools. Each scholarship carries with i t a special honorarium of $40, and the holders of these scholarships are t o be organized into a mechanics’ institute to be held from March 9th to April 9th, for intensive practice in special lines of shop work and drawing and a detailed consideration of organization and teaching problems t h a t confront industrial schools. The North Carolina Section of the A. C. S.a t their Mid-winter meeting a t Raleigh on Jan. 24th, presented the following papers of industrial interest : Presidential Address, “The Engineering Students’ Need of Chemistry,’’ L. F. Williams; “The Stability of Resin Acids a t Slightly Elevated Temperatures,” C. H. Herty and H. L. Cox; “Studies in Nitrification,” U’. A. Withers and A . L. Field; “3-eutral Solutions of Ammonium Citrate,” J. &I. Bell; “A Volumetric Method for Arsenates,” J. M. Bell and A. J. Flume. Mr. C. F. Woods, of the staff of Arthur D. Little, Inc., on Feb. 6th spoke before the salesmen of the Walter M. Lowney Co., of Boston, upon the general topic of “Pure Food” with its particular bearing upon the manufacture of candy. Dr. Raymond Foss Bacon has been appointed to succeed the late Prof. Robert Kennedy Duncan as Director of the Mellon Institute for Industrial Research of the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Bacon was formerly Associate Director of the Institute. The St. Louis Section of the A. C. S. discussed “Fire Risks in Chemical Factories” and “The Standardization of Weak Solutions” a t their March meeting on the 9th. Prof. Loehnis, of the Laboratory of Agricultural Bacteriology in the University of Leipzig, has accepted the offer of a position in the Department of Agriculture a t Washington. Mr. Maximilian Toch of New York City spoke on “Paint as
an Engineering Material (Illustrated)” before the Philadelphia Section of the A. C. S.on March 19th. The Nashville Section of the A. C. S. had the following program on March 20th: “Synthetic Rubber,” Dr. J. T . McGill; “The Enforcement of the National Food and Drugs Act,” Dr. R . W. Balcom. The Calender of the Public Lectures in the Department of Chemistry of the College of the City of New York for the Spring of Nitrogen,” Semester, is as follows: Feb. 27th-“Fixation Prof. H. R. Moody of the College staff; Mar. 13th-“The Growth of Crystals” (with moving pictures), Mr. S. G. Warner, Physicist in Edison Laboratories; Mar. 20th-“Colloids” (Illustrated), Dr. Wolfgang Ostwald, Univ. of Leipzig; Apr. 3rd-“Municipal Controlin the Purchase of Supplies,” Dr. Otto H. Klein, Director Standard Testing Laboratories, Board of Estimate and Apportionment, New York City; May 1st-“Some Economic Aspects of Industrial Chemistry,” Dr. Bernhard C. Hesse, Chemical Expert and Patent Attorney. Prof. Heinrich Ries spoke before the Cornel1 Section of the A. C. S.on “Underground Water Supply” on March ~ 3 r d . Prof. Elton Fulmer, Dean of Washington State College and Head of the Department of Chemistry, and wife were guests of honor a t a banquet given by the members of the Chemistry Department and their wives, upon their return from an extended trip through the U. S. and the Hawaiian Islands. Prof. and hlrs. Fulmer gave very interesting talks during the eveningthe former on “The Historical Events of the Islands and their Development” and the latter on “The People and their Customs as observed in the Present Period.” The Rochester Section of the A. C. S. have the following lectures scheduled: March 16th, “The Application of Chemistry to the Baking Industry,” Mr. David Coxford; April 6th, “Metallography,” Prof. William Campbell of Columbia University; May 4th, “Our Present Knowledge of Crystals,” Prof. Frank Kenrick of the University of Toronto. Under the new organization of the Food and Drug Inspection work of the Bureau of Chemistry, the chief of each district must send full reports on analyses, hearings and all other matters to the Chief Chemist, and his findings are subject to review a t Washington. The district chief, however, cannot institute a prosecution or a seizure, as all cases calling for prosecution or seizure must be first passed upon in Washington by the Chief Chemist who since Feb. 1st does the work formerly done by the Board of Food and Drugs Inspection. The new organization brings about absolute correlation in work and complete cooperation between the inspectors and laboratories and will greatly expedite the handling of samples, holding of hearings and the preliminary disposition of cases. The International Oxygen Co. entertained the members of the Manufacturing and Sales Departments a t a dinner a t the Hotel McAlpin, New York City lately. Among those present were: Mr. Solomon Heller, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Heller, Mr. and Mrs. A . A . Heller, Mr. E. W. Irwin, XIr. I. H. Levin, Mr. and Mrs. H . L. Barnitz, h4r. and N r s . C. Aichberger, Mr. and Mrs. D . J . Tonkonogy, Miss Celie LVeiss, Miss Leona Friedland, Mr. H . W. Timm and Mr. Philip Fried. Dr. Wolfgang Ostwald lectured on “Colloids” before the Syracuse Section of the A. C. S. on March 18th.
BOOK REVIEWS Der Starkezucker: Chemische und technologisch behandelt. VON DR. H . WICHELHAUS, Geh. Reg. Rat, Professor und Direktor des Technologischen Instituts der Universitat Berlin. Mit 57 -4bbildungen, Leipsig, I 9 13, Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft. The present volume fills a long-felt want, since the student and
Vol. 6 , No. 4
1
technologist has now, for the first time, a book which covers all the principal facts relating to the chemistry and manufacture of dextrose. In the preparation of his work the author has availed himself of all possible sources; historical documents, archives of scientific societies, chemical journals, government reports and patent lists have all been consulted and the reader has now, in
Bpr., 1914
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 E N G I N E E R I N G CH E M I S T R Y
one hook, information which was hitherto widely scattered and in some cases difficultly available. The starch-sugar industry, like t h a t of beet sugar, owes its first developments t o Xapoleon, who first by prohibiting commerce with England shut out colonial products from Europe and then by awarding premiums gave encouragement to the foundation of a continental sugar industry. In 181I Kirchhoff, member of the Imperial Academy a t St. Petersburg, discovered a method for converting starch into dextrose by means of acids and the original account of his process, which the author gives in full, is of great interest. Carl August, Grand Duke of Weimar (the well known friend of Goethe and Schiller), founded the first stock company for making starch sugar and a factory was organized a t Tiefurt in 1812 under the direction of Dobereiner. The overthrow of Napoleon and the abolition of his Continental System, however, reopened the markets of Europe to cane-sugar and put an end t o this new enterprise, although the infant beet-sugar industry, through wise go\-ernmental support in France, was able to weather the storm. The next important step in the development of the starchsugar industry took place in the United States and for the history of what was henceforth to be essentially an American enterprise the author has drawn upon papers by Herstein (THISJOURNAL, 3, IS^), 1Vagner ( J . SOC.Chenz. Ind.,1909, 345) and others. The sections of the book devoted t o the chemistry of dextrose, processes of manufacture, utilization, analytical methods, etc., are very complete and the subject matter is brought well up to date. The researches of Behr, Rolfe, Duryea, h-oyes, and other American investigators are fully presented. In addition to the manufacture of dextrose from starch, its preparation from cellulose and wood is also considered. The extension of the term starch-sugar to the product derived from other materials than starch is perhaps permissible, when we consider the application of the term cane-sugar t o the products of the hcet and maple. Such license with the literal meaning of words has caused, however, much misunderstanding, especially in the minds of laymen. In the present case this confusion is increased, owing t o the fact t h a t the term starch-sugar is also sometimes gi\-en to maltose. X few slight errors have been noted. The specific rotation of &glucose is given incorrectly as +52.5 on page 39; it is stated correctly a$ +20.46 on page 44. The statement on page 31 that ‘‘ ripe sound sugar cane contains almost exclusively glucose, which soon goes over t o saccharose” requires modification. The author probably means t h a t the reducing sugar of very m7,ture sugar cane consists almost exclusively of glucose. T h e book is well printed, and as a whole free from typographical errors. IVe note, however, a few misspelling of names, :IS Renuink fp.[ I ) for Baume and Dulrunhaut (in the Index) for Ihbrunfaut. T h e 7-olume is furnished with a good patent list. The author statci that there are about 1 7 0 American patents on starchsugar alone: of this number he mentions 70, those before 1882 being omitted as of only historical interest. A most serious omission in the volume is the lack of a subject indes. -In index of names is given, but this is inadequate in the search for particular subjects. The price of the book ( I I marks unbound) is somewhat above the average for scientific books of this kind. 11-e recommend this new work of Dr. Wichelhaus to all who :irc interested in the chemistry of sugar or in the technology of cnrhohydrntcs. C. A. BROWNE
Natronzellstoff. By CHRISTIASCHRISTIANSEX.I j4 pp. Publishers, Gebriider Borntraeger, Berlin. This monograph, which has received a prize from the Verein der
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Zellstoff and Papierchemiker, gives a short, but excellent historical summary of the various processes used for the manufacture of cellulose, of the more recent advances in the technical processes used. It discusses the Kraft method. The theory governing the digestion processes is treated a t length and is followed by the most interesting part of the book, the experimental work of the author. This consists of a series of sodium hydroxide digestions, the object of which was to explain the course of the reaction of this process. The author found certain critical points in the soda consumption curve, which showed t h a t the course of the reaction depended not only on the time, temperature and pressure but also on the amount and strength of the caustic solution. An attempt has also been made to examine the substances obtained in this process as to their chemical constitution. A valuable feature of the book is an extensive chronological table of the patent and journal literature with an ahstract of each patent or article. SIDNEY BORS Coast Erosion and Protection. BY ERNSTR. MATTHEWS, Assoc. M. Inst., C.E., F.R.S. (Ed.), F.R.G.S., F.G.S. J . B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1913. Price, 5 3 . 5 0 . This is a timely work, and one t h a t will no doubt prove a valuable contribution to this important branch of civil engineering. The growth and depletion of sea-beaches as a result of wave action is not only a subject of great interest but is one of those larger questions which affect states and nations. The configuration of some coast lines is not the same for two consecutire days. Low headlands, formed of easily croded material, are continually being set backwards, owing to the inroads of the sea and accretion takes place very rapidly, so much so, that land is reclaimed in large areas. The volume under review deals especially with the erosion and accretion t h a t is taking place around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland but the conditions prevailing there apply equally to the inroads of the sea a t many points along the -1merican coast line. The enormous damage to property by wave action during a recent storm along our own S e w ,Jersey shore, the destruction of property valued a t hundreds of thousands of dollars occurring during a storm lasting a few hours, is but a single example of the necessity of sea-coast protection. I n this work, the author treats of all forms of sea defences, the merits and demerits of each type being fully discussed. Many facts bearing on thevcomparative value of the different materials suitable for the construction of sea walls are also presented, without losing sight of the important item of economy. Special consideration is given to methods of construction in reinforced concrete and comparisons of costs are stated. =\n optimistic, though conservative view of the ascendency of concrete in this type of work is taken. The fact is that no material is used so extensively a t the present time, nor likely to bc more used in the future in the construction of sea walls anti breakwaters. A carefully written chapter on the action of sea w-ater on concrete summarizes the unsatisfactory state of our knowledge on this vexing subject. The author records in this chapter the results of a series of experiments on a high alumina cement but unfortunately does not give the number of briquettes from which the average strengths were computed, and possibly lays too much significance on the strength tests over short periods, 7 , 14 and 28 days. The book is well bound and printed and admirably illustrated with drawings and photographs. T o maritime engineers or those engaged in harbor construction this work will prove a useful acquisition. RICHARDH. GAINES
