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t h a t it may give itself t o the larger problems of prosperity and growth. As of old, so i t is true here and now: “Give and i t shall be given unto you.” I have narrated above the prosy details of our provision for the well-being of our employees. I have shown t h a t these provisions have resulted in gain both t o the employees and t o the company responsible for them. I would like t o emphasize more fully the value of beautiful and artistic surroundings. A visitor a t the Bethlehem Steel Works, noting the display of bedded plants about the buildings, asked Mr. Schwab whether the establishment was making steel or raising flowers. bIr. Schwab’s answer was in substance, t h a t the works were primarily intended for the production of steel, but with beautiful surroundings they were able to make better steel and more of it. Our observation confirms the correctness of M r . Schwab’s opinion as applied to our own products. Mr. Schwab said further t h a t the workmen were so impressed that they were beautifying their own homes in the same way. Back of the leather apron or the work-a-day clothing, there is the same fine heart and lively response to every form of expression of beauty possessed by others whose fortune and taste give a larger realization of ideals of loveliness. When the beauty of well-kept grounds greets the workman as he walks toward the machine which he is t o operate, there is a little faster beating of the heart and the morning air is breathed a little deeper. Then comes t h e feeling of pride in work and hope of better days and larger opportunities. And t o those. who experience this feeling better days do come. Best of all the elements of better days is the deep-seated sentiment of appreciation of the finest objects and experiences t h a t life can offer. Light, pure air, clean and artistic surroundings, with attendant good health, are fundamental t o growth and attainment. GLOUCESTER, N. J. ~~
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COTTONSEED FLOUR AS A POSSIBLE FOOD FOR MAN1 By C. A. WELLS
One of the earliest reported cases of the use of cottonseed flour as a food for man was t h a t in which bread and other articles of food. prepared from cottonseed meal were served certain members of the Farmers’ Congress held a t College Station, Texas, about fifteen years ago. Since t h a t time a number of reports have been made of the use of the meal in human diets. Allison2 states t h a t many of the smaller cottonseed oil mills of the country are manufacturing so-called “cottonseed flour ” and t h a t some of the larger mills are producing and disposing of it with profit. I t is not manufactured by any secret process, but is simply cottonseed meal of choice color, taste and odor which has been finely ground and thoroughly bolted. As might be expected, therefore, it contains more protein and less crude fiber than cottonseed meal of similar grade and origin. I n other respects the chemical composition of the two is essentially the same. The terms “cottonseed flour” and “cottonseed meal ” are used synonymously throughout this paper. Cottonseed flour contains little kneading principle and more than twice as mtich protein as meat. I n order, therefore, t o facilitate the making of bread and a t the same time reduce the protein content of the latter, the flour is usually mixed with Some other substance such as wheat flour. Most of the cottonseed flour bakery products found on the market are prepared in this way. One does not know the degree of digestibility of cottonseed flour when eaten by man, but from the known digestibility of cottonseed meal for cattle, Fraps3 concludes t h a t 85 per cent of t h e fat and protein is digestible for man but believes the nitrogenfree extract t o be not so completely digestible. Mendel and 1
Read a t meeting of Section C of the Association for the Advancement
of Science. Atlanta, Georgia, January 2, 1914. Allison. Personal Letter. Fraps. Texas Agric. Exp. Sta., Bull. 128 (1910).
Val. 6 , NO. 4
Morris,’ who recently experimented with dogs, conclude t h a t cottonseed meal is but poorly digested, only 67-75 per cent of the nitrogen in the meal being absorbed as compared to 94 per cent for fresh meat. I n addition to its general fitness as a food for man, Hart2 believes and Moore3, Allison4, and Thompson5 state that, owing t o its freedom from carbohydrate, it has a specific food value for diabetics. FOOD VALUE OF COTTONSEED FLOUR
The total food or energy value of any foodstuff may be conveniently expressed in calories per pound. I t will be interesting to note in the following table the high caloric value and low cost of a pound of cottonseed flodr as compared to that of a pound of steak, especially as regards protein, which is almost always a n expensive constituent of diets. Thus for six cents one can purchase as many protein calories in the form of cottonseed flour as for one dollar in the form of steak. TABLE I-COMPARATIVEEA-ERGY VALUEA N D COSTOF STEAKA N D COTTONSEED
FLOUR
Fuel value per lb. Fat calories Beef-loin. , . . . . . . 5 17 Lean beef flank.. 458 Cottonseed flour, 5 17
Protein calories 417 399 708
Comparative cost of 1000 calories Cottonseed flour a t 2c. and steak a t 20c. per lb.
Total calories 934 857 1619
Protein calories $0.50 0.47 0.026
Total calories $0.245 0.215 0.012
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
I n 1912 there were crushed in the United Statesa 4,921,073 tons of cottonseed equivalent t o about 2,160,000 tons of .meal. If we make the reasonable assumption t h a t cottonseed meal has a digestibility of 70, then on the basis of the food values given in the table above, one ton of meal has a protein calorific food value of $495.60 or a total calorific food value of $555.37.’ Until 1898 nearly one-half of the annual production was exported, the remaining half was fed t o stock or used in making fertilizers. The Interstate Cottonseed Crushers Association arbitrarily classifies cottonseed meal into three grades : choice, prime and off grades. Choice meal is from choice cottonseed finely ground. It must be perfectly sound, sweet, and of a light yellow color, free from excess of lint and hulls. It might be inferred that meal of this grade would be suitable for human consumption. Unfortunately, however, we have no record of the quantity of each grade of meal manufactured, so that one has no,accurate data upon which t o base a calculation of the amount of meal even presumably of a grade fit for man’s use as a food. On the percentage basis, however, if cottonseed meal can be used as a food for man and if it has a digestibility coefficient of 70 or greater, then I O per cent of the meal produced annually in the United States ( I O per cent of 2,160,000) would have a total calorific food value of $119,959,920 and a protein value of $106,920,000 (216,000 multiplied by $555.37 and $495.60, respectively). The same meal when fed t o stock or used as a fertilizer would have a value not exceeding $6,480,000 (216,000 X $30.00, a liberal commercial value of one ton of meal). EFFECTS WHEN FED TO MAN
Allison, Thompson, and others state t h a t it is a suitable foodstuff for man and t h a t in many cases its continued use has proven highly beneficial. According t o Frapsa “we have n o reason to believe t h a t cottonseed flour will not be a wholesome food, when used in small amounts t o replace meats, or t o reMendel and Morris, J . Biol. Chem., 11, 1-3 and 5-26. and 6 Circular Letters. 8 U. S. Dept. of Com. Bureau of Chem. Rept., 1912. 7 i o 8 multiplied by 2000 gives 1,416,000 as the number of protein calories in one ton of meal. 7 0 per cent of this equals 991,200, the number of digestible calories. This number divided by 1000 and multiplied by 50 (cents) gives $499.60 as the protein calorific value of one ton of meal. 1
2.3.4.
9 LOC.
Cil.
A P . , 1914
T H E J O U R N A L O F I r I T D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G CHE.VISTRI’
inforce a diet poor in flesh food,” yet he says further “we arc inclined to believe t h a t the maximum amount of cottonseed meal which should enter into the diet is two t o three ounces per d a y ; t h a t the conditions under which such a diet may prove injurious must be established. . . . . . . . . . , . and t h a t only experience and experiments can tell us the part which cottonseed flour should play in nutrition and under what conditions i t may prove unwholesome:“ The writer has eaten for some time in his own home cakes and bread of various kinds containing a portion of cottonseed flour without experiencing any ill effects from its use.
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It should be said, however, t h a t while therc arc no reported cases of injury from the use of the meal as a food for man, it is possible and indeed quite probable t h a t this is due to its so far limited use for this purpose. The assumption of its unwholesomeness for man naturally grows out of the well known injurious effects which it produces when fed t o stock. Investigations are now under way t o ascertain the true nature of cottonseed meal toxicity. If this can be done, cottonseed meal or flour may be given to the world as a new and exceedingly inexpensive food with an almost unlimited source. C H E M I S T R Y LABOR.4TORY. GEORGIA EXPERIMENT STATIOX
WILLIAM H. NICHOLS MEDAL AWARD The Nichols Medal was conferred upon Professor AI. Gomberg, of the University of Michigan, in recognition of his distinguished researches on triphenylmethyl and its analogues. The medal meeting was held in Rumford Hall, The Chemists’ Club Auditorium, on Friday evening, March 6, 1914, with n r . ,411en Rogers, Vice-president of the Section, in the chair. The presentation address was made by Dr. Bernhard C. Hesse. Professor Gomberg, in acknowledgment of the medal, presented a n address on “ T h e Existence of Free Radicals,” in which he gave the first complete review of his eighteen years’ investigations and drew his conclusions based upon the results of his work. A large number of papers representing the stages of these investigations’have been published in the Journal of the Society, and a complete review of the work t o date is now in course of preparation. Professor Gomberg has prepared an abstract of his address which is published below, together with the presentation address by Dr. H e s s e . - - . [ E ~ ~ ~ o ~ j _ _ ~
PRESENTATION ADDRESS By BERNHARD C. HEW$
T h e purpose of this meeting of the New York Section of the American Chemical Society, is to present the William H . Sichols Medal t o the author of what has been determined by the Jury of the U’illiap H. hTichols Medal, to be the best original paper contained in the publications of the American Chemical Society during the year 1 9 1 3 . The purpose of the William H . h’ichols medal is the stimulation of research in chemistry. Research has latterly become a topic with which to conjure. I t is regarded by many as a panacea for the disabilities of chemistry, applied and pure. Yet there is no magic in research; no marvels arc performed by it. Y o u get out of research precisely what you put into it. You no more get something for nothing in research than in any other effort. There is, however, a divergence of opinion is to what does constitute research. As I view it, research is the orderly, systematic development of and addition t o science; science is nothing more nor less than the orderly, systematic and coordinated record of human experience. Purely accidental or random addition t o our knowledge without causal connection with what precedes and with what follows, however valuable or beneficial the addition may itself be, is not research. Yet, tesearch is not wholly independent of accident nor of chance; the systematic, orderly and planned exploitation of t h a t which chance or accident may have thrown into the path of him who is engaged in research, together with the carrying out of the original plan brings research t o its highest state of efficiency and t o its ample justification. Chance, without system, leads to chaos. System, even without chance, leads t o an orderly and coordinated statement of what we know and of what we know not to be. A-egative information, if true, has the same value as positive information. 1
Chairman h7ew York Section of the Smerican Chemical Society.
He who engages in research must have not only a working knowledge of what has gone before, but also :L norking know1 edge of all the tools a t his disposal; he must have a creative imagination, so that he may set himself the problem and for? cast with greater or less certainty that which may hr espccted; hc must be prepared t o deal with and to recognize the i i i i e x pected or unforeseen; he must have within himsclf ii sterlinfi quality of rigid self-analysis and a stern judgment of that which is of his own creation. Without a creatil-e imagination, balanced by a knowledge of the uncertainties of hypothesis and of theory and without balance by a knowledge and an appreciation of the imperfections of all human effort, he who engages in research is led into the highways and by-ways of confusion. Research information which is incorrect or confusing and work that leads to it are worse than useless, and he who knowingly produces such results is false not only to hiinself but to the hest and highest traditions and aims of research. Thosc who engage in research must have a thorough and an ahiding desire for truth a t all costs and must ha satisfied with nothing as trur which has not been demonstrated to he true by evc’rg test that can he reasonably applied. The more fundamental the nature of that which is believed to be new, the greater the necessity and responsibility for rigid scrutiny and inquiry as to its accuracy. Power of observation without the ability or without the quality of character to scrutinize and test the results of observation as to accuracy and certainty, is useless in research. Successful research requires a happy blending of many of the qualities of those who have explored and made our earth habitable, namely, daring, tempered with caution, and imagination, balanced by judgment. Those acquainted with the published wm!i of Professor Gomberg, our guest of honor this evening, recognize that his work fulfills and typifies the highest ideals of research. Starting out to obtain a n answer t o a definite problem in a carefully planned and definite way he came across something new, unexpected and unusual. His patient, laborious and ingenious examination of this led to the work which has consumed much of his time and effort for the past eighteen years and has given t o chemistry a new class of substances---triphen4-lmethyl a n d its derivatives. Professor Gomberg, it is my privilege as Chairmzti of t h e X e w York Section of the American Chemical Society now to place in your hands this, the tenth gold impression of the IVilliam H. Sichols Medal RS a token of the appreciation and esteem in which we hold your work as a chemist and the encouraging example you h a r e thereby given for all who engage in research.
THE EXISTENCE OF FREE RADICALS By It,GOMBERG
From the time when Kekule and Franchimont first prepared triphenylmethane, numerous attempts were made t o prepare the analogous compound tetraphenylmethane, but seemingly without succesj. The assumption was made that this substance
