March 20, 1935
NEWS
EDITION
F a t h e r s a n d Sons in American Ghenoistry
RECTIFIED SPIRIT I S M A D E FROM M A H U R A FLOWERS
The Alembic Chemical Works at Baroda are manufacturing rectified spirit on a large scale from Mahura flowers which are obtained in abundant quantities in Central India. The juice is expressed from the flowers by macerators which contain grape sugar, rand is then allowed to ferment in vats with microscopically pure j east prepared in the laboratories of the works. The greatest care is taken during the whole process to insure absolute purity. While the juice is undergoing fermentation, it is examined microscopically to ascertain whether it contains pure yeast or whether foreign bacteria or molds have found an entrance. Fusel oil, amyl alcohol, and aldehyde are separated by chemical means. The chemists employed in the works applied themselves t o the task of eliminating the objectionable odor of Mahura flowers and were finally successful. A by-product of the operations is the carbonic acid gas which is generated during the process of fermentation. This gas is dried and purified in a gas-purification battery, before being compressed, liquefied, and transferred to cylinders. It is in great demand among the mineral water manufacturers and industrial and research laboratories in this country. MANUFACTURE OF SOLID CARBON D I O X I D E I S UNDERTAKEN
The Alembic Chemical Works have recently undertaken the manufacture of solid carbon dioxide for which a separate factory with up-to-date machinery is being erected. When liquid carbon dioxide is allowed t o expand through a small orifice, part of it is turned into snow, which can be compressed by hydraulic presses and made into blocks; or the liquid can be frozen into a solid state by slowly lowering the pressure up to a certain limit and then freezing it with its own cool gases, thus eliminating the use of hydraulic presses. In a vast tropical country like India, dry ice has a great superiority over water ice. It will be most profitably used in India in the preservation and transport of eggs, fresh milk, fruits, fish, ice cream, etc. RESEARCH ON N U T S Is BEGUN
In view of the increased demand for cashew-nut oil, which has found industrial application in America, experiments in the roasting of cashew nuts and the preparation of synthetic resins from cashew tar were conducted by the oil chemist of the Government of Madras. As a result of the experiments carried out at Calicut, an experimental roaster was evolved and the design has been approved by the leading cashew manufacturers in this country. The main object of these experiments was to decorticate the nuts without roasting, so that the kernels may be taken out in full and the shell subjected to the process of extraction and the maximum amount of oil derived therefrom. As a result, a small hand machine has been evolved, with top and bottom knives on the principle of a nut-cracker, and found t o work satisfactorily. A very large tonnage of coconut and groundnut oils was refined during the year under review and these have been registered under the trade name "Kokol." In conjunction with the manufacturing operations, experiments were conducted in the laboratory with a view to studying the bleaching action of different kinds of fuller's earth and decolorizing carbons, and the efficiency of vegetable carbons, such as paddy-husk charcoal and coconutshell charcoal, which are available locally for decolorizing oils. RESEARCH I N T A N N I N G MATERIALS I S CONTINUED
Experiments on the effect of using synthetic tars with different proportions of avaram bark and at different stages of the tanning processes continued to be carried on during the year. Many new synthetic tans are coming on t o the Indian market and these have to be experimented with before any advice can be given to the manufacturers in regard t o their merits and use. T h e experiments in the soaking of dry hides were also proceeded with. Dry hides were soaked with the addition of different chemicals, sodium sulfide, caustic soda, chlorine, perchloron, etc., in various strengths and at different periods in order to note the soaking effect and also the difference in weight gained by dry hides during the various processes of liming. SUN-HEMP RETTING Is B E I N G INVESTIGATED
The importance of establishing Indian sun-hemp fiber firmly in the British market, where it is employed for the manufacture of such articles as ropes, cables, twines, and nets, has been brought into prominence in recent years as a result of the investigation conducted b y the Empire Marketing Board. It has been found that crude and careless methods of retting stand in the way of its more extensive use in the United Kingdom and also lower its value. Arrangements were therefore made during the year for the retting of sun-hemp in the laboratories of the Madras Industries Department, and a careful study was made of the temperature of the water, the effect of changing the wTater, the quality of the water, and the duration of the retting period. Important conclusions have been arrived at, but the experiments are to be repeated on a larger scale this year. February 20, 1935
115
Two Fishers W E PRESENT, in our series of Fathers and Sons in Chemistry, Chester G. Fisher, president of "the Fisher Scientific Co., and his son, Aiken W. Fisher. T h e elder is a true Pittsburgher, for he was born in that city in 1881 of p a r e n t s b o t h of whom were also born in Pittsburgh. He entered t h e W e s t e r n University of Pennsylvania, now the University of Pittsburgh, in 1896, and graduated from its Engineering Sciiool at the age of 19. He fonnd time while in college to earn his letters in football, hockey, and track athletics and today he maintains his interest in sports, although his activities are limited to golf and regular attendance upon football games. At the age of 21 he organized the Scientific Materials Co., under which name the firm operated until 1926 when CHESTER G. FISHER it became the Fisher Scientific Co. In this business IVIr. Fisher has practiced the idea of .a single purpose and concentrating upon it. Of course he has outside interests, but he has never allowed them t o interfere with -£he application of his talents to scientific apparatus. Many of the laboratory appliances with which chemists are familiar wer-*e developed by C . G. Fisher and his associates, and more recently new and improved tools have been designed and made by Fisher. It i s in this w a y that he has made his major contributicMQs to chemistry and i t s application not only to industry but to» its many sister sciences. Chester Fisher has been a ^r:• "J" "_· Ô. :
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^^yjt.^r\ ' • " • I •1V ν continuously since its incep: * ' 1 *· "j iyj tion, and at present he is the ,ÎFJ" •· chairman-elect. W e shall see k^ him in action when the semia n n u a l m e e t i n g of t h e f.V- ?%J: * >«!*-* National SOCIETY is held in 1 Pittsburgh i n 1936. Mr. Fisher served a term as president of the Scientific Apparatus Makers of America '%/# (known these days a s S. A. M. of A.) w h i c h h e helped to r,jy organize and which association today comprises all of AlKEN W . FlSHER t h e A m e r i c a n makers of laboratory apparatus, pyrometers, thermometers, and. optical, nautical, and surveying instruments. One of his many interests isfcJhecollection of alchemical prints and other old pictures of scientific interest, his collection being one of the largest in the United S t a t e s . The son, Aiken W. Fisher, is only six feet three and weighs a mere 220 pounds; so he i s often, called "a block off the old chip." He was born in Pittsburgh in !_90S, graduated from Shady Side Academy, and from the Scientific School of Yale in 1929. Of course he played football and w a s one of those big rangy tackles which delight coaches. After graduation h e entered t h e employ of the Fisher Scientific Co., of which he is now vice president. He has specialized in the designs and use of scientific instruments employed in chemistry, and cHuring the past three years has devoted much of his time to gatJhering data and writing specifications for the book "Modern Laboratory Appliances." Many of the articles on new chemical ajppliances appearing in The Laboratory are also t h e work o f A. $V, Fisher, prepared after review of the literature and laboratory experiments with the new instruments. \* , * * *4* ί -Γ_*;£ΐ ι y
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LÉO M. CHRISTENSEN h a s resigned from the staff of Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa, and accented employment with the Chemical Foundation, Inc.
