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T H E J O U R s A L OF IIVD U S T R I A L A N D E.\7GIlVEERIAVG C H E M I S T R Y .
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE RUBBER SECTION.’ December 29. The morning session was opened with 37 members present, and 17 came in during the session. The following program was presented. “Scientific Tests and Methods for Rubber Content in Raw and Vulcanized Rubber,” by W. C. Ducca. Discussion by Messrs. Boggs, Cutler and others. “The Treatment of Crude Rubber, ” by Mr. Peabody. Discussion a t some length by Messrs. Whipple, Barrier, and Boggs. “Rubber Goods Required in Beet Sugar Factories,” by Mr. Hanslick. “ A Punching Machine for Rubber Samples,” by H. P. Mills. Dr. Leo Baekeland announced the joint meeting to be held during the summer of 1912, in conjunction with the Section of Plastics of the International Congress of Applied Chemistry. The secretary announced t h a t the former chairman of the Section, Nr. Goodrich, had donated $roo to the funds of the Section, and that the present chairman, Mr. Cutler, and also Mr. Harold Van der Linde had agreed each to donate the same amount. Dr. Knight, Chairman of the Committee on Standard Methods of Analysis, reported for t h a t committee, and submitted such figures as had been received by him. The report was discussed by Messrs. Wesson, Boggs, Walker, Hibbert, and Cottle. It was then voted t h a t the report of the Committee on Methods be accepted, and t h a t the committee be discharged with thanks. “Does the Acidity of Rubber Indicate its Botanical Origin?” by Mr. Bloom, was read, and discussed by Messrs. Evans, Boggs, and Maywald. The chairman called up for discussion the subject of Synthetic Rubber and made a lengthy report as to work which had been done on the investigation of synthetic rubber by the Rubber Goods Manufacturing Company. He stated, among other things, t h a t the synthetic rubber made by his company from isoprene obtained from turpentine could not be vulcanized by itself, but that vulcanization did take place if any other rubber was added to the synthetic rubber. He said further, however, t h a t synthetic rubber made from isoprene obtained from Cameroon rubber could be readily vulcanized. He also stated t h a t his Company had been investigating the subject of synthetic rubber for the past ten months, and that with isoprene at 5 0 cents a pound, the price a t which they had obtained it, the price of the resulting synthetic rubber would be thoroughly satisfactory. The matter was discussed by Messrs. Boggs, Maywald, and others. Mr. Barrows gave a short talk on his theory of the formation of the rubber molecule. This theory was discussed a t length by Mr. L. G. Wesson and others. The chairman called for discussion on the effects of oils and other adulterants in reclaiming rubber. Discussion by Messrs. Whipple, Cutler, Boggs, and Boughton. In the absence of Mr. Thacher’s paper on “Mineral Compounds Used in Rubber,” the question of the use of sublimed
Feb.,1 9 1 2
white lead in rubber compounds and its exclusion from such compounds by various specification was brought up by hlr. Boggs, and discussed by Messrs. Whipple, Barrier, Walker, Tuttle, Hanslick and Wesson. December 30th. The meeting was called to order a t 9.50 by the chairman, with 37 members and visitors present. The meeting mas first addressed by Mr. Parsons, Secretary of the Society. Officers were elected for the ensuing year: Xr. Cutler, Chairman; Mr. Whipple, Secretary. There was then a general discussion on the appointment of a Committee on Standardizing Methods of Rubber Analysis, by Messrs. Walker, Fay, Geer, Culter, Boggs, and Parsons. I t was voted t h a t a committee of five, consisting of the chairman, secretary, and three of the members, elected by ballot, appoint a Committee on Standard Methods of Analysis. Messrs. Geer, Boggs, and Fay were duly elected to serve with the Chairman and Secretary, and on motion this Committee was made the Executive Committee for the ensuing year. Mr. Walker, on behalf of the Bureau of Chemistry, and Mr. Smith, on behalf of the Bureau of Standards, offered the facilities of their respective bureaus to the committee. Mr. Geer announced informally that his Company was prepared to detail some of its chemists to carry on work for the committee. It was unanimously voted t h a t every member of this Section would cooperate with the Committee on Methods of Analysis. A vote of thanks was extended to Mr. Goodrich, the former chairman, for the work which he had done during his administration. The question of abstracts in the Abstract Journal was discussed by Mr. Evans, Mr. Barrier, and others. The secretary read a letter which he had received from Mr. Whittelsey in reply to criticisms which had been made as to rubber abstracts in the Journal. Dr. Gray announced that he had found isoprene present in certain crude petroleums, but would not state in what particular petroleums he had found them. The following new members joined the Section: I . V. Stone, Revere Rubber Co., Providence, R . I. John A. Schaeffer, Picher Lead Co., Joplin, MO. F. E. Barrows, Patent Attorney, 918 F St., Washington, D. C. H. B. Rodman, Pennsylvania Railroad, Altoona, Pa. E. W. Boughton, Bureau of Chemistry, Washington, D. C. Norman G. Madge, Chief Chemist, Continental Rubber Co. of N. Y.,11 Vandewater St., New York, N. Y . John B. Tuttle, Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C. William H . Smith, Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C. D. Whipple, 114 Liberty St., New York, N. Y . Percy H. Walker, Bureau of Chemistry, Washington, D. C. Henry Fay, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston. Joseph Westesson, Navy Yard, Washington, D. C. Laurence G. Wesson, Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C. F. J. MAYWALD, Secretary.
NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE NOTE ON THE PRODUCTION OF MERCURY FULMINATE. B Y CHARLES E. MUNROE.
Although i t is stated t h a t mercuric fulminate has been produced through the reaction taking place between sodium nitromethane and mercuric chloride, yet, since the discovery of mercury fulminate by Edward Howard in 1800, it has been Forty-fifth Meeting, American Chemical Society, Washington, December, 191 1 .
commercially produced through the reactions occurring between ethyl alcohol, mercuric nitrate and nitric acid or its derivatives. In 1888 I began, in a desultory way, the study of this reaction when other alcohols were substituted for ethyl alcohol and, though methyl alcohol failed to give any satisfactory results, i t was found t h a t propyl, butyl, amyl and.the higher alcohols gave bodies allied to fulminic acid but containing a larger number Of atoms Or groups. A closer study of these reactions and particularly the ob-
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T H E JOGRLY.1L OF I - Y D L - S T R I A L A N D Ei\;GIA\TEERIl\;G
served fact that the reaction betv een ethyl alcohol and mercuric nitrate, even when wcll acidified Tvith nitric acid, did not proceed, except when nitrogen oxides were present, or until they had been formed, suggested that the first step in the reaction consisted in the conversion of the alcohols into aldehydes, and that then and only then were the fulminates formed. This suggested the substitution of aldehydes for alcohols and on using them, beginning with acetaldehyde, as the parent substances i t was found that not only vere fulminic acid and substituted fulminic acids produced but that the reactions ran on much more smoothly and completely As I have said these operations mere conducted in a desultory may and continued 01-er a term of many years, for my duties have been numerous and exacting and they have continually encroached on my efforts to conduct researches Fortunately I have now an accomplished student, trained in this field, who appreciates the problem and has entered on its solution and I hope soon that we may present a fuller statement and a more complete record of these interesting reactions and the results that follow from them. GEORGEWASHINGTOX UNIVEKSITP, December. 191 I
CHElWISTRY.
CLAY PRODU.CTS I N 1910. The products of the clay-working industries in the United States-brick, tile, pottery, etc.-reached in 1910 the largest value ever attained, the total being $170, I 15,974, compared 11-ith $166,321,213 in 1909. These figures are presented by Jefferson Middleton, of the United States Geological Survey, in an advance chapter from “Mineral Resources” for 1910“Clay-n‘orking Industries. ” I n the brick and tile industry building brick of all kinds except fancy or ornamental declined in value, while drain tile, sewer pipe, architectural terra cotta, fireproofing, stove lining, and fire-brick showed gains. In the pottery industry every item increased in 1910 except stoneware and yellow and Rockingham ware, which showed a loss of about $zoo,ooo. The following are the ten States with highest recorded production for 1910: State.
Brick and tile.
Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . $17,231,236 Pennsylvania.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,814,355 Xew Jersey..
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Illinois. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kern. Y o r k . . .
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Indiana.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Missouri
TUNGSTEN PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1911. There was a sharp falling off in the production of tungsten ores in 1911, owing to the decrease in the market for tool steels, in which the bulk of the tungsten is used. According to preliminary figures collected by Frank L. Hess, of the United States Geological Survey, about 1,125 short tons of concentrates carrying 60 per cent. tungsten trioxide were produced and shipped during the year, which is less than two-thirds of the output for 1910, when 1,821 tons were marketed. The prices for the year ranged from 64.50 to $8.50 per unit, depending on quantity, quality, and individual bargaining. A t the close of the year $5.00 per unit was offered. The unit is twenty pounds of tungsten trioxide per short ton of ore. As usual the Boulder County (Colorado) field gave the largest returns, 740 tons, and the A4tolia (California) deposits the second largest. Smaller amounts were produced in .4rizona, Nevada, Idaho, and lh’ashington. The ore mined in Boulder County is ferberite (irort tungstate), which is not obtained in large quantity at any other place in the world. I n spite of the poor market several new companies were formed to mine ore in the Boulder field and commenced operations during the year. Two companies profitably worked over tailings left from former operations. A considerable quantity of the ore mined both in this and in other fields
