2030
JOURNAL O F CHEMICAL EDUCATION
OCTOBER,1931
recognition and financial return. His success depends on himself first of all but next on his training and to this extent his employer is responsible for his success. His progress is beset by trials and tribulations, it is sweetened by the thrill of achievement, lifelong friends are made, independence is acquired, and a satisfaction comes from the knowledge that one's best efforts have been expended and the goal reached to the best measure of one's ability.
ON THE USE OF EMPTY CHEMICAL BOTTLES Large empty glass bottles in which chemicals were purchased have been found very convenient and economical for use in certain lecture experiments in which the apparatus is quite likely to be broken. As is generally known, experiments demonstrating the properties of oxygen, or other gases collected over water, almost surely result in the cracking of a t least one cylinder. For instance, when burning iron wire in oxygen, one can hardly avoid cracking the apparatus, which is usually a cylinder of small diameter. However, if a glass bottle of a liter and a half or two liters capacity is substituted for the demonstration cylinder in the above experiment the larger volume of oxygen makes success more certain, the experiment more convincing, and the breakage of the container of little consequence.
Oxygen Lack Produces Condition Like Insanity. An emotional and mental condition resembling the effects of alcohol or temporary insanity results from a lack of oxygen such as that experienced by the aviator flying a t high altitudes. Marked effects on the personality and mental processes of oxygen deprivation were brought out by experiments reported to the New York branch of the American Psychological Association by Dr. Ross A. McFarland of Columbia University. The results of thcsc enpcriments may lead to the development of new methods of studying the physiological and psychological causes of mental breakdown, Dr. McFarland bclievcs. Loss of memory results from the lack of oxygen a t altitude of 20,000 feet or more. and even below that height persons become unable after a period of an hour to keep their attention fixed or to perform tasks requiring judgment, patience, or persistence. These effects occur in an insidious manner. T h e subjects make mistakes but arc not aware of them. Emotional outbursts are characteristic but individuals differ widely in their reactions, Dr. McFarland said. "Some reacted by marked irascibility of temper or by trying to break the apparatus to pieces, others by uncontrollable laughter, silliness, or flirting with the experimenter. There seemed to be some omsistcncy in these rractians suggesting that the basic and uninhibited temperament of the individual had been enposed. Lack of effort, indifference, and lack of ability to carry out tasks are very characteristic and quite as noticeable as the loss in accuracy."-Science Service
