CORRESPONDENCE THE IDEAL PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE SMALL COLLEGE To the Editor DEARSIR: This article impressed me at first reading in the same way that I am impressed when I look a t the composition of a crazy quilt. As a crazy quilt is made up of crazy patches so is this article made up of patches (ideals) collected from a wide range of accrediting agencies. The writer seems to give one the impression that an ideal is something a t which one is to poke fun. Then he makes a distinction between the ideal professor in the "small" college and his "academic brother" in the "great university." He leads one to question the wisdom of ever allowing an ideal to gain a foothold in the brain of him who ventures to cast his lot and his fortunes in that much misunderstood and little appreciated .institution, the "small" college. "Still the wonder grew that one small head contained all he knew," was said of the village school master by the poet, who was also poking fun a t the poor benighted pedagogue. There seems to be the cry of despair all through this article that this much laughed at, misguided, misdirected idealist, who is still hunting for the pot of gold a t the foot of the rainbow, should aspire to achieve all of the virtues listed from A to I with subdivisions 1-5 under B and 1-6 under F and 1-3 under I and last, but almost forgotten, to "still find time for his family and social obligations." The entire article ends with the fervent prayer, "AMEN," which signifies "So it is; or so be it; let it be so; would that it were so." One is given the further impression that the commendable virtues listed as appertaining to and required of the ideal professor of the "small college" are not to be considered a part of the requirements of his academic brother in the "great university,'' yet by his use of the term "academic" he assumes that all of the virtues listed as ideals for the "teacher" in the small college are taken for granted or are included in the term "academic." In other words, it is assumed that the "academic brother" is a "Simon pure" scholar while the "teacher in the small college" (with emphasis on the word small) has to be prayed for in order that he may arrive atthat state of perfection. The "teacher" in the small college is further complimented by the
statement that his duties "are considerably more varied and extensive than those of his academic brother in the great university (emphasis on the much over-worked word great). The unfortunate "doctor of philosophy" who has obtained all of his higher education in a large institution certainly gives the "large" or the "great" university some very had advertising when he finds himself a misfit in the congregation of the "ideal professors." It raises the question as to whether his education is high or low or whether it is education a t all. This article also may have a tendency to intensify prejudices and misunderstandings between the small college and the great university. The small college was once described as a log with a student on one end and Mark Hopkins a t the other end. Presumably the log, the student, and Mark were all composed of scholastic timber and all were idealists. Now to go from jest to earnest the writer has been a member of the small college for the past twenty-three years and has had abundant opportunity to associate with his brethren who have cast their lots with the larger universities. He has been able to do about everything listed as ideals for the teacher in the small college and finds that his brethren in the large universities in many cases have just as many "outside calls" to serve humanity as are thrust upon the teacher in the small college. The phenomenal thing is that so many men in the profession of teaching and of learning chemistry find time to do so many different things and to do them so well. If I may add two ideals to the commendable list of ideals already assembled, then will we all have something to shoot a t which is worth while. The first ideal, and I would have it marked (A), would be for the chemist to learn how to preserve and to conserve his physical health. It does not speak very well for the profession of chemistry to have so many chemists' names apear in the column in the News under NECROLOGY as having died from heart or some of the diseases of disintegration while yet comparatively young men. With all of our knowledge of chemistry and chemical laboratories we seem to be quite ignorant
about the regulation and control of the chemical proc- man (j),the "Internatioual Critical Tables" (6),and esses of the human body. We control states of Mulliken (7) state that the molecular weight of racemic equilibrium in the laboratory but not in our physical acid with one molecule of water is 168.07. That this has proved very confusing not only to the bodies. The second ideal which needs to be strongly recommended to the ideal chemist is to have an ideal writer but to numerous other workers can be definitely of some sort which is as large or larger than the one shown. outlined under I,p. 202, JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCA- In 1933, Dr. A. K. Anderson, under whom the writer once had the pleasure of studying physiological chemisTION,13, May, 1936. W. MUHLEMAN try, published in collaboration with A. H. Rouse and GEORGE T. V. Letonoff a paper [Ind. Eng. Ckm., Anal. Ed., 5, HAMLINE UNIVERSITY SAINT PAUL. MINNESOTA 19 (1933)l entitled, "A Colorimetric Method for the Determination of Tartaric Acid." The method is of distinct value in the analysis of tartrate baking powders and can be used in the presence of aluminum. The following paragraphs from this paper are of interest.
THE MOLECULAR WEIGHT OF RACEMIC ACID To the Editor DEARSIR: During the course of some theoretical work on the optical isomerism of tartaric acid the writer found that racemic acid was yielding results only half of that expected and given by the ( d ) and (1) forms of the acid. Compounds possessing two asymmetric but structurally similar carbon atoms, of the general formula Cabc-Csbc exist in three different configurations. Two of these spatial arrangements are optically active and opposite in sign (antipodes). The third is represented by an internally compensated structure and cannot be resolved into-active components (meso form). A fourth compound, the racemic form, is produced by the union of the two active enantiomorphs and can be resolved or separated into its optically active components by special methods. A paradigm may help in elucidation. Let each of the two asymmetric carbon atoms be represented by A and their different spatial configurations by the signs and - . The following arrangements are possible.
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(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
+A
-A -A
+A -A
-A +A
+A
(5)
[(E) ( 3 1
As a matter of interest the application of the colorimetric method to the determination of other forms of tartaric acid was studied. Using &tartaric acid as a standard, it was found that l-tartaric acid, l-ammonium tartrate, and meso-tartaric acid produce a color equivalent to that of the standard. With racunic acid the color intensity was approximately one-half that of the standard. This reaction of racemic acid was surprising. I t was thought that possibly there might be some union of the d- and l- forms in racemic acid which was causing an interference in the reaction, but molecular weight determinations by the freeziug-point method indicate no such union. With regard to the purity of the racemic acid used (obtained from the Eastman Kadak Company) i t may be said that it was optically inactive and that it required the theoretical amount of sodium hydroxide for neutralization. The melting point wss 202%. whereas the accepted value is 205-206'C. A mechanical mixture of equal parts of dand l-tartaric acids did not react like racemic acid hut gave the proper color intensity. Two different samples of racemic acid were analyzed with identical results. No satisfactory explanation can be made for this hehavior of racemic acid.
In view of the foregoing statement that racemic acid should be represented by the formula 2CnHsOs 2H20 and not C&HsOs H20as given in all the standard sources of information, little need be added in explanation of the apparent discrepancy in the colorimetric analysis of racemic acid except to point out that this communication helps to substantiate the essential accuracy of the work reported by Dr. Anderson and his collaborators. EUGENE W. BLANK
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+
+
Figures (1) and (2) represent respectively the (d) and (1) forms of tartaric acid. Figures (3) and (4) are identical and represent the (i) or meso form of tartaric acid. These three compounds have each a molecular weight of 150.05. Figure (5) represents dl-tartaric acid or racemic acid. With a little thought it will be realized that its molecular weight must be twice that of the other forms of tartaric acid, not including the water of crystallization usually associated with it. Schmidt and Rule (1)in reference to racemic acid say, "The crystalline acid has the composition 2C4H606 2Hz0." Bernthsen and Sudborough (2)likewise plainly state this fact. However, Richter (,?), Olsen ( 4 ) , Hodg-
LITERATURE CITED
(1) SCHMIDT AND RULE, "A texthwk of organic chemistry," 2nd ed., D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., New York City, 1932, p. 281. (2) B E R N ~ S E N AND SUDBOROUGR, "A textbook of organic chemistry," new edition, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., New York City, 1922. (3) RICHTERAND SPIELMANN, "Organic chemistry," Vol. 1, 2nd ed.. P. Blakiston's Son & Co.. Philadel~hia. . . Penn-
' Sixth Issue,
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ed., 1934, p. 686.
