J u n e . 191j
T H E JO17RS.iL OF ISD17STRI:IL
colloids v,Tith their extensil-e surface is necessary for t h e production of t h e most satisfactory surface. There is one other consideration of a physical n a t u r e in connection \Tit11 t h e relation of surface area t o t h e films of bitumen a n d this is. t h e thickness of t h e film of t h e melted b i t u m e n which \Till adhere t o or be sdsor1jt.d b y t h e surface with which i t is brought in contact. dependent i n ' o n e direction on t h e n a t u r e of t h e surface a n d in t h e other o n t h e character of t h e b i t u m e n . I t is known t h a t t h e thickness of adsorbed aqueous films on various surfaces is quite difYerent. The same dilierences have been observed as regards t h e !iehavior of surfaces n-ith different bitumens. T h e more \-iscous t h e bitumen a n d t h e larger t h e a m o u n t of rnlloici material which i t contains, t h e thicker t h e film :in$, consequently. t h e greater t h e cementing pon-er of t h e bitumens which forms t h e thicker film. T h e writer's premise. a t t h e beginning of this paper. t h a t the basis for t h e constriiction of a perfect asphalt surface lies in :i considerxt,ion of the chemistry of surface; a n d films seems. therefore. t o be confirmed a n d t o offer a solution of t h e rational construction of such surf:t ces. CLIFFo R D RICHA R D s o s \~C)OLIVORTH B I - I L D I X ~ ; S E W TORK .
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T H E EFFECT OF T H E W A R O N ABSTRACTS l h e reduction i n t h e bulk of current c h e m i c d literature due t o t h e war in Europe is reflected in t h e size of t h e recent n u m b e r s of C h e m i c a l A b s l r a c t s . Since a little more t h a n tn-o-thirds of t h e chemical research work reported during t h e past ten years was done in t h e countries now a t war, a considerable effect was t o b e expected. T h e extent of this reduction is shown by t h e follon-ing figures: T h e first six numbers of t h e 1914 1-olunie of Chciiiical A b s t r a c t s contain 5 2 8 6 a b stracts of journal articles; t h e corresponding numbers of t h e present year contain h u t 3 4 3 j such abstracts. This ihon-s a decrease of a b o u t 3 j per cent. T h e effect o n t h e p a t e n t literature has n o t been so g r e a t ; there has Leen a decrease of a b o u t 2 0 per cent: the n u m b e r of p a t e n t a b s t r a c t s appearing in C i i e w i c a l .-I hstracts in t h e first six n u m l ~ c r sof Volume 8 being 2 2 0 1 a n d in t h e corresponding n u m b e r s of Volume 9 , 1 7 j j. T h e numhers of pages in C h e m i c a l A b s t r a c t s for t h e t w o periods are. respectively, I 2 2 0 a n d 8 7 2 ; t h e decrease has been z 8 . j per cent. T h e tn7o periods are only approximately comparable because, since t h e beginning of t h e war. irregularities in t h e receipt of foreign journals in t h e United States have caused delays in t h e publication of a b s t r a c t s in some cases: however. t h e first three m o n t h s of 191; is a more suitable period for t h i s comparison t h a n t h e m o n t h s of 1914 following t h e outbreak of t h e *\lthough there have been delays t h e field h a s been covered 1-ery nearly, if n o t , a s completely as under normal conditions. Practically all of t h e foreign journals t h a t are being published a r e now being abstracted in good t i m e . T h e decrease in t h e n u m b e r of a b s t r a c t s is d u e t o t h e decreased size of t h e journals of t h e warring countries, t h e doubling u p of n u m b e r s a n d t h e fact t h a t t h e publication of some journals h a s been discontinued, a t least temporarily.
T h e chemical journals t h a t ha\-e been discontinued since t h e o u t b r e a k of t h e TTar are few in n u m b e r . T h e papers being published in t h e warring countries are in some cases below t h e normal s t a n d a r d of' q u a l i t y ; nevertheless a considerahle n u m h c r of i.mportant papers is appearing. Surprise has been expressed t h a t t h e reduction i n number h a s n o t been greater. There has been no interruption in t h e receipt in this c o u n t r y of English chemical journals. With t h e exception of t h e abstract sections of t h e Jotiriial of t h e C h e m i c a l S o c i e t y of L o n d o n a n d t h e Jozrrnal of tire S o c i e t y of C h e m i c a l I n d u s t r y a n d a slight decrease in size. t h e English journals show h u t little effect of t h e n-:Lr. There ha\-e been delays a n d irregularities in t h e receipt of German journals b u t almost all of t h e m are being published a n d are now reaching t h e United States m-ith sonic degree of promptness if obtained directly from t h e publisher. J n m a n y cases t w o or more numbers of t h e German journals are appearing hound together as one normal-sized number. Several of t h e French journals have been discontinued b u t t h e more i m p o r t a n t ones chemically are appearing. T h e n u m b e r of papers published in t h e m during t h e first three months of 1 9 1 j . while small, is greater t h a n t h e number appearing during t h e last, three months of 1914. T h e JouYTzal of tire R u s s i a i r P h y s i c a l Ckeitiiral S o c i e t y is t h e only i m p o r t a n t Russian chemical journal. T h e J a n u a r y , I ~j ,In u m b e r of this journal I\-as receivetl -\pril 1 0 t h ; e\Tery effort t o obtain or locate t h e 1914 n u m b e r s published since t h e o u t b r e a k of t h e war met with failure until I I a y 3 r d . at which time all were received i n one bundle. S o decrease i n size is shonm. -1 full-sized number of Rccrieil d e s t r a o o ilx c l i i m i q u e s des P a y s - B a s ct d e la Brlgiqire was pu1,lishecl in January. This is a very i m p o r t a n t period for Ciiewric-ai d bsfracts. These are troublesome d a y s for a n abstract journal n-hich endeavors t o report completely' a n d promptly t h e progress of chemistry throughout t h e x o r l d ; however. t h e handicap t o Chevzicul .lbstrnrts is less t h a n t h a t experienced b y t h e other chemical abstract journals of t h e world. Clzeiizical .Ibsfracts mill be t h e only complete record of t h e chemical researches rcported during t h e war period. T h e J a n u a r y , F e b r u a r y a n d M a r c h n u m b e r s of t h e J o t t r i i a l o,f tire C:/ientical S o c i e t y of Loizdoii, which correspond t o t h e period being used for comparison. do not contain a single abstract of a German paper published since t h e outbreak of t h e war. T h e Jourizal o j t h e S o c i e t y of C h e m i c a l I i i d z i s f r y has published during this period abstracts for only n small n u m b e r of t h e papers t h a t have appeared in t h e G e r m a n journals. T h e numbers of C h e n i i s c h e s Z e n trcziblatt for t h e period ( t w o not available for checking a t t i m e of writing) contain a n u m b e r of references t o English journals, b u t t h e y are n o t covered completely; no references t o French, Russian or Japanese journals are t o b e found. Cnless t h e mails from t h e warring countries are i n t e r r u p t e d , Chemical d bstracts c a n be relied on t o continue t o cover t h e field completely a n d i n most cases as p r o m p t l y as delays in t h e receipt of journals will permit. E. J . C R A N E
