t h e nature and heliuvior of men. T o Insure, they are more gratifying subjects for study because they are more simple, but man can live without knowledge of Stars and gases whereas he is rinding it increasingly, difficult to live without knowledge of himself Without such knowledge lie is finding it increasingly difficult to benefit from hi> v:ist and growing knowledge of everything else.*' We have been promised a fabulous postwar world abounding with mechanical improvements and fascinating new gadgets. But in tin* hmg run what good are these gadgets if we do not live long enough in good health to enjoy them? I believe we are just beginning to appreciate that We must devote more of our American genius, rime, and money to research in the medical sciences. Nothing is more important in the postwar period than action in this direction. There is a real danger that this growing public interest may t a k e an unwise turn.
We yee symptoms of it in trie WagnerM u r n i v - n i n g l e Bill relating to medical care, the Kilgore Bill concerned with research, and the widespread notion t h a t research should be a function of government. We need more research, and we will get it, hut we will not get the kind of research that will achieve the greatest progress in the shortest period of time if it is controlled and directed in Washington. Research must be independent and free t o s t r a y from the beaten p a t h . It must not be tied down by precedent and a u t h o r i t y , (iovernment officials live by precedent a n d authority, (ierman research in t h e medical sciences began to wither when Hitler came into power and the universities and lahoratoiies of that c o u n t r y came under the domination of the Nazi party. (Qualifications for research became political rather than seient ific. We must be \ ery certain that research in this country is never dominated by any political party, political group, or
even a single politician. We m u s t not forget that a .statesman as great as William Jennings Bryan fought the scientific concept of evolution, and college professors have been fired for teaching it. Not so long a g o a professor in one of our agricultural s t a t e universities was dismissed for showing t h a t oleomargarine was a reasonably acceptable s u b s t i t u t e for butter. Politics a n d science d o not mix and it is up to those w h o unders t a n d science,', to keep the politicians 4
(1) (2) (3)
D u r i n g an investigation of other phases of t h e chemistry of white phosphorus, experiments upon the extinguishing of phosphorus blazes were carried out as a m a t t e r of laboratory precaution. In these experiments the quenching power of a n u m ber of dilutions of copper sulfate in water was observed by igniting pellets of ap>proxiniately the same size (0.1 gram) a n d inundating them with equal volumes (20 cr.) of solution. It was found that t h e quenching power of these solutions was low, and independent of t h e concentration of copper sulfate up to 2 0 % (which w a s the highest studied). When the solution 1 nine in contact with t h e burning s u b stance, explosions occurred, presumably the result of the rapid generation of steam, and burning particles were scattered I'mm the original" source 4 . In addition, many pieces continued t o burn briskly upon t h e surface of t h e liquid. T h i s failure t o extinguish the flames was interpreted as a result of the inability of t h e aqueous solution t o wet t h e surface of t h e phosphorus, which is ' n o w n t o behave like a fat with respect to solvents. O n t h i s basis, therefore, t h e surface tension and wetting power of the aqueous solutions of copper sulfate were modified
T h e s a m e device h a s been suggested as a means of controlling burning white phosphorus on t h e s k i n {3) and is now generally advocated in military first-aid handbooks (4).
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b y the addition of wetting a g e n t s and the quenching power was again studied. I t was then found that if a wetting a g e n t wa." present in t h e solution (or even in pure water) these fires were quenched immediately and completely, without explosions or scattering of phosphorus particles. A large-scale test of t h i s effect, controlled with an unmodified solution, produced the s a m e result.
Recommendations 1. For emergency quenching of phosphorus fires, a solution of soap in w a t e r . (Liquid soap, one part to 5 p a r t s of water, was used in t h e above experiments.) T h e phosphorus becomes combustible as the solution dries off. 2. For the more p e r m a n e n t quenching of phosphorus fires, a solution of a wetting agent in 5 % copper sulfate solution. One p a r t of Aerosol O T ( 2 5 % a q u e o u s ) to 100 p a r t s of 5% copper sulfate was found effective. This mixture should be s h a k e n before use.
Literature Cited (1) Mellor, J. W., "Inorganic Chemistry"t Vol. VIII, New York, Longmans, Green and Co., 1928. (2) Walker, O J.. J. Chem. Soc, 1926, 1370. (3) Walton, D. C.f J. Am. Med. Assoc, 84, 1569 (1925). (4) War Dept., "Military Chemistry and Chemical Agents", Technical Manual 3-215, p. 149, Washington, D . C , Government Printing Office, 1942.
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