INDUSTRIAL
4
AND ENGINEERING
New Text J^u'Jis }:cd by rhejimericLm
Easton,
ChemiealSoeieTjj
Pa.
NEWS EDITION Editor: HARRISON E- Howe Managing Editor: ROBERT P. FISCHKLIS Assistant to the Editor: N". A. PARKINSON Associate Editor: D. H. KILLBPFER EDITORIAL OFPICB:
ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT:
706 Mills Building. Washington, D. C.
19 E. 24th St.. New Vork, Ν. Υ.
Entered as second class matter at East on, Pa. Issued three times a month Industrial Edition on the 1st, News Edition on the 10th and 20th. Subscription t o Industrial & Engineering Chemistry. $7.50 per year; News Edition only. $1.50 per year. Single copies, 10 cents. Subscriptions should he sent to Charles L. Parsons. Secretary. 1709 G. St. N. W.. Washington. D. C.
Vol. 4
JANUARY 10. 1926
No. 1
Fourth Annual Colloid Symposium The Fourth Annual Colloid Symposium will be held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology June 23, 24, and 25, Î926. Previous colloid symposiums have been held at the University of Wisconsin Northwestern University, and the University of Minnesota. Prof. James W. McBain of the University of Bristol will be the guest of honor. The program for the symposium will be announced early in the spring. Brian Mead, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is chairman of the committee on arrangements.
Methanol and Butyl Alcohol Statistics The following statistics of imports of methanol and butyl alcohol entered for consumption in the United States have been compiled by the Chemical Division of the Department of Commerce. METHANOL
Gallons
PERIOD
Entire Year First Quarter Second Quarter July August September October
1924 1925 1925 1925 1925 1925 1925
48 122,906 185,178 7,847 48,410 8,413 42,227
S
BUTYL ALCOHOL
Value
Pounds
Value
29 56,422 84,622 3,865 21,493 3,941 17,359
404,882 544,205 323,348 175,972 344,559 180,785 368,717
S 97,861 112,562 73,443 31,689 55,942 25,100 59,719
New Sulfuric Acid Plant for Canada A new Canadian sulfuric acid plant at the smelter of the Mond Nickel Co., Coniston, Ontario, commenced operations early in November. It i s claimed that the plant, which is a distinct innovation in the nickel smelting industry of the Sudbury district, has measured up to the expectations of its designers and is working most successfully. It is the first attempt made by either of the nickel companies to utilize the waste sulfur gases in the metallurgical operations. The plant includes two units and the total production will be about 25,000 tons. At the present time only one unit of the plant has been completed, but the second unit "was to be in operation before the end of 1925. Some details of the process and operation can be obtained upon application to the Chemical Division, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Washington, D. C.
Motor Benzol Duty Free A recent ruling of Assistant Secretary Andrews permits the importing of motor benzol from Nova Scotia duty free, sustaining the claim of the importer that benzol is a coal-tar product and overruling the appraiser of customs at Baltimore which held that it was a mixture of coal tar and petroleum products. In order t o decide the point an investigation was held at the works of the producing concern, which showed the motor benzol to be produced solely from unmixed coke-oven gas with no admixture of petroleum products.
CHEMISTRY
News Edition
Correspondence Grasping at the Moon Editor, News Edition, I. 6* E. C: Although the metric system is used by fifty-seven nations, more or less, perhaps the total trade and industry of these is less than that of the countries that use other systems. The fact of the matter is that the whole decimal system of notation and numeration is a clumsy and awkward one, adopted, we are told, because the ancients had ten fingers. It is not the result of chance or whim that the gallon contains four quarts, eight pints, sixteen gills, or 128 ounces, or that there are eight furlongs in a mile. The normal or most obvious and facile division of a unit is not by tens but by twos, giving halves, quarters, eighths, etc. This is why the machinist divides his inch in this way. Perhaps the most striking example of the tendency to divide by twos is in our method of expressing fractions of a cent. Although we have a decimal currency and a mythical mill, yet fractions of a cent are given in halves, quarters, and eighths, as can be seen by consulting any market report, even that in Industrial &° Engineering Chemistry. And in some localities this natural tendency gives us the "bit," an eighth of a dollar. If we wish to bring about a reform in numbering and counting let us make it radical and sweeping, and discard the entire decimal system and adopt one based on eight instead of ten; one that runs like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, etc. Or perhaps it would be better to make 10 larger, introducing six new characters and make 10 in the new system equal to 16 of the decimal system. Then 1 X 2 = 2; 2 X 2 = 4; 4 X 2 = 8; 8 X 2 = 10. Such a sextodecimal system, after once being learned, would appear as much superior to the decimal system as our decimal money is superior to pounds, shillings, pence. 4309 Ellis Ave. D. DAVIDSON Chicago, 111. Dec. 19, 1925 Editor, News Edition, I. cV E. C: When Roosevelt referred to the "insane fringe" of every reform movement, I imagine that he did not mean to be unkind to those well-meaning people who misconceived the purpose for which he was fighting but he could not afford to mince words if those same well-meaning people were causing the real issue to become beclouded by utterly impracticable suggestions. We have been debating the metric system for over a century while the rest of the world has been putting it into practice. The question of abandoning the decimal system is not at issue and to raise it now would be out of place, since this is the time for action. As chemists we are all convinced that the gradual introduction of the metric system is both desirable and also highly practicable. Although it may not be ideal, it is the only system combining the enormous advantages of simplicity, decimalization, and world uniformity. Mr. Davidson's suggestion is particularly bad for it is directly away from world uniformity. He would have us adopt an entirely new system based upon the factor two. With our decimal system, this is not an overwhelming advantage, as can be proved by the fact that the foot is divided into tenths by the surveyor and the inch into thousandths by the mechanical engineer. One does not continue Va", XU", Ve", etc., down to one millionth of an inch. By confusing the issue Mr. Davidson is in effect giving aid to the opponents of the metric system. In fact suggestions of this sort have long constituted a stock method of opposition. One of the earliest was the proposal to divide the circle into one hundred degrees, which the French actually tried out. We must convince those who do not know the metric system that we are practical men and not mere dreamy philosophers seeking a change merely for the sake of a change. Every chemist should make one of his mottoes for 1926 "buy pure reagent chemicals in standard metric packages" in the belief that the introduction of the metric system into merchandising in the United States is practicable and that its general introduction in the United States will rapidly be followed by Great Britain. When that is accomplished the entire world will speak the universal language of science, no mean achievement in the progress of evolution. But in the meantime let us seize the readily attainable objective and not continually grasp a t the moon. E U G E N E C. BINGHAM
W. Raymond Koppes has left the employ of the Rochester Folding Box Co. to accept a position as chemist and ink specialist with the Commercial Poster Company of Cleveland.
