-March, 1924
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WORLD-WIDE CHEMISTRY Paris Letter By Charles Lormand 4 AVENUEDE L’OBSERVATOIRE, PARIS, FRANCE
EXPERIMENTS ON THE PROPAGATION O F S O U N D The experiments recently carried out in Holland on the speed of the propagation of sound have given extremely important results. Therefore, the French Government has decided to repeat these experiments in this country using its stocks of explosives. In May, 1924, a t Camp de la Courtine, in the center of France, three gigantic explosions will take place, for each of which 10 tons of explosives will be used. These three explosions will take place fifteen days apart in order t o have variations in atmospheric conditions. The time of the explosions will be regulated from the Eiffel Tower. Numerous seismographs, registering apparatus, and observatories will note the direction, intensity, and character of the sound. NEW SOURCE O F CELTIUM M. Georges Urbain, who was one of the first to determine the existence of celtium, is hunting for possible deposits of this element. He has recently studied a number of minerals such as zirconia and malacons from Madagascar and Brazil, and is able to state that an appreciable amount o€ celtium has been found in these minerals. This statement is important since it shows that among the trivalent metals, such as those of rare earths and yttric earths, it is possible to find quadrivalent elements such as celtium, .which M. Urbain has detected by the spectroscope. The ancient idea of isomorphism will therefore have to be revised. FERTILIZER CATALYSTS M. Stoklasa, who has specialized in research on catalysis in agricultural chemistry, has recently determined the effects of iodine on vegetation. Inspired by the fact that the cultivated sugar beet had its botanical origin in a wild beet, the nautical beet (betfta maritima),he determined the amount of iodine in the cultivated beet, and then in the laboratory and in the field carried out experiments testing the fertilization of the soil with iodine in the form of potassium iodide. With 1.720 kg. of iodine per hectare in the form of iodide of potassium, and with the same quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium as in other fertilizers, he obtained supplementary yields of 80 quintals per hectare. If.the amount of iodine is increased to 4 or 5 kg., the sugar content of the beet decreases and the abnormal presence of pentoses such as arabinose is found in the sugar. M. Stoklasa thinks that iodine should play a part in the photosynthesis of carbohydrates, although he has not been able to demonstrnte this in a precise manner. It is interesting to compare this work with a recent study by ?VI. Freundler, presented a t 1’AcadCmie des Sciences, in which he compares the iodine content in algae a t different times of the day, studying the algae maintained in the light or darkness. Whatever the method of preparation used, whether incineration, extraction with bisulfite, or by osmosis, M. Freundler has established that the iodine is maintained in the greatest proportion in the algae in the dark or when immersed in a saline solution, this solution absorbing the ultra-violet rays. The iodine in the plant should accumulate in the leaves when it is dark and pass into the sea water in the light. A h’Bw GASGENERATOR -4s I have pointed out a t different times, investigations are going on in France with the hope of replacing the gasoline in motors by fuels of less weight. The Imbert gas generator has recently been tried in an automobile. This generator burns any fuel-coal, coke, anthracite, wood charcoal. It ignites very rapidly and includes :is accessory parts an air cooler, which lowers the temperature of the gas from 1400’ to 60” C., and a purifier with iron turnings and filings impregnated with oil. The ashes formed by the carbon are well fused and form a cake a t the bottom of the generator. The gas produced by this apparatus contains 33 per cent of combustible gas, of which 30 per cent is carbon monoxide. The absence of hydrogen renders it superior to the generators giving water gas, for the variations of hydrogen in such a gas render its use difficult in motors. The Imbert gas
generator using wood charcoal gives, for equal distances, an expenditure one-fourth that when oil is used. The French automobile industries are beginning to develop the use of this gas generator, which they have begun to use in agricultural motors for tractors and plows. DIAGNOSTIC CHEMISTRY O F PICTURES I mentioned more than two years ago the use of radiography for the identification of pictures. MM. Bayle and Kling have perfected other methods of determining whether a picture has been retouched. They use groups of red, blue, green, or white light to light the picture, and they examine the suspected canvas with the spectrometer. The use of these various colors puts in relief the retouchings, scrapings, and changed signatures which constitute a false picture. By employing the ultra-violet ray they make the zinc white and certain varnishes stand out by fluorescence. Finally, by scraping off very small amounts of paint, they have made spectrographic analyses of them, and have been able thus to determine-for example, in a false Renoir, the presence of a cadmium yellow, when Renoir only used chrome yellow. February 1, 1924
German Letter By Walter Roth COTHEN,GERMANY
CHEMISTRY AND ART Science and the arts are still to a certain degree antagonistic to each other, in spite of the fact that true culture will result from their intimate association. Therefore, everyone should welcome even a slight coordination between the two branches of science as a step in the progress toward their complete harmony. Chemistry, especially, plays a far greater role in the arts than those in the ranks of philosophy, literature, and, particularly, artists want to admit. In the libraries and museums chemistry is already essential in making old or damaged handwritings again legible or in restoring old, worn-out portraits. Moreover, problems such as, for example, what causes the beautiful tone of the Italian master violins, today unattainable, are not solved through round-about trials, but on the basis of chemical knowledge and investigations. Thus, Dr. Ditmar, who has been working for some time on the utilization of rubber latex, has recently shown that the Cremona violin owes its wonderful tone to a wood impregnated with rubber latex from Euphorbia or Ficus elastica. HIGH PRESSURESYMPOSIUM The most recent advances in chemical technic depend not so much on new chemical theory as on the designing and perfection of chemical apparatus. The chemical engineer has the leading word in chemical technic today. Therefore, the highpressure steam symposium a t the meeting of the “Vereins deutscher Ingenieure,” in Berlin in January, held the greatest for all chemists. At this symposium Dr. Mdnzinger spoke on the technical and economic principles and prospects of the production and utilization of high-pressure steam, and Professor Goerens discussed materials for boiler construction. With machines combining heat and power and using high-pressure turbines, up to 25 per cent of the heating power of the coal can be utilized to obtain a+n efficiency which approaches that of the Diesel motor. According to Goerens, 5 per cent nickel steel poor in carbon has been found to be a good boiler material. Exhibits by Director Loch showed that boilers of over 30 atmospheres no longer use rivet joints-seamless rolled or forged boilers being used for higher pressures. ELECTROLYTIC RECOVERY O F ZINC Wilhelm Palmaer and A. Wejnarth have been making an exhaustive study of this problem. According to them the use of sulfuric acid or zinc sulfate solution is preferred to the use of hydrochloric acid or zinc chloride solution. By comparing the electrolytic with the electrothermic production of zinc, it is
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shown that the first method is far superior from the point of view of power consumption. This is of special importance if no very cheap power is available. The electrolytic method can use poor zinc ores as long as they offer no special difficulties in extraction, while the electrothermal process requires pure ores. On the other hand, for the same production capacity the capital necessary for the electrolytic process is undoubtedly higher than for the electrothermal process. In America and in other countries the electrolytic method has been greatly extended in the last few years, while the electrothermal process is in use only in Sweden and possibly in Norway. According to the experiments described, about half of the zinc content of the solution is precipitated with an average current gain of 75 per cent. The addition of lime, which is sometimes recommended, proved to be unnecessary. As a cathode material aluminium is very suitable, as has already been mentioned in the literature. HEXETON, A NEW CAMPHOR COMPOUND A compound isomeric to the ordinary camphor and easily prepared synthetically, proved to be 3-methyl-5-isopropyl-A-2,3cyclohexane. This compound, which was discovered by the Farbenfabriken vor Friedrich Bayer & Co., in Leverkusen, and was being studied extensively there, as well as in the University of Heidelberg, is a transparent liquid of characteristic odor and bitter taste. According to investigations of Professors Gottlieb, Schulemann, Krehl, and Franz, this new compound, called “hexeton” for short, has the same qualitative effect as camphor, but is from two to four times as strong. Hexeton is readily soluble in water solutions of sodium salicylate to a clear, stable, and sterile liquid, which should be valuable for medicinal purposes, as no harmful effects of its use have as yet been observed. MENDING PLATINUM DISHES With the present high price of platinum, the mending of damaged platinum articles frequently has to be considered. For this purpose von Fellenburg recommends soldering with gold. A small piece of fine gold is beaten into a sheet about 0.1 mm. wide and cut into strips about 0.5 mm. wide and a little more than the length of the crack and heated from underneath with the blast. After a few seconds the gold melts and fills the opening. According to one writer this process has only a temporary value, as by frequent heating the gold alloys with the platinum and the crack opens up again. This can be prevented if another thin platinum sheet is laid on the gold sheet and the two together are fused to the dish-then the patch will hold. GERMANATOMICWEIGHTCOMMISSION This commission, which consists of Professors Honigschmid, Bodenstein, Hahn, and Meyer, has recently published its report of the July, 1922, to November, 1923, public dissertations on the atomic weight determinations. In the tables given out by this commission the “practical atomic weights for 1923” have been changed as follows: gallium 69.72 instead of 69.9; lanthanum 138.9 instead of 139; silicon 28.06 instead of 28.3. To the dispute that has arisen in the chemical world over hafnium and over the nomenclature of the two components of what was formerly called ytterbium, the commission states that for the element with the atomic weight 72, the name hafnium is accepted, and for the elements with the atomic weights 70 and 71, the names ytterbium and cassiopeium, respectively. The commission has, furthermore, arranged isotope tables of the common chemical elements corresponding to the state of research on October 1, 1923. According to these tables more than one kind of atoms has been detected in the following: lithium, boron, neon, magnesium, silicon, chlorine, argon, potassium, calcium, titanium (?), iron (?), nickel, copper, zinc, gallium, germanium, selenium, bromine, krypton, rubidium, silver, tin, antimony, xenon, and mercury (?). According to this table the greatest number of isotopes-that is, nine-is attributed to xenon. January 29, 1924
The Locust as a n Industrial Raw Material-Good progress is being made by the South African Locust Products Company making fertilizers, poultry foods, etc., from locusts. It appears that numerous inquiries have been received from Australia, America, and Europe, and that a much larger factory is to be opened a t Johannesburg, in addition t o the existing one, and another a t Capetown (which latter will probably deal with the export demand).
Vol. 16, No. 3
Washington Letter PAPER
AND P U L P
COMMITTEE MEETS
How to help the United States Department of Agriculture work out its forestry program for the nation was discussed a t a recent gathering in Washington of prominent paper and pulp manufacturers who were invited by Secretary of Agriculture Wallace to form an advisory committee to meet with him and with representatives of the Forest Service. The committee voted immediately to lend its efforts toward better forestry and utilization of wood, and to aid in the development of a national forestry program. The committee will assist the department particularly in studying the local methods for growing timber suitable for pulpwood and .better manufacturing processes. One uf the most urgent forest problems, according to the advisory committee, is for governmental agencies and the paper and pulp industry to work together to determine how much timber is available for paper making in the chief manufacturing regions, how long the supply of timber will last, and how to handle and protect the forests so as to keep them permanently productive. The value of scientific research in forestry problems and the utilization of wood were emphasized. One of the definite accomplishments of the meeting was the decision to have small groups of timberland owners act in an advisory capacity t o t h e Federal Forest Experiment Stations a t New Orleans, La., Asheville, N. C., Amherst, Mass., St. Paul, Minn., and to the Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wis. Samuel T. Dana, director of the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, and Raphael Zon, director of the Lake States Forest Experiment Station, discussed the work of their stations relative to growing pulpwood. The main producing regions of timber best suitable for pulpwood lie within the territory covered by these two Forest Service Stations.
PASTEUR RXHIBIT Now
IN
WASHINGTON
The American Pasteur exhibit prepared by the Department of Agriculture and displayed at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City, in December, 1922, in honor of the centenary of the birth of Louis Pasteur, has been awarded the diplome de grande f r i x by the Exposition Internationale de Pasteur a t Strasburg. This exhibit illustrated all Pasteur’s world-famous experiments in fermentation, as well as his work on anthrax, chicken cholera, and rabies. Apparatus exactly like that employed by Pasteur was reproduced by the Eureau of Chemistry and arranged in such orderly sequence that one could follow each successive step of the great discoveries. John S. Buckley, of the pathological division of the Bureau of Animal Industry, furnished the material showing the experiments on rabies, etc. The exhibit of the Bureau of Chemistry has been returned to Washington and reassembled in the east gallery of the old National Museum.
TARIFF COMMISSION HAFPENINGS All argument before Justice Siddons, of the Supreme Court
of the District of Columbia, on the petition of the Norwegian Nitrogen Products Company for a writ of mandamus to compel the Tariff Commission to disclose to the petitioner the production costs and other information submitted by the American Nitrogen Products Company in the investigation of sodium nitrite, was completed on January 31, 1924. Trial briefs have been filed, but as yet no decision has been handed down. A hearing on phenol was held in the office of the coinmission on January 24, and was closed on the same date, thirty days having been given for the filing of briefs. Oral argument in the case was waived. The hearing on cresylic acid set for the same date was postponed until January 25, and then, upon request by the applicants for a decrease in duty, was further postponed until February 14, a t which time representatives of the Insecticide and Disinfectant Manufacturers’ Association, the applicants for the reduction in duty, did not appear. Representatives appeared in the interest of cresol, U. S. P., however. Members of The Barrett Company appeared in opposition. Thirty days were given to file briefs. In response to a petition for a lowering in the duty on cottonseed oil, the commission has announced a public hearing for March 5. Another hearing which is attracting a great deal of interest is that announced for March 7, having to do with vegetable, animal, and fish oils, including herring, menhaden, whale, olive, coconut, cottonseed, soy bean, and peanut oils, tallow, oleo oil, and oleostearin. Field work will not be undertaken until after the preliminary hearing.
