January 20, 1934
INDUSTRIAL
AND ENGINEERING
CHEMISTRY
23
Honorary Members of t h e American Chemical Society H A R R I S O N H A L E AND L E S L E Y K I L E ,
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark.
I N THE FIRST YEAR of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 8
honorary members representing five different countries were elected. This policy has been continued and the 59 members chosen over a period of 59 years make a distinguished and interesting group. Honorary membership has been conferred in 19 different years, the last being on Willstâtter chosen in 1927. There has been no regularity in the time or in the number elected, as shown in Table I, the greatest number (14) being chosen in 1926, the semi-centennial year of the SOCIETY, and the next largest number (8) in 1876, the first year. In the first 31 years, 29 honorary members were chosen; 30 have been honored since that time. TABLE
I.
NUMBER
OF HONORARY ELECTION
YEAR
No. ELECTED
1876 1884 1889 1891 1894 1898 1900 1901 1905 1906
8 2 2 1 1 3 2 5 4 1
Total
MEMBERS YEAR
1910 1915 1917 1919 1920 1921 1924 1926 1927 Total
29
WITH Y E A R OF N O . ELECTED 6 1 1 1 1 4 1 14 1
Grand total
30
growth of the SOCIETY.
It is impossible to estimate the influence upon the science of chemistry exerted by this group of honorary members. Their lives extend over more than a century, the oldest having been born in 1786 before the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. Almost without exception they have published widely read and influential books, and have written an imposing number of papers. A list of these members with certain facts in the life of each is given on pages 24 and 25. This information has come from many sources, including personal letters from some of those more recently elected. The most important of these sources are listed at the end of this paper. The average age a t the time of election to honorary membership has been approximately 62 years, the group from 1876-1906 averaging 60 and the second group somewhat less than 64. Chevreul elected in 1884 a t the age of 98 was by far the oldest, with Chandler, 85 in 1921, Solvay, 82 in 1920, and Remsen, 80 in 1926 next. Nernst, elected in 1905 at 41, and Madame Curie, in 1910 a t 43, were t h e youngest honorary members, though four others were chosen a t 46. Sabatier, born in 1854, is t h e oldest living honorary member, and Grignard, born in 1871, the youngest. The longevity of chemists is splendidly illustrated by this group, the average age at death being 75.5 years. This checks with the age at death of 73 for Presidents of the SOCIETY. Chevreul who died a t 103 established a record not likely to be surpassed. Roozeboom a t 53, Moissan a t 55, and van't Hoff at 56 had the shortest lives. NATIONALITY
Fourteen countries are represented in this group of 59 honorary members. The statement of nationality is in a few cases difficult. Thus Madame Curie is classified as French, since most TABLE II. NATIONALITY , T i ME OF E L E C T I O N — 1910-1927 1876-1906 6 9 4 2 2 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 1
TABLE I I I .
FIELD OF CHEMISTRY - T I M E OF ELECTION -
FIELD
Organic Inorganic Physical Industrial Analytical
3 4
1910-1927 12 5 5 6 2
29
30
1876-1906 9
Total 21 12 11 9 6 59
Including the award of the first Nobel Prize in chemistry to van't Hoff in 1901, fifteen in the group have been awarded this honor. This is approximately half of the prizes awarded in chemistry. Three Nobel Prizes in physics have also been given to members of this group. Madame Curie is the only woman to receive the Nobel Prize in chemistry and also the only person to receive the Nobel Prize in both physics and chemistry. AMERICAN HONORARY MEMBERS
LONGEVITY
British German French American Dutck Belgian Italian Danish - Russian Swiss Canadian Czech Japanese Swedish
OCCUPATION AND FIELD OP WORK
With two or thRee exceptions all have been teachers. This emphasizes the service which teachers have rendered in the growth and development of the science, but it shows also that a teacher of marked success is more likely to be recognized than an industrial worker of like achievement. Perhaps this is due t o the usually better opportunity for research and publication that the teacher has had. A study of the influence of any one teacher upon his pupils is possible from these data, but it must of necessity be indefinite and uncertain. The classification of a number of these men under a special field of chemistry is difficult and decidedly open to question. Several of them were in reality physicists rather than chemists, and yet they are not out of place as members of a chemical society. Thefiguresgiven in Table III are interesting but cannot claim absolute accuracy.
59
Of the 230 members of the SOCIETY in 1876, the honorary members made up nearly 3.5 per cent, but the larger number of honorary members living today constitutes less than 0.1 per cent of the total membership. This is due, of course, to the
NATIONALITY
of her life and work has been in France, but no one could object seriously to her classification as Polish. In general, the country where the chemist has lived and done most of his work is the basis of the nationality stated in Table II. The birthplace as shown on page 24 does not always check with this, but it does agree in the great majority of cases. British is used to include men from England, Scotland, and Ireland. If Irish were classified separately, there would be one representative.
Total
5 2 5 6 2 2 2 1 0 2 1 1 1 0
11 11 9 8 4 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1
30
59
No American was chosen until 1894. Of the eight members elected to honorary membership from the United States, seven had been Presidents of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY be-
fore election, as shown in Table IV.
TABLE I V . AMERICAN HONORARY MEMBERS NAME
P R E S I D E N T A. C . S.
Wolcott Gibbs Morley Mallet Chandler Nichols Remsen Richards Edgar F. Smith
ELECTED TO HONORABT MEMBERSHIP
.. .
1899 1882 1881, 1889 1918, 1919 1902 1914 1895, 1921, 1922
1894 1900 1910 1921 1921 1926 1926 1926
Wurtz began his "Histoire des doctrines chimiques'' with this statement: "Chemistry is a French science. I t was founded by Lavoisier of immortal memory." However, it has long been generally recognized that chemistry belongs to no country and must be international.
That the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
has always understood this is gratifying. This is evidenced by the five countries represented in the 8 honorary members chosen in its first year and by the ten countries from whom 14 honorary members were chosen in its centennial year. Fully half of the honorary members studied i n a country or countries different from that of birth. The achievements of the 58 men and 1 woman whom the SOCIETY has honored belong t o humanity. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author gratefully acknowledges information received from many sources, especially personal letters from Charles L. Parsons, secretary of the SOCIETY and from Messrs. Bruni, Kestner, Sakurai, and Linderstrom-Lang. (Continued on pages 24, 25, and 26)
NEWS
24
EDITION
Vol. 12, N o . 2 STATISTICS ON HONORARY M E M B E B S
No. 1 ο 3 4 5 6 7 S 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
YEAR
NAME
DATES OF BIRTH-DEATH
BlRTHPLACE
EDUCATION
1876
Marcellin Pierre Bertholet
1827-1907
Paris, France
Collège Henri IV, Collège de France
1876 1876 1876
Alexander Milchailovich Biitlerow Robert Wilhelm Bunsen Stanislao Cannizzaro
1828-18S6 1811-1899
Tchistopol, Kazan, Russia Gôttingen, Germany
1876
Jean Baptiste Andre Dumas
1826-1910 1800-1884
Palermo, Italy Alais, France
Kazan Heidelberg, Paris, Berlin, Vienna Palermo, Pisa, Paris Geneva
1S76
Edward Frankland
1825-1899
Churchtown, England
London, Heidelberg, Marburg
1876
Alexander William Williamson
1824-1904
London, England
Heidelberg, Giessen, Paris
1876 1884 1884
Friedrich Wôhler Michel Eugene Chevreul August Wilhelm Hofmann
1800-1882 1786-1889
Eschersheim, Germany Angers, France
Marburg, Heidelberg, Stockholm Paris
1818-1892
Giessen, Germany
Giessen
1889
August Kekulé
1889
Dmitri Ivanovitch Mendeleeff
1829-1896 1834-1907
Darmstadt, Germany Tobolsk, Siberia
1891
Jean Servais Stas
Giessen, Paris St. Petersburg, Heidelberg Paris
1894
Oliver Wolcott Gibbs
1898
William Crookes
1898
Henri Moissan
1898
Jacobus Henrik van't Hoff
1900
Edward William Morley
1900
Wilhelm Ostwald
1813-1891
Louvain, Belgium
1822-1908
New York, Ν . Υ.
1832-1919
London, England
Pennsylvania, Columbia, Berlin, Giessen, Paris London Paris
1852-1907
Paris, France
1852-1908
Rotterdam, Holland
Delft, Leyden, Bonn, Paris, Utrecht
1838-1923
Newark, N. J.
Williams
1853-1932
Riga, Latvia
Dorpat
1852-1919
Euskirchen, Prussia
Bonn, Strasbourg
1901
Emil Fischer
21
1901
Georg Lunge
1839-1923
Breslau, Germany
Breslau, Heidelberg
22 23 24
1901 1901 1901
William Ramsay Henry Enfield Loescoe Johann Friedrich Adolph von Baeyer
1852-1916 1833-1915 1835-1917
Glasgow, Scotland London, England Berlin, Germany
Glasgow, Tubingen London, Heidelberg Berlin, Heidelberg
25
1905
Svante Augustus Arrhenius
1859-1927
TJpsala, Sweden
TJpsala, Stockholm
26
1905
Walther Nernst
1864-
Briesen, Germany
Zurich, Berlin, Graz, Wurzburg
27
1905
Hendrik Willem Bakhius Roozeboom
1854-1907
Alkmaar, Holland
Leyden
28
1905
Hans Peter Jorgen Julius Thomsen
1826-1909
Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen
29
1906
William Henry Perkin
1838-1907
London, England
London
30
1910
Marie Skladowska Curie
1867-
Warsaw, Poland
Warsaw, Paris
31
1910
James Dewar
1842-1923
Kincardine, Scotland
Edinburgh
32
1910
Rudolph Fittig
1835-1910
Hamburg, Germany
Gôttingen
33
1910
John William Mallet
1832-1912
Dublin, Ireland
Trinity, Gôttingen
34
1910
John William Strutt (Lord Rayleigh)
1842-1919
Essex, England
Cambridge
35
1910
Johanna Diderik van der Waals
1837-1923
Leyden, Holland
Leyden
36
1915
Alfred Werner
1866-1919
Mulhouse, France
Karlsruhe, Zurich, Paris
37
1917
Victor Grignard
1871-
Cherbourg, France
Lyon e Giessen
38
1919
Giacomo Ciamician
1857-1922
Trieste, Italy
Vienna, Giessen
39
1920
Ernest Solvay
1838-1922
Robeck, Belgium
Liege
40
1921
Charles Frederick Chandler
1836-1925
Lancaster, Mass.
Harvard, Gôttingen, Berlin
41
1921
Paul Kestner
1864-
Mulhouse, France
Mulhouse, School of Medicine (Paris) k Zurich New York
42
1921
William Henry Nichols
1852-1930
Brooklyn, Ν . Υ.
43
1921
William Jackson Pope
1870-
London, England
44
1924
S. P. L. Sorensen
1868-
Harrebjaerg, Denmark
Fineberry Tech. College, Central Tech. College Copenhagen
45
1926
Bohuslav Brauner
1855-
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Prague, Manchester, Heidelberg
46 47
18731869-
Parma, Italy Amsterdam, Holland
Parma, Milan, Berlin Stockholm, Paris, Amsterdam
18701877-
Holy wood, Ireland Glasgow, Scotland
Belfast, Leipzig, Berlin, London Glasgow, St. Andrews, Leipzig
50
1926 1926 1926 1926 1926
1866-
Toronto, Canada
Toronto, Berlin, Gôttingen, Munich
δΐ
1926
Charles Moureu
1863-1929
Moureux, France
Bayonne, Paris
52
1926
Ame Pictet
1857-
Geneva, Switzerland
Dresden, Bonn, Paris
δ3
1926
Ira Remsen
1848-1927
New York, Ν . Υ.
48 49
Giuseppi Bruni Ernst Julius Cohen Frederick George Donnan James Colquhoun Irvine William Lash Miller
54
1926
Theodore William Richarde
1868-1928
Germant©wn. Pa.
College City New York, Columbia, Gôttingen, Tubingen Haverford, Harvard, Gôttingen
55
1926
Paul Sabatier
1854-
Carcaseo^rt: w-, France
Paris Ecole Normal, Collège de France-
56
1926
Joji Sakurai
1858-
Kanazawa, Japan
57
1926
Edgar Fahs Smith
1854-1928
York, Pa.
Kaisei Gakko, Tokyo; Univ. College, London Pa. College, Gôttingen
1872-
Karlsruhe, Germany
Munich
58
1926
Frederic Swarte
59
1927
Richard Willstatter
January 20, 1934
INDUSTRIAL AND
ENGINEERING
CHEMISTRY
25
OP THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL. SOCEETY No. 1
Age 49
2 3
48 65
4 5
50 76
6 7
W H E N ELECTED
Residence Collège d e France, P a r i a
SPECIAX. F I E L D OF C H E M I S T R Y
OUTSTANDING
WORK
REMARKS
Organic
Organic s y n t h e s i s
U n i v . S t . Petersburg U n i v . Heidelberg
Analytical Inorganic
Univ. Rome U n i v . Paris
Organic Organic
Tertiary alcohols Apparatus (burner, spectroscope, photometer) E m p h a s i s o n A v o g a d r o ' s law Substitution
51
R o y a l C o l l e g e of C h e m . , L o n d o n
Industrial
M e t a l a l k y l s ; i d e a of v a l e n c e
52
U n i v . College, L o n d o n
Organic
F o r m u l a of e t h e r a n d of a l c o h o l
S 9
76 98
Inorganic Organic
C y a n a t e s of Al, S i , B , T i C o n s t i t u t i o n of f a t s
10
66
Univ. Gôttingen R e t i r e d director, Museum N a t . History, Paris U n i v . Berlin
Organic
D y e s (amines)
11 12
60 55
Univ. Bonn U n i v . S t . Petersburg
Organic Inorganic
Valence Periodic l a w
13
78
Retirement at Brussels
Analytical
Precise atomic weights
14
72
H a r v a r d U n i v . , CamÏDridge, Masa.
Inorganic
15
66
College of Chem., London
Analytical
Platinum metals; complex inorganic acids V a c u u m t u b e s ; T l ; rare e a r t h s
16
46
S o r b o n n e , Paris
Inorganic
I s o l a t i o n of F ;
17
46
U n i v . Berlin
Physical
18
62
Western Reserve U n i v . , Cleveland
Analytical
Stereoisomerism ; heterogeneous equilibrium H - O ratio i n w a t e r
19
47
U n i v . Leipzig
Physical
20
49
U n i v . Berlin
Organic
21
62
U n i v . Zurich
Industrial
I n d u s t r i a l r e s e a r c h replacing ruleof-thumb methods
22 23 24
49 68 66
U n i v . College, L o u d o n V i c e chancellor, Unrvr., L o n d o n Univ. Munich
Inorganic Inorganic Organic
25
46
U n i v . S t o c k h o l m , director P h y s i c a l I n s t ; .
Physical
R a r e g a s e s of a t m o s p h e r e V; photochemistry S y n t h e s i s of i n d i g o ; p h y s i o l o g i c a l chem. T h e o r y of e l e c t r o l y t i c d i s s o c i a t i o n
26
41
U n i v . Berlin
Physical
27
51
U n i v . Amsterdam
Physical
28
79
R e t i r e d director, U n i v . Copenhagen
Physical
29
68
R e s e a r c h chemist, E n g l a n d
Industrial
. 30
43
Professor physics, S o x b o n a e , Paris
Inorganic
31
68
R o y a l Institution, London
Physical
32
75
U n i v . Strasbourg
Organic
33
78
E m e r i t u s professor, U n i v . V i r g i n i a
Analytical
34
68
Chancellor, Cambridge Univ., England
Inorganic
35
73
U n i v . Amsterdam
Physical
36
49
U n i v . Zurich
Inorganic
electric
furnace
Affinity c o n s t a n t s of a c i d s ; c a t a l y sis Sugars; proteins; dyes
Thermochemistry; solution tension P r a c t i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n of p h a s e rule Thermochemistry D y e manufacture and research Radioactivity L i q u e f a c t i o n of g a s e s ; e x p l o s i v e s Discovered lactones; anthracene i n coal t a r Atomic weights ; t a u g h t industrial chem. S o u n d ; o p t i c s ; d e n s i t y of g a s e s C o m p a r a t i v e d e n s i t i e s of g a s e s in liquids Coordination theory
37
46
Univ. Nancy
Organic
Organic s y n t h e s i s
38
62
Univ. Bologna
Organic
Pyrrole a n d derivatives
39
82
R e t i r e d chemical mfr_, Brussels
Industrial
A m m o n i a p r o c e s s for m f g . s o d a
40
85
Industrial
Sanitation; safety control; assay t o n weights C l i m b i n g film e v a p o r a t o r ; refract o r i e s ; filtering m a t e r i a l C h e m i c a l mfr.
41
57
E m e r i t u s professor, C o l u m b i a Univ., N e w York Paris
42
69
M f g . c h e m i s t , New Y o r k
Industrial
Industrial
Thermochemistry; explosives; history C a c o d y l ; gas a n a l y s i s ; B u n s e n * s cell Santonin Η—Ο r a t i o ; Ν determination; vapor densities Water supply; h e l i u m in s u n (with Lockyer) Helped establish second type theory S y n t h e s i s of u r e a , 1828 L i v e d nearly 1 0 3 y e a r s ; LL.D. from H a r v a r d President London Chem. S o c ; later f o u n d e d G e r m a n C h e m . Soc. B e n z e n e ring P r e d i c t e d and described n e w e l e ments A p p a r e n t o v e r t h r o w of P r o u t ' s hypothesis E m p h a s i z e d research; Nobel Prize i n chem. "Radiant matter;" founded Chem. News i n 1859 S y n t h e t i c diamonds; calcium car bide; Nobel Prize in chem. F i r s t N o b e l ï î r i z e in c h e m . , 1 9 0 1 W o r k o n light w i t h M i c h e l s o n l e d to Einstein theory Chem. equilibrium; r a t e of r e a c t i o n ; N o b e l Prize i n c h e m . U s e of p h e n y l h y d r a z i n e ; uric a c i d ; purin g r o u p ; N o b e l P r i z e in c h e m . 8 6 b o o k s ; 675 p u b l i s h e d w r i t i n g s ; first p r e s i d e n t N e w c a s t l e C h e m . Soc. (later S o c . C h e m . I n d u s t r y ) P h . D . a t 20; N o b e l Prize i n c h e m . F a m o u s text ( w i t h S c h o r l e m m e r ) W o r k o n dyes l a i d basis f o r i n d u s try; Nobel Prize in chem. A c t i v e i n p u b l i c life; N o b e l P r i z e in c h e m . 3rd l a w thermodynamics; N o b e l Prize i n chem. Equilibria between solid and liquid phases I n v e n t e d process of m f g . s o d a from c r y o l i t e D i s c o v e r e d first c o a l - t a r d y e ; Perkin's reaction; condensation of a l d e h y d e s w i t h f a t t y a c i d s Discovered R a , P o ; isolated R a ; N o b e l P r i z e s in p h y s i c s a n d chem. D e w a r v a c u u m flask; modern thermos bottle Fittig's synthesis; hydrocarbons from alkyl h a l i d e s w i t h N a O v e r 2 0 0 p a p e r s ; " c h e m i s t of t h e Confederacy" Discovered A (with R a m s a y ) ; N o b e l Prize i n p h y s i c s E q u a t i o n modifying Boyle's l a w ; N o b e l Prize i n p h y s i c s " N e w Ideas i n Inorganic C h e m . ; " N o b e l Prize i n c h e m . Grignard's reagents; M g halogen alkyls; N o b e l Prize i n c h e m . 170 papers; light on plant products Philanthropist; lost h e a v i l y in W o r l d War " A m e r i c a ' s first a n d m o s t d i s t i n g u i s h e d industrial c h e m i s t " Président-fondateur Soc. Chim. Industrielle President 8th Intern. Congress Applied Chem. Adviser on war gases
43
51
C a m b r i d g e Univ., E n g l a n d
Organic
44
56
Carlsberg L a b . , C o p e n h a g e n
Organio
45
71
Czech U n i v . , Prague
Inorganic
Crystallography; optically active c o m p o u n d s of N , S, S e , Sn a t o m s P r e p a r a t i o n of p u r e s a l t s of N i , C o , Sr Al; amino acids; enzymes Rare earths; atomic weights
46 47
53 57
E n g i n e e r i n g School; IMilan Univ. Utrecht
Industrial Physical
Solid solutions; isomorphism A l l o t r o p y of m e t a l s , e s p e c i a l l y S n
48 49
56 49
Industrial Organio
Physical chem. applied t o industry C h e m . of s u g a r s
50
60
U n i v . College, L o n d o n Principal a n d vice c h a n c e l l o r , Univ. S t . A n d r e w s , Scotland Toronto Univ.
Physical
S t u d i e d bios
51
63
Collège d e France, P a r i a
Organic
52
69
Univ. Geneva
Organic
53
SO
P a s t president, J o h n s Hopkdns Univ. Baltimore
Organic
Concentration changes and polymerization during electrolysis with alternating and interrupted current Unsaturated organic c o m p o u n d s ; negative catalysis C h e m . c o n s t i t u t i o n of v e g e t a b l e alkaloids S t r o n g e x p o n e n t of r e s e a r c h P r e c i s e a t o m i c w e i g h t s of 2 8 e l e ments H y d r o g é n a t i o n of o r g a n i c c o m p o u n d s i n p r e s e n c e of m e t a l s National and international chem. public service Electroanalysis; atomic weights; h i s t o r y of c h e m . O r g a n i c c o m p o u n d s of F
Changing atomic volume; Nobel Prize in chem. S t u d e n t of mineral c h e m . ; N o b e l Prize i n c h e m . President Japanese Imperial A c a d . ; Natl. Research Council 3 times President Am. Chem. S o c .
54
58
H a r v a r d U n i v . , Cambridge:, Masa.
55
72
Univ. Toulouse, France
56
68
Imperial Univ., T o k y o
57
72
R e s e a r c h , U n i v . P a . , Philadelphia
58
..
Univ. Ghent
59
55
Univ. Munich
Analytical Physical Organic Inorganic Organic Organic
C o l o r i n g m a t t e r of p l a n t s , pecially chlorophyll
es-
Worked
out
pH
scale;
proteins
M e m b e r International C o m m i t t e e on Atomio Weights R e s e a r c h in r u b b e r c h e m i s t r y E l e c t r o - and p i e z o c h e m i s t r y ; l i f e of v a n ' t Hoff Nitrate industry; Cu Cellulose
D i r e c t e d work o n war g a s e s
F o u n d e d Am. Chem.
J.
Significance of a t o m i c c o n s t a n t s of a d d i t i v e properties C a t a l y t i c reactions; Nobel Prize in c h e m .
NEWS
26
EDITION
(Continued from page 2o) BIBLIOGRAPHY
(1) ^American Chemical Society, Directories; Minutes of t h e Council. (2) Browne, C. Α., "A Half-Century of Chemistry in America, 1S76-1926," J. A??i. Chcm. Soc, 48, No. Sa (1926). (3) Cattell and Cattell, "American Men of Science," all editions, Science Press, New York. (4) ^Encyclopedia Americana, Americana Corp., New York and Chicago, 1932. (5) ^Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th éd., Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., London and New York, 1929. (6) Tv~ E N G . CHEM., J. Atn. Chem. Soc, J. Chem. Education, Chem. Abstracts, biographical articles, items, and abstracts. (7) «J. Am. Chem. Soc, "Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the American Chemical Society," Supplement (1902). (S) Marquis, "Who's Who in America," all editions, A. N. Marquis Co., Chicago. (9) uMoore-Hall, "A History of Chemistry," 2nd éd., McGraw-Hill, 1931. (10) Smith, E. F., "Chemistry in America," Appleton, 1914. (11) *'Wer Ist's?" I X Ausgabe, Verlag Hermann Degener, Berlin. (12) "Who's W h o , " A. & C. Black, Ltd., London, 1933 and other years.
Ammonium Bicarbonate from Manufactured Gas C. H. S. TUPHOLME, 4N Hyde Park Mansions, London, N. W. 1, England OÎS"E PHASE of the work of the Liquor Effluents and Ammonia
Sub-Coniniittee of the British Institution of Gas Engineers was reported in IND. ENG. CHEM. for March, 1933—i. e., the use of tricresol phosphate for phenol recovery from gas plant effluents. A report of investigations into the possibilities of ammonium bicarbonate manufacture has now been made to the institution by A. Key and A. H. Eastwood. Portents have been taken out in England covering manufacture from concentrated gas liquor and also from ordinary gas Liquor. Production direct from crude coal gas, however, offers more attractive possibilities, and a patent has also been taken out to cover this process, which has found commercial application on a small scale at one manufactured gas plant: in England. I t consists in taking the crude gas after it has passed the Livesey washers, distilling into it the ammonia from the virgin liquor, compressing the mixture to 40 lb. per sq. in., aaid, after tar and oil removal, washing with a solution saturated with ammonium bicarbonate. Ammonia, carbon dioxide, and wateo· are removed from the gas, and ammonium bicarbonate crystallizes from the solution, from which it is separated and dried, The chief disadvantage of the process is the cost of compression, which may be in excess of the cost of sulfuric acid, the use of which the process is designed to avoid. An alternative to compression has therefore been sought. Theoretically the process is based on the fact that a molecule of aranmonium bicarbonate is formed from, and decomposes into, one :molecule each of ammonia, carbon dioxide, and water, all of wliich can exist in the vapor stage. Therefore, at a fixed temperature the vapor phase in any system which is in equilibrium with solid ammonium bicarbonate should fulfill the equation pNH 3 X pCC>2 X pH 2 0 = K (constant), where ρ is partial pressure of the compound concerned. The same re lationship should hold for the vapor over a saturated solution of thje salt, but in this case pH 2 0 will be the vapor pressure of the solution itself. If it is assumed that at any one temperature pH 2 0 remains sensibly constant, the above relation simplifies to pZNH3 X pC02 — Κι. If the product exceeds Kh ammonia and -carbon dioxide will condense from the vapor phase and am monium bicarbonate will separate from the solution. If the proinct is less than Ki9 the reverse process will take place. Hutchison has determined the value of 7ίΊ for 20° and 10° C. This value, recalculated to express CO2 as per cent by volume and ZNH 3 as grains per 100 cu. ft., is Kx = 984 at 20° C. and 158 at ΙΟ0 C. An average vertical retort gas contains, as it leaves the retort, approximately 200 grains of NH 3 per 100 UU. ft., and 3 to 4 per cent is CO2. The product, 600 to 800, is not great enough for amioonhim bicarbonate to be formed at the ordinary temperature to which gas is cooled (about 20° C ) , but would become so if the gas could be cooled still further to 10° C , or if the gas were compressed, since the absolute concentration of each of the constituents would increase in direct proportion to the pressure. A process has accordingly been developed by Doctor Key, which is applicable primarily to gas from vertical retorts. This is designed to utilize the CO? present in crude coal gas for the maanfacture of ammonium bicarbonate, b u t not to interfere
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with the normal processes of gas washing and gas purification. The process will normally utilize only a fraction of the gas, which will be abstracted from the main stream after the condensers and returned to it before the washers and scrubbers. The exact size of the fraction required will vary with circumstances, but in many cases it will be about one-third of the total gas being made. Unless the gas is already free from tar when abstracted from the main stream, the fraction to be used wrould be subjected to the action of an efficient tar extractor. The tar-free gas would then b e led to an absorption vessel, containing a solution satu rated with ammonium bicarbonate. All the ammonia liquor produced in the condensers and scrubbers would be led as usual to a storage tank, from which it would travel through an ordinary ammonia still at a rate equal to that of its production. The gases from the still would be regulated by refluxing to contain about 1 molecule of water to 1 molecule of ammonia, as well as C0 2 , H 2 S, HCN, etc., from the liquor. These gases would then enter the absorption vessel and mix with the crude gas being used for the process. Assume that the gas used contains, as it leaves t h e retort, 4 per cent of CO2 and 200 grains per 100 cu. ft. of free ammonia. Even if the ammonia could be kept in the gaseous form, the prod uct pC0 2 X pNH 3 is not sufficiently great for bicarbonate formation at 20° C. But by concentrating all the free ammonia into one-third of the gas stream, ammonia is present t o the ex tent of 600 grains per 100 cu. ft., and exceeds by 150 per cent the minimum necessary for bicarbonate formation. Given a sufficient time to contact, over 50 per cent of the ammonia would be absorbed by the solution in the absorber, together with an equivalent quantity of C0 2 , and a corresponding quantity of ammonium bicarbonate would crystallize from the solution. The crystals would be separated and dried. Cooling could be accomplished either directly by water-jacketing the absorber or indirectly by cooling the solution fed to the absorber. The gas leaving the absorber would still contain a considerable quantity of ammonia. It would probably first be passed through a small washer fed with weak liquor, and then be returned to the main gas stream near where it was withdrawn, to undergo normal washing and purification. The only outlet for the ammonia from the system is as ammo nium bicarbonate. When the system has reached a steady state, therefore, the amount of bicarbonate separating would be equivalent to the ammonia, free or total, as desired, contained in the gas leaving the retorts. The process has been tested out on a commercial scale at the Coventry Gas Works, using crude gas from vertical retorts, enriched with the required amount of ammonia from a cylinder. It has not been possible accurately to fix the minimum C 0 2 content of gas in equilibrium with pure ammonium bicarbonate, but experiments indicate a value not greater than 1.3 per cent. The most probable impurities in the ammonium bicarbonate obtained by the process under consideration are sulfide, phenols, and ammonium thiocyanate. Experiment has shown that they are n o t likely to be present in quantity sufficient to influence the fertilizing properties of the salt.
RUSSELL H.
CHITTENDEN HONORED
FOB. THE: FIRST TIME in 121 years the Connecticut State Medi
cal Society exercised its charter right to confer the honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine, when on January 5 it conferred the degree upon Russell H. Chittenden, authority in physiological chemistry, professor emeritus of physiological chemistry, and emeritus director of the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University. The ceremony was a feature of the 150th anniver sary of the founding of the New Haven Medical Association, parent of the state society which was chartered eight years later. In conferring the degree, Ralph A. McDonnell, president of the society, said, "This honor, now held b y no living man, is about to be conferred upon you in recognition of your valuable contributions to our knowledge of the human body and because of the inspiration derived from your instruction by many who later achieved marked success in the practice of medicine.'' In pre senting Professor Chittenden for the degree, George Blumer, formerly dean of the Yale Medical School, spoke briefly on his accomplishments.
A N E W RESEAKCH PROJECT at Battelle Memorial Institute,
505 King Ave., Columbus, Ohio, has been announced by the director, H . W. Gillett. This work is being done for the S. S. White Dental Mfg. Co., Philadelphia, Pa., under the institute's sponsored research plan. Starting immediately, this investigation will be in charge of Ο. Ε . Harder, assistant director of the institute, and William A. Welcker, research engineer.
