World-Wide Chemistry1 May 25 and 26. This arrangement in Karlsruhe is connected with the opening of the new Reich institute for food preserCarl Wilke, C o t h e n - A n h . vation. A feature of the program in Darmstadt is the Feierstunde which will be New Coal Extraction celebrated jointly with the Technische Process I s Developed Hochschule. Many chemical questions A new process has been developed by will be discussed in the divisional meetings. Pott and Broche, the operating details of Cellulose C h e m i s t r y which have not yet been worked out. An Has Another Solvent extract is obtained by the wet hydrogénaTh. Lieser, Kônigsberg, Prussia, has suction of anthracite which is suitable for cessfully carried out the sulfidization of celDiesel motors. The process is based on lulose in certain organic bases leading practhe pressure extraction of coal at elevated tically to the trixanthogenate. As a retemperatures, whereby the coal is hydro- sult, cellulose chemistry which has pregenated at the expense of the hydrogen of viously had only ammoniacal copper oxide the solvent. The carbon that goes into available as a dissolving agent, has gained solution is filtered from the residue. This another solvent. The cellulose is disextract, or Reinkohle, when diluted with solved in bases of sufficiently high molecucoal-tar oil is an excellent fuel for Diesel lar weight—for example, tetraethyl amengines and it is also conceivable that this monium hydroxide—and sulfided. The ash-free carbon may be burned in coal- tetraâlkyl ammonium polyxanthogenate dust motors (it contains only 0.1 per cent has proved t o be soluble, not only in ash, has a heat of combustion of 8600 water but also very readily in methanol. calories, and a favorable ignition point of The polyxanthogenate contains about 48 approximately 260° C ) . per cent sulfur, as compared with 49.7 per Sulfuric Acid Is cent in the trixanthogenate. M a d e f r o m Coal G a s Kolloid G e s e l l s c h a f t The old dream of the gas chemist of Is t o Meet i n Dresden combining ammonia and hydrogen sulfide The council of the Kolloid Gesellschaft direct to form ammonium sulfate seems has issued an invitation to the eleventh about to be realized through the process convention in Dresden, September 23 and discussed in Report 63 of the Kokerie- 24, 1936. Simultaneously from SeptemAusschusz. Presumably the wash water ber 20 to 24, the Deutscher Naturforscher is enriched in hydrogen sulfide, as in in- u n d A r z t e will meet in Dresden. The stallations using the indirect process. principal topic will be "New Results of H. Weittenhiller, of Dortmund, has de- Applied Colloid Research." termined whether sufficient hydrogen sul- R u n g e fide is available in the saturator liquors. H o n o r e d The lower limit of economic operation reFriedlieb Ferdinand Runge, born on quires 250 kg. of hydrogen sulfide each 24 February 8, 1795, in Billwarder, Hamburg, hours. The reaction is carried out by wet catalysis. Unusually enough, the gase- as a clergyman's son, discovered aniline, phenol, quinoline, and rosolic acid in anous acid is separated by condensation without cloud formation. The acid is thracite coal tar, and thereby laid the 63° t o 65° Bé., and will cost, after the in- foundation for the great German chemical stallation has been written off, at the most and pharmaceutical industry, i n order to perpetuate his memory in his native 6 marks per quintal (220.46 lb.). land, the Verein Deutscher Chemiker, Cement High i n Tricalcium Hamburg Section, is planning to erect in Silicate R e c o m m e n d e d for R o a d s Billwarder a bronze memorial tablet bearAt the fifty-ninth convention of the ing Runge's picture. Verein Deutscher Portland-Cement-FabN e w P r o c e s s for P o w e r rikanten in Berlin, G. Haegermann of Fuel Is Being Developed Karlshorst gave an address, entitled "The The Wintershall, A. G., has formed the Chemical Composition of Portland Cement for the Construction of Concrete Mitteldeutsche Ol- und Benzin-A. G., at Road Surfaces." He recommends a ce- Kassel; the Fischer-Tropsch process, originally developed for the utilization of ment with the highest possible content of tricalcium silicate and rejects the low-lime anthracite, will be applied to brown coal for the first time. A decisive developbisilicate cement. A sufficiently sharp variety of aggregate is assumed. A high ment is foreseen in that the briquetting content of alumina strongly favors shrink- of the raw coal, heretofore necessary for age but the iron oxide content tends to gasification in the Fischer-Tropsch procequalize this undesirable action of the ess, can be eliminated. Whether this alumina. A lowering of the value of the process, as anticipated, will cause a 40 per ratio of alumina t o iron oxide, the average cent lowering of the price of synthetic benvalue of which is now about 2.4, would be zine can only be determined when largerequired. A figure of 1.8 or even as low as scale production is reached. Effort t o S u p p l y S o u t h w e s t e r n 1.4 is desirable. G e r m a n y w i t h G a s Is C o n t e m p l a t e d Technische Hochschule in An effort to provide Southwestern GerD a r m s t a d t Has C e n t e n n i a l Celebration This year's convention, the seventy- many with gas will probably be underfourth of the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure, taken soon. This will include leading a will commemorate its 80 years of existence. large pipe line from the Ruhr region toThe celebration will be held in conjunc- ward Frankfort a. M. by way of Siegen. tion with the centennial festival of the Another pipe line will be laid from Cologne Technische Hochschule of Darmstadt. t o Bonn. The pipe line planned from At the same time, societies affiliated with Siegen to Frankfort will be technically inthis Verein, for example the Deutsche teresting in that it will operate at the high Kalteverein, will meet in Karlsruhe on pressure of 30 atmospheres, which up to the present time has not been used in 1 Those interested in further details should German gas systems. This high-pressure address the correspondent whose name and adpipe line for transporting gas long disdress appear for each country, and enclose sufficient international coupons to prepay the reply. tances will have a diameter of 321 mm. Most of the large industries are friendly to United States stamps should not be sent.
Germany
285
the project, although some communities that produce their own gas are not. M o n o e t h a n o l a m i n e I s Good Solvent for Mercuric F u l m i n a t e Monoethanolamine is a good solvent for mercuric fulminate, according t o A. Majrich. 1 The fulminate can be readily precipitated in pure form from the solution by dilution or acidification with dilute acetic acid. A mixture of monoethanolamine and concentrated aqueous ammonia is especially suitable for this purpose. In this manner mercuric fulminate can be crystallized and purified on a large scale. Translation by C. W. WHITTAKER May 19. 1936 1
Z. ges. Schiesz- und Sprengstoffw., 31, 147.
How the Russians Attack Religion Observations Made by the Writer during a Visit t o the Soviet U n i o n R u d o l f Seiden, 4146 C h e s t n u t S t . , K a n s a s City, M o . EADERS of the Soviet Government appear hostile to all religion, alL though nearly all were members of the once existent state church. Everywhere in the Soviet, even in the clubs and professions and especially in the "antireligious museums," one sees relics, pictures, plastic representations, and statistics—partly objective, partly ironic— which attack religious usages and opinions. Other means for the dissemination of antireligious propaganda are also sponsored by the government. Speakers continually point out that religion depended for its support upon ignorance and lack of culture among the masses when Czarism flourished and maintain that even today religion is the greatest obstacle to the realization of the Russian cultural revolution. Hundreds of thousands of workers and practically all of the Russian youth are recruited in the ranks of the non-religious and many are members of the so-called Godless Societies. They are shown, among other things, that miracles are "humbug." The assumption is that religion without miracles would die. Recruits are persuaded that miracles and phenomena are works of the priests, perpetrated when popular belief in the deity was on the wane. Such miracles, it is said, were necessary, if the ignorant were to be retained as implements of the priests and the church. Miracles Associated w i t h C h e m i s t r y Proceeding from this hypothesis, the next task of the instructor in atheism is to establish the association of miracles with chemistry. It will be emphasized that chemistry is older than most religions. An example used is the self-igniting sacrificial fire of the early Egyptian priests. Chemical knowledge of that time was possessed only by a privileged class. Chemical discoveries were zealously guarded, and members of the guild were sworn to impart their findings to no one. Egyptian priests are said to be the first to place chemistry in the service of religion, but later it was adopted by all religions.
Such an introduction is calculated t o make some impression on the uncultivated masses, or a t least to awaken a positive interest for t h e anti-religious propaganda to follow. I t is assumed t h a t t h e masses have little interest in earnest discussions, b u t seek rather conversation a n d enter tainment. Upon this basis the experi ments are led through a definite sequence and made as entertaining as possible. Some of the experiments are briefly as follows: THE
SELF-IGNITING CANDLES.
T O ex
plain this miracle, the wick of a tallow candle is moistened, by means of a pipet, with a suspension of yellow phosphorus in carbon disulfide. After a few moments t h e candlewick ignites and the miracle of t h e self-igniting candles in the Church of t h e Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is imitated! T h e demonstrator reasons t h a t the candles were not ignited by divine fire summoned by the prayers of Easter pilgrims, and that the experiment "re veals" one of the "tricks" of the Jerusalem priests. This "revelation" is apparently successful. I t is then explained that the evaporation of carbon disulfide deposits finely divided yellow phosphorus which combines vigorously with air a t room temperature a n d t h a t t h e candlewick is thus ignited. THE
OFFERING
FIRE.
In
order
to
demonstrate t h a t "fervent prayer is not required to summon divine fire b y which the offering is ignited," some potassium permanganate in a porcelain dish is moistened with sulfuric acid and the dish concealed in a mimic, sacrificial altar. Wood-shavings—the "offering"—will then be carefully laid on a wire triangle placed over t h e dish! T h e demonstrator, with a few spoken "magic formulas," "blesses" the "offering" with his hands and the sacrifice bursts into smoking flame! T h e demonstrator then explains how this was accomplished. A wad of cotton saturated with alcohol was held in the hand and drops of alcohol were pressed o u t a t t h e operator's convenience to fall upon the chemicals in t h e dish. T h e reaction of potassium permanganate and sulfuric acid releases active oxygen, which oxidizes the alcohol. Enough heat is evolved t o kindle the alcohol and also t h e shavings. THE
D I V I N E PICTURE.
Some monas
teries have tapestries which are asserted to have the miraculous power of repro ducing holy images when washed and dried b y a monk. In t h e experiment "exposing" this miracle the operator selects a suitable piece of cloth upon which the barely visible outline of some holy figure is sketched in pencil. T h e colorless solutions of cadmium sulfate, bismuth subnitrate, manganous chloride, and lead acetate are applied to t h e cloth with a brush a n d allowed to dry. T h e cloth is then apparently unchanged. By means of an atomizer a solution of sodium sulfide is sprayed upon t h e cloth, a n d the " n o t by human hand" holy picture is brought out in bright colors! The demon strator then explains the reaction of the salts applied to t h e cloth with sodium sulfide t o form t h e insoluble metallic sulfides—namely, the yellow cadmium sulfide, t h e brown bismuth sulfide, t h e flesh-colored manganese sulfide, and the almost black lead sulfide. THE
VOL. 14, N O . 14
INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
286
FLAMING
CHARACTERS
ON THE
W A L L . I n explanation of this miracle certain characters are brushed on a darkcolored board with a dilute suspension of yellow phosphorus in carbon disulfide. When t h e lights in t h e hall are extinguished t h e message stands out in letters of fire.1 T h e message was "mene tekel upharsin," t h e words of t h e biblical handwriting on 1 Babylonian, meaning counted, weighed, and found wanting.
the wall, which alarmed t h e Babylonian King Belshazzar and were interpreted b y the prophet Daniel a s a divine exhorta tion against t h e king's acts. T h e miracle of t h e writing o n the wall is thus explained to rest upon t h e property of yellow phos phorus to phosphoresce in t h e dark. THE
VANISHING
CROSS.
Another
miracle recorded by religion is the vanishing of various religious objects. T h e demon strator casts a metal cross into a glass of water which is covered by a paper screen. When the screen is removed t h e cross has vanished! T h e explanation follows t h a t the cross was made of Wood's metal (bismuth, 4 parts; lead, 2 parts; tin a n d cadmium, 1 p a r t each; melting point, 70° C ) , a n d t h e temperature of t h e water was high enough t o melt it, the alloy sinking to t h e bottom like so much quick silver. THE
M I R A C L E OP HEALING
WOUNDS.
To reproduce this miracle a volunteer is summoned from the audience and is asked to bare his a r m . T h e demonstrator dis infects t h e skin with a moist wad of cotton and with a knife apparently cuts several, lateral incisions. Blood appears to flow from the wounds, which are quickly covered with a hand-towel. After several "magic formulas" are said t h e towel is removed a n d t h e wounds have vanished! T h e explanation is that t h e wad of cotton was saturated with a m monium sulfocyanide and the knife was treated with ferric chloride solution. T h e "blood" was only blood-red ferric sulfo cyanide. Many more experiments similar to the six mentioned will b e performed in the interest of anti-religious propaganda, a few of which a r e t h e transformation of water t o milk, with barium chloride and sodium sulfate; the pillar of cloud—with hydrochloric acid a n d ammonia; t h e transformation of water into wine, with aqueous solutions of phenolphthalein and sodium hydroxide; the transformation of water into blood—one of t h e seven Egyptian plagues—with solutions of a m monium sulfocyanide and ferric chloride. The number of such experiments could be extended practically without limit b u t these should be sufficient to illustrate how Russian science is used in the service of anti-religious propaganda. Ultimately the leaders of t h e project, who a r e hardly more than magicians, with about t h e same chemical skill, are bound t o attain their goal. One who has had t h e oppor tunity to b e present a t a n anti-religious experiment-lecture, whether in t h e city or in some remote Russian village, will b e convinced t h a t this is so; religious belief, shaken seriously by t h e revolution, needs little encouragement t o vanish utterly. Thousands of the non-cultured attend these demonstrations and are amused to see religion refuted so entertainingly by science and chemistry. Translation from t h e German b y H. W. PEEL, JR.
C polishes and lacquers are reported to be consuming approximately 25,000 kg. ZECHOSLOVAKIAN
manufacturers
of
of film scrap per annum, 80 per cent of which is imported from Germany, Bel gium, and England, according t o advices from Prague.
Little-Known Facts about a Well-Known C u p T E A C H convention golfing enthusi A SOCIETY h a v e one afternoon of relaxation asts
of
the
AMERICAN
CHEMICAL
from t h e " s t r a i n " of presenting, discuss ing, or listening t o technical papers. At t h a t t i m e all those who talk a good game of lobby golf are called upon t o sub stantiate their boasts. T o t h e most pro ficient of t h e SOCIETY golfers willing t o p u t his abilities t o competitive test is awarded t h e AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
cup.
T h e rules under which this competition is held are a s follows: 1. T h e award is t o be made t o that member of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL S O CIETY who h a s t h e lowest gross score a t the golf tournament connected w i t h a n y national meeting of t h e SOCIETY. 2. T h e recipient is t o assume the obliga tion of h a v i n g his name suitably engraved o n the cup and of placing t h e c u p in the hands of the chairman of t h e golf committee for re-award at t h e n e x t tournament. 3. I t is suggested t h a t t h e award be in addition t o , and n o t i n lieu of. a n y prize awarded by the local committee for low gross. 4. Any three-time winner of t h e cup shall be entitled to permanent possession of it.
The cup bears the names of convention tournament winners since 1931, a s far back as complete records were available. These are a s follows: Spring of 1931—H. N . Holmes Fall of 1931 — J . S. Reese Fall of 1932 — R . E . Wilson Spring of 1 9 3 3 — C . G. Storm Fall of 1933 — W . A . Peters Spring of 1934—R. E . Wilson Fall of 1934 — H . D . Bainbridge Spring of 1 9 3 5 — C . M . D e n n i s Fall of 1935 - - D . D . Peebles Spring of 1936 - H . V. M o y e r
R. E . Wilson, t h e donor of the cup, h a s promised t h a t whenever a three-time winner gains permanent possession of t h e cup he will provide another.
H i g h T u n g Oil S h i p m e n t s
S
HIPMENTS of t u n g oil from Hankow were especially heavy in M a y and stocks left o n hand at t h e end of the month were the highest recorded for many months, according to t h e Chemical Di vision, Department of Commerce. Total exports from Hankow reached 19,910,000 pounds during May, of which 15,456,000 pounds went directly to the United States. Ο. Ε . M A Y , formerly of t h e Arlington Farm Laboratory, Industrial F a r m Products Division, Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, United States D e p a r t m e n t of Agriculture, is now located at Urbana, Ill., where he i s serving a s director of the Regional Soybean Industrial Prod ucts Laboratory recently established a t the University of Illinois as a coopera tive undertaking of t h e Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, t h e Bureau of Plant I n d u s t r y , a n d the Agricultural Experiment Stations of the twelve North Central States. T h e laboratory has been s e t u p under t h e provisions of the Bankhead-Jones Act with the objectives of determining the variation and composition of soybeans resulting from differences in varietal soil a n d cli matic factors a n d of improving t h e present industrial uses a n d developing new industrial outlets for soybeans a n d soybean products.
