JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
or supplying small chunks of solid carbon dioxide to avoid the necessity of boring holes in trunks! The alternative would be to fill the trunk with xenon; it is absolutely inert, nontoxic, and denser than carbon dioxide; furthermore, it would probably be just as ineffective.
To the Editor:
To the Editor: Some strange notions seem to be floating around the All of the articles on foreign chemical literature in dream islands of the Pacific if those expressed by Judson the March issue of THIS JOURNAL were very interesting L. Ihrig of the University of Hawaii in THIB JOURNAL and highly significant. I n Table 10 of "A procedure (32, 217 (1955)) are representative of the whole. The for the identification of languages," by Benn E. Clouser idea that a heavy vapor will stay forever a t the bottom and Herman Skolnik, errors occur regarding the Finof the air contained in a closed vessel is one which most nish equivalents of "reaction" and "study." "Vaikuteachers have little difficulty in dispelling, a few simple tus" means effect; reaction is "reaktio." "Lukeexperiments on the diffusion of heavy and light gases minen" means reading; study, in the sense of scientific usually sufficing. Professor Ihrig has evidently over- investigation, is "tutkimns." looked the fact that if the mothballs were indeed comOrdinary bilingual dictionaries frequently give the posed of p-dichlorobenzene, the evaporation of this common and literary, rather than technical, meanings material could proceed only until the partial pressure of of words. Where available, a technical dictionary its vapor reached the vapor pressure of the pure sub- should be used in making translations of technical stance, which would be in the region of a millimeter of articles. An excellent polyglot technical vocabulary, mercury at the ambient temperatures likely to prevail. covering all fields of technology and the fields of science The change in the oxygen content of the atmosphere most important in technology, in Finnish as well as enclosed in the trunk would he negligible. It is di5- English, German, Swedish, and Russian, is "Tekcult to comment on why Professor Ihrig concludes that niikan Sanasto" (two volumes, second edition, 1950), there would be "no back diffnsion of oxygen from the published by Kustannusosakeyhtio Otava (Otava Pubair" because "there would be practically no convection lishing Corporation), Helsinki, Finland. currents." Diffusion takes place whether the convection is taking dace or not. Convection could s ~ e e dUD the mass transfer of p-dichlorobenzene from the bottom of the trunk to the top, but in its absence diffnsion would lead to a uniform composition of the atmosphere in the trunk in a very few hours a t the most. His doubts that "the action he a chemical one, since p-dichlorobenzene is not the sort of compound used as a rubber antioxidant" appear t o be founded on equally shaky grounds. Perhaps those interested in rubber antioxidants know ( I do not) whether pdichlorohenzene is a rubber antioxidant, but can see reasons (I can) why it would not be suitable for use. Furthermore, if the erasers were likely t o have swelled in direct contact with the substance on account of possible solvent action, they would equally well have swelled (albeit more slowly) in contact with the vapor. I can visualize Professor Miller when next he wishes to put pencils having rubber erasers into a trunk, taking Judson L. Ihrig's advice regarding carbon dioxide! Three shillings' worth of pencils will he placed carefully a t the bottom of the trunk (which will, of course, be fitted with numerous baffles to reduce back diffnsionby hindering convection). Two holes will be bored in the trunk, one (near the bottom) for theintroduction of carbon dioxide, the other (at the top) to let out the air displaced. He might make quite a profitable business from hiring out Kipp-type carbon dioxide generators, ~
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