May 10, 1923
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
MICHELSON HEADS NATIONAL ACADEMY R. C. Tolman among Those Elected to Membership at Recent Washington Meeting A. A. Michelson, professor of physics of the University of Chicago, was elected president of the National Academy of Sciences at its annual meeting in Washington. Dr. J. C. Merriam, president of Carnegie Institution of Washington, was chosen vice-president; Dr. David White, of the U. S. Geological Survey, was elected home secretary, and Dr. F . L. Ransome was reelected treasurer. Dr. W . A. Noyes, professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois, and Dr. A. I,. Day, director of the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution, were made members of the council. The following were elected to membership in the Academy: J. H. Breasted, archaeologist and Egyptologist of the University of Chicago, who was present at the opening of the tomb of Tut-ankhamen; E. W. Brown, professor of astronomy at Yale University; F . E . Wright, geologist of the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution; E . I. Opie, professor of pathology at Washington University, St. Louis, who has studied the germs of tuberculosis, malaria, and influenza; Prof. i S ^ L r - Webster, physicist of Stanford University, expert on electrons and X-rays; G. F. Swain, professor of civil engineering at Harvard; Prof. C. H. Eigenmann, zoologist and specialist in the heredity of fishes, director, Indiana Biological Station; M. A. Howe, botanist and curator of the N e w York Botanical Gardens; E. D . Merrill, botanist and director of the Bureau of Science, Manila, Philippine Islands; Prof. R. C. Tolman, formerly director of the Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory, Washington; Prof. S. I. Bailey, astronomer of the Harvard Observatory; Yandell Henderson, professor of physiology, Yale University; R. M. Yerkes, psychologist of the National Research Council who devised the army mental tests and has made notable researches into animal behavior; Max Mason, physicist of the University of Wisconsin and inventor of submarine detection devices; and L. Stejneger, snake and bird expert of the U. S. National Museum.
H. A. Curtis to Make Chilean Nitrate Survey Appointment of Harry A. Curtis, of Sedalia, Col., to take charge of the investigation of nitrates in the Commerce Department survey of foreign monopolies of essential raw materials was announced by Secretary Hoover on M a y 2. Mr. Curtis was formerly general manager of the Clinchfield Carbocoal Corporation and during the war was connected with the Ordnance Department. William H . Walker, of Glenn Willows, Calif., was named as assistant head of the nitrate survey. H e is to take charge of the study of the probable demand for nitrates, chiefly from the agricultural point of view.
An Equation in Business Chemistry "Business Chemistry" is the name of a bulletin published "every little while" by Skinner, Sherman and Esselen, Inc., of Boston. It i s edited by Robert R. Updegroff and contains information of interest chiefly to manufacturers as to "how chemistry may be used profitably in industry. The following is taken from the first issue: "Repairs v-;ere being made one day last summer in the heating boilers of a Boston telephone exchange. There was, of course, no fire under the boilers, yet the men a n the job, who were working in the ash pit, were overcome by mysterious fumes. "We received a hurry call to locate the trouble. As the building stood on what was supposed to have oeen marsh land in years gone by, trie theory of marsh gas was advanced. "We knew the rules for analyzing gases. But we looked around first for a more common-sense explanation for the mysterious fumes. And xv£ found, 'way over in the corner of the basement, a small hot-water heater, connected at some distance with a large flue from the boilers. A simple experiment disclosed that carbon monoxide fumes from the little heater were being drawn down the large flue and into the ash pit. And that w a s all there was to it. "As an example in business chemistry, that problem would look like this: Baffling Problem of Mysterious Gas Knowledge of Gases •+* Common Sense = A Quick Solution " N o t all chemistry problems are so simple, but all require common sense,, and all are simplified when worked out against a background of experience."
Section Investigates New "Nitrogen Fixer** The committee of the Indiana Section which investigates what seem to be pseudo-scientific preparations, treatments, and companies, and which publishes its findings so that the people need not be deceived, made a report on an alleged new method of fixing nitrogen from the air on Tuesday, April 17th, at the regular luncheon meeting. The apparatus which the committee investigated pretends t o take a mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen at room temperature and under no more -pressure than is necessary to move the gases along and to produce ammonia from it. The committee found trace tests of ammonia but could n o t find any really satisfactory scientific basis for its production or any adequate explanation of how the thing was done, if indeed it was really accomplished b y the machine. An attempt is being made to sell stock in the enterprise, hence the committee was seeking to see if there was any real basis for the claims that have been advanced.—F. B. W A D E , Indianapolis.
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SEEK NEW NAME FOR FIBRE SILK Association to Have Separate Division to Deal with Artificial Products The Silk Association of America, according to the New York Daily News Record, is planning the formation of an artificial silk division. The association also is endeavoring to choose a suitable generic name for artificial silk to distinguish it from real silk. In the official organ of the association, "The Silk Worm," for May, suggestions are invited by the men who are organizing the new trade division for a name for artificial silk, noting that a name which can be applied to all types of the product and made-up merchandise is what is needed to place artificial silk on a proper basis. "The vigorous campaign of the Silk Association of America for the prevention of misbranding is well known," "The Silkworm" says in part. "As a part of this movement, artificial silk manufacturers have recently taken concerted action to devise a generic name for their product and to organize under that name a separate trade division of the Silk Association. For a number of years the Association has been working on the problem and consultations have been held with representatives of the Silk Association of Great Britain and Ireland. "What is needed to establish the status of artificial silk on a proper basis is a name which can be applied to all types of the product and made-up merchandise. "To be successful and to become a class name accepted by the public and the trade, the new term for artificial silk should be at the same time scientifically correct, easily pronounced and remembered, and designed to take the popular fancy. It must satisfy both the manufacturer and the retailer who will sell artificial silk products. The acceptance of any new term depends to a large degree on its common use by those who sell goods across the counter. The name chosen will not serve its purpose unless it can be applied in general to the product and does not require the definition 'artificial silk.' "
To Speak at Boston Allan Winter Rowe of the Evans Memorial Hospital will speak j a t the M a y 11 meeting of the Northwestern Section on "The Chemical and Physical Aids to Diagnosis," and Prof. Gorham W. Harris of Simmons College will address the section on "Some Chemistry of the Insect World." The meeting will be held in the lecture room of the Engineers Club, Boston. The Chicago Section has elected the following new officers: G. A. Menge, chairman, and L. F. Supple, secretary, replacing C. S. Miner and S. L-. Redman, respectively. D i s c u s s e s N e w Process In a recently issued booklet "The New Era in the Steel Industry," I,eon Cammcn discusses a process to give the chemical industry corrosion-proof ripe and plate through the process of centrifugal casting.
