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money prizes to scientific workers in the field of the rare earths, particularly in the domain of gas illumination. Gans Dies i n Frankfurt Privy Councilor of Commerce Leo Ludwig Gans, the senior control adviser of the I. G. Farbenindustrie A.-G., passed away in Frankfurt a.M. on September 14; he was in his ninety-third year. With fifteen winkers he began in 1870 the product inn of indigo carmine in Mainkur under the firm Leopold Cassella and Company. At that time this concern, which belonged to the Gans and Weinberg families, imported natural dyestuffs from foreign countries. In the beginning the plant operator, the chemist, and the dyer were all in the person of one man — Loe Guns. Within the space of a few decades this small operation became one of the leading German coal-tar dye factories which merged into the I. G. Farbenindustrie A.-G. Gans was the recipient of many honors. S y m p o s i u m on Corrosion H e l d in Berlin in November The fifth corrosion symposium was held in Berlin November 18 and 19. The principal theme was '"Attack on Metal Structural and Working Materials by Cold Water." General problems of corrosion were discussed—rapid corrosion tests, standardization, and investigation of corrosion processes. Then a number of papers summarized clearly the damage arising from the action of cold water of all kinds. Finally, discussion was directed t o the precautions which have been found effective in preventing this damage. The meeting was arranged by a workers' Gemeinschaft of the technicalscientific Vercin. P r o b a t i o n Period Is N e c e s s a r y for A s s i s t a n t s The provisions relating io the appointment of scientific assistants in the universities have recently been changed. According t o the procedure now in effect, assistants are first employed for two years. Then, an extension for an additional two years depends upon whether or not the candidate during his employment has displayed ability for a university career. An extension* beyond four years will be considered only when the assistant has acquired the degree Dr. habil or is almost certain t o receive it soon. It shall be the policy t o reserve head assistantships for Dozents as before. C h e m i c a l Periodical Is to Change Its Title The chemical-metallurgical journal Die Metallborse has been published by Chronos-Zeitschriften G. m. b. H. in Berlin. Since this publishing house is in the process of liquidation, Die Metallborse has been suspended. However, authorization has been given E. Gundlach A.-G. in Bielefeld to issue a new periodical of the same type, which is to carry the title Metall und Chemie (Metallwoche). The new Zeitschrift will appear shortly as a weekly publication. S y n t h e t i c Rubber t o Be M a n u f a c t u r e d The problem of the manufacture of synthetic caoutchouc can be regarded as solved, for the construction of the first production plant has been started in Piesteritz b. Wittenberg. This plant will probably be in operation at the close of this year. Translation by W. L. HILL
ENGINEERING
CHEMISTRY
Miscellaneous Foreign Notes R u d o l f S e i d e n , Landstrasser Gurtel 9/10, V i e n n a III, Austria Sweden S o l i d Paraffin Is Separated from Oils The following method has been patented (German Patent 611,703) by Aktiebolaget Separator-Nobel of Stockholm, Sweden: A solvent of high specific gravity is added to the oil in such quantities that the resulting solution has a density higher than that of the paraffin to be separated. After cooling, the solution is centrifuged, yielding an oil high in paraffin. This is recentrifuged with the separation of solid paraffin and a residual oil low in paraffin. Claims are made that the new process is economical and satisfactory. Spontaneous Combustion Prevented in S t o r e d Pyrites Bertil Stalhane and Valter Anderson report from Sweden a simple method for the prevention of fires in iron pyrites piles. The procedure has been featured in the daily press as well as in technical journals (references not given). For each ton of pyrites. 2 to 4 kg. of 40 to 50 per cent evaporated spent sulfite liquor are used. This is diluted with water to I part in 4 and is then used in the form of a spray so that it penetrate.- the pyrites to a depth of 0.5 to 1.0 meter. This surface treatment offers complete protection against spontaneous combustion.
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the solution is carefully brushed over the spot, the stain rapidly turns dark brown, and its fine structure becomes quite distinct. The picture becomes even clearer when the stain is subsequently brushed with 3 per cent hydrogen peroxide. When this treatment is repeated, even t h e sweat pores, which are often so characteristic, become visible. If t h e treated blood clot is carefully removed by means of a sharp knife it is also possible to obtain the characteristic crystal reaction of the blood. Translation by LOUIS K. W I S E
South Africa Vernon Bosman D e p a r t m e n t o f Commerce a n d I n d u s tries. Pretoria
C Gasoline Made f r o m Torbanites A company with a capital of 11750,000 has been registered for the purpose of producing gasoline from the torbanites occurring in the Transvaal. Preparations arc proceeding for the erection of the plant at Benoni, near Johannesburg, and it is expected that the first South Africanmade gasoline will b e marketed early in 1936. The initial output will be 5,000,000 gallons, which will bo produced from a mixture of torbanite oil and imported crude petroleum. A s the company becomes established, t h e percentage of torbanite oils will be greatly increased. South Africa's fuel requirements are at present made up o f 05,000,000 gallons of imported gasoline, 500,000 gallons of molasses alcohol, a n d 750,000 gallons of Switzerland benzene. The torbanite industry is, thereN e w M e t h o d P a t e n t e d for fore, a new departure which is looked upon P r o d u c i n g S o d i u m Nitrate with great interest. In a patent claim (German Patent 615,Alcohol I s Being 522), Gustav Guyer and Anton Bieler M a d e from Maize of Switzerland use sodium chloride and A company has been registered for t h e calcium nitrate in the preparation of manufacture of anhydrous alcohol from sodium nitrate. The reactants are treated maize, and it is anticipated that it will with enough liquid ammonia to bring reach the production stage early in 1936. about the metathesis, to form the calcium The initial output will b e approximately chloride ammoniate, and also t o dissolve 1,000,000 gallons. I t is the intention of the sodium nitrate formed in the reaction. the company to market a n alcoholEvidently it is important that operations gasoline fuel containing 2 0 to 25 per cent are carried out in a temperature range anhydrous alcohol. It is also planned t o which permits the formation of calcium produce a number of by-products, includchloride ammoniates; the latter separate, ing dry-ice. are filtered off, and are subsequently A u t o m o b i l e Tires washed with ammonia. The filtrate, on Are M a n u f a c t u r e d evaporation, gives pure sodium nitrate in Quite recently the Dunlop Rubber C o . satisfactory yield. opened a factory at Durban, Natal, for t h e manufacture of automobile tires and tubes. Czechoslovakia The company has been operating for some months with great success. The lead Effcets o f F e r m e n t e d a n d set b y the Dunlop company has now been S y n t h e t i c E t h a n o l s Are Different followed by the Firestone Tire & Rubber As the result of a long series of reCo. of America, which firm is busy erecting searches, J. Krizenecky and F. Diakov of 1 a modern plant for the manufacture of Czechoslovakia have found differences tubes and tires near Port Elizabeth, where in dynamic action and in toxicity between the General Motors Corp. and the Ford ethanol samples produced by fermentation Motor Co. each have assembly plants. on the one hand and synthetic methods Government Recognizes on the other. The narcotic action and the Standardization Association effect on respiration of the synthetic The Union Government has recognized ethanol seem to be due t o certain impurithe South African Standards Association ties which cannot be readily removed. as the chief body dealing with standardization in South Africa. This institution, Holland which works in close cooperation with t h e British Standards. Institution and similar Indistinct Blood bodies of the other Dominions, is repreS t a i n s M a d e Visible Any blood stain, no matter how old, sented on the main committee by seven government departments, t e n technical how obtained, or how indistinct, when societies, and thirteen industrial and trade treated with a solution containing 100 mg. organizations. It i s suitably equipped benzidine and 3 cc. of 3 per cent hydrogen t o cope with South African conditions. peroxide in 4 0 cc. of ethanol, become sharply visible, according to a report by M. 2 Wagenaar of Rotterdam, Holland. When 1 Vistnik Ceskoslov. A had. Zemidilski, 1 0 , 75565 (1934). * Pharm. Weekblad, 72, 463-70 (1935).
