New Science Building at Pennsylvania State College R. ADAMS DUTCHER, Pennsylvania State College, State College, Penna.
T.
HE Departments of Agricultural and Biological Chem-
istry and Zoology and Economic Entomology of Pennsylvania State College are now occupying the new Agricultural Science Building, one of the several new buildings made available by the General State Authority in 1940. This brief description deals solely with the facilities of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Chemistry. The building has been named R e a r Lahoratories in honor of the late FVfiam Rear, nationally known agricultural chemist, who devoted 37 years to Pennsylvania agriculture and national pure food problems. It is constrncted of creamcolored Roman brick, trimmed with Indiana limestone,
The building measures 205 by 70 feet and consists of four floors. Owing to the contour of the campus three floors are above ground level on the front, while four floors are above ground a t the rear. All laboratories are well lighted and have cream-colored tile walls equipped with adjustable shelving on aluminum brackets set in aluminum slots. This makes it possible t o have shelves of any desired width or height without mutilating the walls. Acidproof plumbing is standard equipment throughout and all plumbing is exposed (overhead) for couvenience in making repairs. Floors, with the exception of a few special rooms, consist
UPPERLEFT. CORNER OF PROTEIN RESEARCH IiABORATORY LOWER LEFT. GRADUATE STUDENT LABORATORY, ACCOMMOI >ATING EIGEIT STUDENTS UPPERRISHT. TYPICAL S T ~ D E NLABOR, T \TORY
luly 15, 1941
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UPPER LEFT. LABORATORY FOR VITAMIN RESEARCH LEFTCENTER. CEREAL TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY
LOWERLEFT. LABORATORY FOR RESEARCH ON ANIMAL PRODUCTION PROBLEMB UPPER RIGHT. POSTGRADUATE WORK IN BIOPHYSICAL CHEMISTRY RIGHTCENTER. AIR-CONDITIONED BREEDING ROOM,ANIMALLABORATORY LOWERRIGHT. AIR-CONDITIONED CAGEROOM FOR VITAMIN RESEARCH
of black hnoleum cue. .ill laoorabory UBSKB are OL wood construction with tops made of chemically treated laminated pressed wood, covered with a chemical-proof plastic finish, Desks in all laboratories are equipped with gas, cold and hot water, compressed air, vacuum lines, steam, and alternating and direct current Distilled water is conducted in aluminum tubing to laboratories and corridorsfromreservoirsin the attic. Forced ventilation is available for all classrooms and laboratories and all fume hoods are equipped with individual motors. Four large student laboratories, each of which will accommodate from 192 to 224 students, are designed for the various service courses in biochemistry. Balance, Kjeldahl, fat-extraction, and instrument rooms are sepa~~~~~~
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Vol. 13, No. 7
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rate from but easily accessible to the large student laboratories, as are three small classrooms, with a seating capacity of from 45 to 60. Two laboratories are set aside for graduate student research and a large office accommodates from 15 to 20 graduate students. Other graduate students have offices adjacent to private laboratories of professors with whom they are working on special problems. Two cold rooms, maintained a t 32" F., are available for quantity storage, while all laboratories are equipped with electric refrigerators for active laboratory materials. One room, for low-temperature work, is kept a t -20' F. but can be used a t temperatures as low as -32' F. A laboratory is also designed for pilot-plant and semicommercial-scale research in agricultural technology. Milling facilities are available for grinding samples of every type, from rocks and soils to foods and feeds. An experimental flour mill is available for work in cereal technology. A specially designed steam dryer, made of stainless steel, has a capacity of 200 to 400 pounds for rapid drying of such materials as silage, tobacco, and agricultural crops. A complete baking laboratory has been designed for student instruction and research. This laboratory has a baking oven with rotary hearth, fermentation cabinet (automatically controlled for temperature and humidity), dough mixers, sheeting roll, molder, and complete equipment for measuring gluten strength of flours, loaf volume, etc.
All principal storage rooms are on the basement floor. Small subsidiary stockrooms (for dispensing of stock) are located on each laboratory floor. Supplies are carried to the subsidiary stockrooms by elevator.
Experiment Station Projects The top floor is devoted solely to research work on experiment station projects. Instrument rooms containing quartz spectrograph, spectrophotometer, fluorometers, polariscopes, and colorimeters, and an x-ray room and a darkroom for photographic work are available for all workers. Air-conditioned laboratories have been designed for animal nutrition studies and facilities are available for sterilizing all cage equipment. Battery cages are used for poultry nutrition studies and separate laboratories are available for student research in nutrition. Observation windows have been constructed so that the public can see the animals in the breeding colony and in the nutrition laboratory without entering the air-conditioned rooms and interfering with the regular research work. The Department of Agricultural and Biological Chemistry has 108 undergraduate students majoring in the department and 33 candidates are now working for advanced degrees. The department offers service courses to approximately 1200 students from other departments and schools on the campus,
