New Text ACS W a s h i n g t o n News B u r e a u ^-Ç)
By Ah
(*hemicmM.l Information Center All oxrganic chemists should become familiar "-with t h e newly established Chemical a n d Biological Center recently established fc>y t h e National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council in W a s h i n g t o n . The purpose of this center i s to sponsor a n active screening p r o g r a m of all organic compounds, both new a n c l old, to determine toxicity, insecticida^l and rodenticidal action, insect repellencsy, a n d action on cancer tissue. Additionnai screening tests will be made as soon as facilities become available. Sampl«es of newly synthesized organic c o m p o u n d s a r e t o be submitted to the center f o r cataloging a n d subsequent dist r i b u t i o n to selected federal, state, municipal, s m d nonprofit testing laboratories which haave facilities for carrying out s c r e e n i n g tests against a wide variety of plant a n - d animal life. T h e results of such s c r e e n i n g tests will be reported back to the c e n t o r where t h e d a t a will be recorded and filedu under t h e new chemical coding system ^recently developed. T h e s c r e e n i n g data will be reported back t o the investigator, w h o reported the samiples, so t h a t h e m a y further develop army indicated leads. T h e information w i l L also be released to the chemical and biological profession through periodic reports. Should a n investigator or industrial l a b o r a t o r y n o t desire t h e information be m a d e public, t h e report will be held "in confiden ce" except to government agencies c o n c e r n e d with the tests. A s i m i l a r system h a s been used in G e r m a n ^ · a n d w a s successful in determining -fc-he relation of s t r u c t u r e to biological a c t i o n . I t is hoped that the information colLected at t h e center will produce similar xresults. With t h e cooperation of the r e s e a r c h e r s , who discover new organic c o m p o u n d s , t h e program m a y produce entirely unexpected uses for compounds and n e w research leads may b e uncovered. A c c o r d i n g to W . R . Kirner, director of the center, Tthe discovery of D D T as a n insecticide- would n o t have been delayed 70 years af^ter Zeidlcr synthesized t h e compound i:f such a S3rstem were in effect. Also, c o m p o u n d s prepared for a specific p u r p o s e may b e found t o have much more i m p o r t a n t uses for an entirely different p u r p o s e - Through such a method as this, 1080 w a s found to be a n important rodenticide a l t h o u g h a derivative of it was prepared a s a chemical warfare agent. Such discover-d es c a n be made b3r t h e screening of as m t s n y compounds as possible for as m a n y ixises a s possible. T h e center is V O L U M E
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planning to screen several h u n d r e d thousand new and old compounds. Organic chemists can cooperate with this program b y submitting samples t o the Chemical a n d Biological Coordination Center, National "Research Council, Washington, D . C. HureaiL of
Standards
Tentative plans are now u n d e r way at the National Bureau of S t a n d a r d s for an expanded program of research in nuclear physics?. T h e bureau, long a c t i v e in this field particularly in radioactivity measurement a n d instrumentation, played a key role in the atomic bomb project when President Roosevelt turned t o t h e former director for initiation of the project. One of the peacetime projects envisages a cooperative program with t h e ^National Institute of Health. E . U. Condon, director of the bureau, and Surgeon General Parran announced that a federal research institution located in the Washington area is contemplated and t h a t w h e n t h e plan is approved by the Administration, the Bureau of Standards and the n a t i o n a l Institute of Health will seek a j o i n t special appropriation from Congress. T h i s nuclear research project, will have two aspects, one for physical research for the Bureau of Standards and one for medical and biological research for t h e I n s t i t u t e of Health; however, a single u r a n i u m pile would b e used by both groups. A n y such program will be integrated with the activities created by the Atomic Energy Commission, recently established by Congress. In addition, the Bureau of Standards is continuing i t s usual investigations of the properties of radioactive substances, measurement of radioactivity, and instrumentation. Related projects include t h e construction of a 50,000,000-volt b e t a t r o n , now u n d e r w a y ; the design of a 100,000,000-volt betatron; and construction and operation of a 1,500,000-volt x-ray tube. The development of measurement instruments a n d techniques and standardization of measurements, two fields in which the bureau is already very a c t i v e , are indispensable for future progress in nuclear physics. TTID OTS Technical Industrial Intelligence Division document screeners in Germany recently discovered a new cache o f K r u p p files, said to contain some of the firm's most valuable papers on metallurgy. Also recently reported were 10,000 pages of
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unpublished medical papers in the Munich area, 83 doctors' dissertations, and additional p a t e n t applications. Microfilms are being made of approximately 3,500,000 of the 3,500,000,000 pages of documents containing information of value to American industry Eventually all microfilms will be cataloged and copies sold to the public throng)) the OTS. Five reports now un sale b y the O T S give a complete equipment inventory of J a p a n ' s largest thermal power plants, including d a t a on production capacity, specification for turbines and other equipment. Japanese thermal plants represent about t w o fifths of Japan's capacity to produce electric energy, according to tingeneral report, also available a t OTS. Civil Service
Commission
T h e ' U . S. Civil Service Commission has announced t h e examinations for probational appointment to the positions of engineering aid, scientific aid, a n d biological aid. Applications for these examinations will be received until October 10, 1946. Positions as chemists are now open at the D e p a r t m e n t of Agriculture, Bureau of Standards, and the U. S. Public Health Service. For information concerning these positions contact t h e personnel division of the various departments. The commission recently approved the establishment of t h e U. S. Civil Service Committee of Expert Examiners for the Federal Works Agency. Under the supervision of the commission, the committee will conduct examinations for certain scientific, professional, and technical positions in t h e Federal Works Agency. Synthetic Chemical
Organic Production
Production figures on synthetic rubber and surface-active agonis included in the Tariff Commission's current preliminary report of 194c show the great change in the chemical industry of t h e United States brought ahout by the ν -ir. This report, the 20th of the series, also includes crude organic chemicals derived from petroleum. T h e magnitude of this production offers another striking ex ample of American chemical development. In addition to these fields the repori covers 1945 production and sales of coaltar crudes, intermediates, dyes, toners, medicals, flavors a n d perfume materials, rubber chemicals, plasticizers, and plasticmat eria Is. 2449
