Newscripts by Κ. Μ. Reese Fish and chips tracked by gas chromatography Associate professor David C. Locke of Queens College, City University of New York, sent in the following item, which he says is "pretty much downhill" after the first paragraph: "In a recent case of murder the stomach contents of the victim proved to be entirely of newly consumed fried potato chips of unknown origin. Extraction of the stomach contents, by gentle agitation in light petroleum, •yielded about 2 g of the (solid) fat in which the chips had been cooked. In order to determine the origin of the meal, samples of fats from all of the fish and chip shops within . . . six miles from the point where the deceased was last seen alive, shortly before her death, were submitted to the lab oratory. Also submitted were fish and chip wrappings and small fragments of chips—in all, over eighty samples representing twenty-three origins. Some of the samples were liquid and, there fore, eliminated immediately. For the others, a [gas chroma tographic] technique based on the pyrolysis of the tetramethylammonium hydroxide saponifica tion products was found to be appropriate and enabled the problem to be resolved. As cases involving fats seem to occur fairly regularly in the forensic labora
tories, the methods used may be of general interest (1). . . . " . . . most of the shops could immediately be eliminated . . . as possible origins of the fat. Of the rest (eight shops), two compared closely and one identically to the recovered fat. . . ." There follows a lot of good stuff about chromatography but, as Dr. Locke implies, it's hard to top "In a recent case of murder." It's especially hard when, as in this instance, one never men tions how the case came out. (1) Lloyd, J. B. F., Roberts, B. R. G., "Gas chromatographic characterization of cooking fats with reference to a case of mur der," J. Chromatogr., 77, 228 (1973).
Cleveland comes alive ACS President Alan Nixon stopped in the other day with a couple of the self-addressed post cards that accompanied a fundraising ad, in the June 25 issue of C&EN, for the Society's Pro fessional Enhancement Program (PEP). One of the postcards pledged $50,000 to PEP; the other pledged $5 million. Both were spurious, or at least the names used do not appear in the ACS roster. Both cards, in fact, were almost certainly filled in by the same author, and both were postmarked from the same sub urb of Cleveland, Ohio. Yuk, yuk. Elsewhere around Cleveland, the June 25 issue activated Lloyd Goble of Glidden-Durkee. Goble had seen the report that Adon
Letters Basic research vital SIR: Recently when reviewing a paper for an ACS journal, I noted the following in structions from the editor: "Please keep in mind that, for a chemical engineering re search journal, scientific excellence of itself is not sufficient justification for pub lication. The Editor wants to select articles that will show the way toward making sci ence useful." I hope this is not ACS policy; I hope it is not even the philosophy of many editors. It appears, however, to be symptomatic of an affliction that has been on the national scene all too long. This peculiar notion that if society is sick then science has failed and somehow must be made "relevant" is dis turbing when uttered by the layman. When the scientists begin parroting it then it is not just disturbing, it is nauseating. Does any editor or referee really suppose that he can determine how useful a sci entific concept is going to be? Surely most scientists still believe that an increasing store of fundamental knowledge is vital to our future. Perhaps there are still a few who believe that free scientific inquiry re quires a different attitude, a different phi losophy than designing a processing plant. To those, it may not be much consolation to be able to laugh when the bureaucrats learn one day that it takes a generation to create good research scientists and that 32
C&EN July 30, 1973
Gordus of the University of Michigan has found an apparent correlation between good grades in school and the zinc and copper content of hair (C&EN, June 25, page 36). The Cleveland man suggests that further digging might uncover a correlation be tween good grades and dandruff, since zinc chemicals are common in dandruff shampoos.
Crackdown on spelling Starting this fall, journalism majors at the University of North Carolina, in Chapel Hill, will be given a spelling test. Journalism dean John Adams is exercised by the lack of attention to spelling and grammar at every educa tional level, including the uni versity. "As long as they can communicate," he says, "many people do not believe such tech nicalities as spelling and gram mar are important." But jour nalism professors generally agree that in newspaper work, es pecially, correct spelling and grammar will increase credibility. Seems reasonable. The new test is a standardized exam that includes spelling, grammar, and reading compre hension. It will be given twice during the fall semester, so that graduating seniors will have a chance to improve their scores, and once each semester there after. The UNC school of jour nalism will not require students to take the test. For those who refuse to take it, however, the school will fink to prospective employers.
they do not materialize by government edict. A society'that hides science under tech nology cannot have good science. What is equally pathetic is that if it tries to push technology by itself it will not long even have good technology. For my ACS dollar I would certainly be a lot happier if the Society would work toward convincing the lay public of the real value of research. There are plenty of other or ganizations willing to promote pseudoscience. L. L. Burger Richland, Wash.
H 2 S0 4 + ΗΝΟ3 + fat = danger SIR: We wish to report an accident involv ing a common reaction that may not be gen erally recognized as hazardous and does not seem to have been documented as such in the literature. It is a wet ashing pro cedure involving the use of sulfuric and nitric acids to reduce animal tissue to inorganic constituents for subsequent anal ysis. The accident happened as follows: A high school co-op had been assigned the job of filling three 25-ml. Teflonlined Parr bombs for the degradation of animal fat. She filled each bomb (in a dry ice-acetone bath) with 1 ml. of fuming sulfuric acid and 1 ml. of fuming nitric acid. About 0.5 gram wet weight of adipose (fat) tissue was added to bombs 2 and 3. The tops were screwed on. No heat was applied. The co-op then set the bombs on the lab desk.
Chronicles of long-lived iron Most folks in the science business are at least vaguely aware of the rust-resistant Iron Pillar of Delhi, in India, which in 15 cen turies has acquired only a super ficial brown tarnish. Now a sec ond example of long-lived iron has popped up, courtesy of Phila delphia Quartz Co., in the form of Thomas Telford's aqueduct between Ruabon and Llangollen, in Wales (1). The wrought iron pillar at Delhi, a tribute to a Hindu king of about 400 A.D., is 4 feet in girth at the base and just under 24 feet high. Corrosion experts attribute the pillar's rust resis tance to the purity of the iron (99.97%), its grain structure, and the relatively dry air of northern India. Telford's aqueduct, a 1000-foot iron trough across the River Dee, has defied rust for more than 150 years. Telford, who worked for Shropshire Canal Co., ran the Shrewsbury arm of the canal into Wales with a masonry aque duct. But to put in a feeder canal he had to cross the Welsh Dee, a 2500-foot jump. Masonry hadn't the strength, so Telford built his iron aqueduct with 19 massive cast iron arches of "best Shropshire iron." Telford (17571834) later became first president of the Institution of Civil Engi neers. (1) Silicate Fs& Q's, May-June 1973, Philadelphia Quartz Co., Philadelphia, Pa.
About 10 minutes later, the co-op re turned to the desk. At that moment bomb 2 exploded. A few seconds later bomb 3 exploded. The bottom of one bomb went through the desk and the Formica top shat tered. The co-op suffered lacerations and abrasions, probably caused by the Formica. Subsequent calculations indicated that more than enough oxidizing material was present to completely oxidize the animal fat to gaseous products. Further, con ditions were ideal for the formation of nitro glycerine and other nitrated organic materials. Calculations show that under confined conditions, the contents of the bomb could have reached temperatures as high as 4000° K. and pressures as high as 15,000 p.s.i. The bombs are rated at 5000 p.s.i. and fail through the bottom in the manner observed. This reaction has been run many times in our laboratories using open crucibles, on nonfatty tissue, without incident. The key points to avoid, therefore, are (1) use of a closed system, and (2) simulta neous use of nitric and sulfuric acids on fatty tissue. L. J. Tyler V.P. for Research, Dow Corning Corp., Midland, Mich.
Abortion problems SIR: I agree with E. C. Freiling (C&EN, June 18, pages 40 and 29) that the Supreme Court decision on abortion constitutes cruel Continued on page 22
