May, 1919
T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
They had made explosives in enormous quantities, but what, to him, was much more serious, he found they had been making those devilish poison gases in quantities as large as the Germans ever would want, and they had made them in the plant ordinarily used for chemical products often without changing one single item of plant. The operations which made the dyes, wonderful as the results were, could be classed under very few heads. The plant could be made on standard lines, and when they found that those plants intended to be used for peaceful purposes were capable of turning out the vilest of all offensive means without any change whatever, they realized what a terrible danger it was for England that those factories should exist on such an enormous scale, closely united one with the other, ready a t any momtmt. should the evil intention come to them, of being the very fountain o€ all that was needed for the most ferocious methods. This had entirely resulted from the success of the Germans in dealing with the dye industry during the last 20, 30, or 40 years. If equal factories had existed with us, we should have been able a t a moment’s call to turn out For the defense of our country and for repelling the insidious attacks made by Germany more war material, and the period of the war would have been a trifle compared with what it had been. The consequence was that it was absolutely necessary that England should have a large and flourishing dye industry for the making of dyes. If there were a large and flourishing industry for the utilization of those dyes, it was through the work of dyers that our textile industries were freed from foreign control. It was idle to think that the mere production of those dyes would make us safe. If we wanted to back our textile industries, if we wanted to prevent Germany continuing to carry on the prosperity which our lack of enterprise and lack of competition had permitted them to have, we must certainly not be at their mercy in future years. We could only establish these industries if dyers took to heart this lesson, and if they, by their skill and by their mastery of the great color industry, not only made our textile industries in the point of dyeing which was vital to them, utterly independent of any foreign supplies, but also put them in the position they ought to take as the highest in quality and the lowest in price of all the world.
A BUREAU OF CHEMICAL INTELLIGENCE Editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineerzng Chemistry: The very interesting report of the Patent Committee, printed in the March number of THISJOURNAL, suggests a matter con.nected with the Patent Office about which, it seems to me, something ought to be done. There is in the Patent Office a chemical card index of approximately I,OOO,OOO cards, on which the Government has spent to date about $70,000. This index has been fully described in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, 22 (]goo), 478-94; 29 (19071, 936-41; 34 (1912)? 416-7; and also in the report made in 1912 by President “aft’s Commission on Efficiency and Economy upon the Patent Office (62d Congress,, 3rd Session, H. R. Document 1 1 1 0 , pp. 599-618), all written by Dr. Edwin A. Hi!l, who originated the index and was formerly in charge of it and is a t present First Assistant Examiner of Division 34 of the Patent Office. At present, owing to neglect, this index is little used and threatens to go rapidly from bad to worse. Two clerks who are not chemists and who have no chemical supervision have been left a t work on it, and that for part time only. For several years no new drawer sections have been provided for housing the accumulated cards, so that there are over IOO,OOO finished cards in storage that cannot be put into the main index. This, in contrast with a former regular force of one chemist and four assist ants provided with sufficient supplies. Apparently the feeling of those in charge of the Patent Office is that the cost of maintenance of the index is greater than is
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justified by the use which the Office can make of it, and this may be true, although chemists in the Office have told me that they frequently find things in the index that they cannot find elsewhere. Patent attorneys do not make much use of it; some have never taken the trouble to learn the simple system and many of them shy at chemical formulas Probably they would use it if a competent person were in charge and the index itself were in proper condition. Opinions may differ as to the value of the index but at least all will agree that the present policy should not be continued. If the project is of sufficient value to keep up, why not give it a justification for existence by greatly enlarging its field of use? Why not make it the nucleus of a bureau of chemical intelligence, which shall not only supply information to the Patent Office and patent attorneys but shall furnish chemical intelligence of all kinds to chemists and others interested, anywhere in the country? This is not my own idea, but is based on suggestions received during use of the index for the Chemical Warfare Service. It has been suggested that this bureau might be created as a small, independent bureau of the Interior Department but remain housed in the Patent Office building, contributing its services to that office and receiving in return the advantages of the Patent Office library. Such a bureau would have a director who is an experienced chemist, assistants of various grades, photostat operator, etc. It would be prepared, as a part of its work, to furnish copies of cards and copies, translations, and abstracts of articles a t a low price. The Taft Commission commended the index and recommended that it be brought and kept up to date by a competent force, but this, like many other recommendations of the Commission, was not carried out. The present apathy of the Government is the result ol the apathy of chemists, at least in part. If American chemists think a bureau of chemical intelligence important enough, probably they can get one, and there is no doubt that it could make itself very useful. The Patent Office index is not an essential feature of such a bureau as has been proposed and the idea of the bureau should be considered on its own merits. But the index should also be given attention on its own account and if, on investigation, it promises to be useful to chemists, the AMERICAN CHEMICALSOCIETY should urge that i t be given adequate support. XENIA, OSIO April 5, 1919
AUSTINM. PATTERSON
PLATINUM THEFT Editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: On April I. between 12.30 and 3 o’clock, a thief entered our laboratory and stole 14 small platinum dishes weighing about 15 g. and having a capacity of about 2 5 cc. The dishes were numbered from I to 14 and had been considerably abused, that is, they were worn and bent, and several had holes in the bottom. This ware had been in use about 7 years. So far we have absolutely no clue a t all. We are writing all the dealers asking them to be on the lookout as the robber might endeavor to dispose of i t in this way. We ask for cooperation in this matter. R. M. SIMPSON, Chief Chemist STATE O F SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COMMERCG, AND INDUSTRIES COLUMBIA. S. C., April 4, 1919
STATlSTICS REGARDING SOME IMPORTANT GERMAN INDUSTRIES A member of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETYsends from Coblenz the following statistics concerning some important German industries:
