Dec., 1918
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 CIlEMISTRY
give a balanced and neat appearance t o the page, but probably none of us will mind sacrificing a little in this respect, if necessary, if there is a compensating advantage in using the journals. The Journal of Industrial uad Erzgineering Chdmistry carries on the left-hand page of reading matter its own name, the volume, and number; on the right, the date and its name again. The Journal of the American Chemical Society has on the left thee name of the author, and on the right the subject of the article. Chsrnicul Abstracts has the name of the journal on the left and the branch of chemistry on the right. Without going too far into specific suggestions, the writer would like to see the headings of the pages arranged so that one can get as far as possible the references without, for example, turning back to the front cover to find the volume nuinber each time, and then perhaps having to translate a Roman numeral. There is little difference in looking up one or two references, but for a larger number it is distinctly easier t o use the Journul of Industrial a?Ld Engineering Chemistry than either of the others. Even the addition of the volume number t o the pages of the other two journals would be a real convenicnce. Without expanding too far, the point to be emphasized is the rather strange dissimilarity of headings, each of which has a part, but only a part, of the essential data used in index or reference work. Could we trot with little effort modify our headings to fa!l in with the present spirit of efficiency and a t the same time answer all the practical and esthetic requirements of the printed page? CHAS.F. GOLDTHWAIT WSST DULUTH, MI”.
October, 28, 1918
THEFT OF PLATINUM The following notice has been sent us by Mr. G. D. Buckner, chemist of the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station: $100.00 REWARD
For the recovery of the platinum dishes and crucibles answering the following descriptions stolen from the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station, Lexington, Kentucky, during the week following October 1 7 , 1918,or for information leading t o the conviction of the thief: Platinum Dish NO.
Weight Grams 11.9750 11.9703 16.0273 8.4319 8232 15 15.7905 15.7580 18.9421
............ ............ ............ 13 ........... . 18 ............ ~. 22 ............ 26 ............ . 2
3
10
Platinum Crucible No.
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 20 ............ 22 ............ 1
11
12 14 15
23
............
Weight Grams 46.4689 32.6709 33.0927 49.1097 48.6788 48.5347 48.3856 47.2223
The urgent need for this material a t this time deserves your earnest effort and cooperation in its recovery. Address J. J. Reagan, Chief of Police, Lexington, Ky.
CHEMICALS FOR RESEARCH WORK Editor of the Journul of Industrial and Engineering Chentistry:
In your issue of August I you were good enough to,insert a letter announcing that the Research Laboratory of the Eastman Kodak Company were undertaking the preparation of chemicals for research work, and asking the cooperation of the manufacturers of intermediate products and of organic chemists either in the induqtries or the universities who were preparing materials which might be of use to others or who had need of organic reagents. As a result of that letter and of the endorsement of the sections of organic and industrial chemistry a t the Cleveland meeting of the AMERICANCHEMICAL SOCIETYwe have received a grcat deal of assistance and feel most grateful to the chemists of the United States for the hearty response which they have given 1.0 our request. The manufacturing concerns have proved willing to supply us with the various raw materials and intermediates which they produce, and a considerable number of
10.27
university and other research chemists have written to us offering their assistance in preparations. A special department of the Research Laboratory has now been established under the name of the “Department of Synthetic Chemistry,” and has been staffed with women chemists, who are proving most enthusiastic and capable in this work. Up to the present time we have not found it possible t o issue a list of the chemicals which are available, though a considerable number arc now in stock on our shelves. The University of Illinois has supplied us with the chemicals which it prepares. We have already obtained a few from other sources. We have prepared a number of new reagents ourselves, and we are engaged in the purification of a number of intermediates, some of which are purified with ease, while in the case of others the process of purification is proving extremely difficult and expensive. We hope t o issue our first price list of chemicals by the first of December and shall be glad t o receive applications for copies of this price list when issued. At first i t will probably be necessary t o issue new price lists monthly, adding reagents as they become available. I t is our purpose to stock chemicals eventually OF three grades of purity. The first class will embrace chemicals only of the highest purity which it is possible to obtain, and we propose to distinguish these by the name of “Eastman” chemicals. In our first list we shall include chiefly these chemicals of the highest purity, since the supply of these appears to be most urgent. The second class will be prepared of the purity necessary for the greater number of synthetic organic preparations. The amount of purification which the technical product must undergo will depend both on the technical product ai;d on the reaction for which it is generally used, and the greatest care will be taken to see that the chemicals supplied under this class are really suitable for the purposes for which they are likely t o be employed We propose to state, as far as possible, their purity and the i m purities which they contain. We shall distinguish these chemicals under the term of “Practical Synthetic” chemicals. The third class will consist of crude technical intermediates should there prove to be a demand for these, as we expect will be the case. In Germany these technical intermediates have been supplied by the firms who supply chemical reagents and for many purposes it is advantageous for chemists to be able to obtain them in small quantities. We find that the makers of intermediates would prefer that we should retail them rather than fill orders for small quantities of these materials themselves. We shall designate these “Technical” chemicals. I n some cases the “Practical” and “Technical” products will naturally be identical. Unless there is great objection shown to the course, we propose to sell chemicals by metric weights only, listing them by the hundred grams and kilogram. We believe that this will meet with the approval of the majority or chemists, although up to the present almost all orders have come in for pounds. We have dealt with this by handling an order for I lb. as if it were for 500 grams. If our action in this is not endorsed by our prospective customers we shall be willing to alter it if necessary. In this undertaking we regard ourselves primarily as serving the chemists of the United States and especially the members of the AMERICANCHEMICAL SOCIETY, and we shall most heartily welcome any criticisms or suggestions. C. E. K. MEES RESEARCH LABORATORY EASTMAN KODAKCOMPANY ATovember 11, 1918
COOPERATION BETWEEN MANUFACTURERS AND UNIVERSITIES Editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: We are building up a collection of analyzed samples of raw materials and intermediate and finished products of our typical chemical industries, and expect t o use these specimens as practical
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