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T H E J O U R N A L O F I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y Vol.
1026
12,
No. I O
NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE BETTER CHEMICAL NOMENCLATURE IN TRADE USAGE Significant and very encouraging for the general use of better chemical nomenclature and orthography in America is the recent action of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. in adopting names and spellings for its dyestuff intermediates which correspond with the usage considered best from a scientific point of view. The improved names are to be used by the Sales and Advertising Department and their use is being urged on others. Trade journals are showing a willingness to adopt these names, and every indication seems to be that the movement will assume a national aspect. In the past the greatest obstacle to the needed improvement in chemical nomenclature in this country has been the slowness of manufacturers of, and dealers in, chemical substances to change over to better names and spellings (better English, correct endings to designate class, etc.) from the frequently unsatisfactory ones which came into use in the early days when German business and influence were preponderant in our chemical trade. This has perhaps been natural enough but none the less unfortunate. The ice has been broken now, and it is to be hoped that the old reluctance to make changes will disappear. The dyestuff field is not the only one in which reform is needed. The greatest appeal to the trade will very likely be from the point of view of standardization. There is a diversity of names and particularly of spellings in the case of many chemical substances. Accuracy and convenience will be promoted by the adoption and use of one name and spelling as a standard in each case. To avoid a new and added source of confusion caution is of course necessary in the establishment of standard forms. Standards cannot be multiplied. The American Dyes Institute has been suggested as the proper authority for the standardization of the names of compounds of interest to the dye industry. This institute or any other organization interested in chemical names will no doubt be willing to cooperate with the Committee of the AMERICANCHSMICALSOCIETY on Nornenclature, Spelling and Pronunciation, which committee in turn is cooperating with similar committees of the British chemical societies. Our committee is progressing, slowly of necessity, in the adoption of rules and forms, and I am sure that I can say for the committee that we will be glad to do all that we can to aid in the establishment of better usage in the trade. Such a move; ment has been on our program for a little later when further advanced in our work. E. J. CRANE,Chairman, Committee on Nomenclature, Spelling COLUMBUS, OHIO and Pronunciation July 30, 1920
CHEMICAL READING COURSES Edztor of tk Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: In connection with the “Chemical Reading Courses” appearing in the July and August 1920issues of the JOURNAL, the attention of small libraries and general readers might profitably be called to two points not specifically mentioned, but, unfortunately, not always obvious to the layman who has an authoritative list at hand: I-The constant output of new books makes it desirable to consider, also, the very latest literature for possible material supplementing the “Courses.” a--Since the “Courses” are brief lists selected from a large mass of literature, librarians should keep in mind the fact that there are available many other general works, and many works too special to be included, some of which may be of particular value in special cases.
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Applying these suggestions to a single field-ferrous metallurgy-we find that “Electric Furnaces in the Iron and Steel Industry,” by Rodenhauser and othet-s. is available in B later edition than that mentioned. Among the books not mentioned, “The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel,” by J. M. Camp and C. B. Francis, has appeared in a second edition (the first, published in 1919,was not widely distributed). It affords the best existing guide to modern American practice in iron and steel manufacture. “Iron and Steel,” by H. P. Tiemann, is a dependable, encyclopedic guide to obsolete as well as modern processes. It is comprehensive in scope and, for the average library, it will furnish concise answers to more questions than will any other single work on ferrous metallurgy. La Verne W. Spring’s “Non-technical Chats on Iron and Steel and Their Application to Modern Industry” is a popular, descriptive work of high value to the general readx. The three books mentioned in the preceding paragraph are general in scope and the average library will find it advantageous to purchase them in addition to, or instead of, the works mentioned in the “Chemical Reading Courses.” Specific problems, calling for books of a more special nature, will vary with each community and unlimited inclusion of such books is, of course, beyond the scope of these “Courses,” but it is well to bear in mind that excellent American works are available, also, on many of the more specific problems of the iron and stecl industry; for example, chemical analysis. The “Chemical Reading Courses” are apparently not primarily intended to suggest reference literature, but perhaps a dozen of the titles listed are diqtinctively reference works. Since a beginning has been made, it might not be amiss to suggest to librarians the advisability of consulting some of the up-to-date reference lists, such as “Chemical Literature and Its Use,” by Marion E. Sparks, 1919,and “Some Observations on Chemical Bibliographies,” by Paul Escher, 1920. CARIBGIE LIBRARY O F PITTSBURGII E H MCCLELLAND PITTSBURGH, PA. September 18, 1920
EXPLOSION OF FLASHLIGHT POWDERS
Editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: Recently a young student of my acquaintance, while experimenting with a “flashlight powder,” which consisted of a mixture of potassium chlorate, sulfur, sodium carbonate, and red phosphorus, was so badly injured by an explosion that it was necessary to amputate his right hand. In order to avoid repetition of such an explosion, or other explosions closely similar, students of elementary chemistry, particularly high-school students, ought to be emphatically warned against the danger existing in mixtures of oxidizing agents with either sulfur or red phosphorus, or with both. Furthermore, it is the duty of high-school chemistry teachers t o discourage any attempt on the part of their pupils to experiment with flashlight powders, gunpowder, fireworks, semiexplosives, and the like. RICHARDH. KERBS 192 WILRINSSTREET N Y. ROCHESTER, August 21, 1920
COMPOSITION OF WATER-GLASS SOLUTIONS
Editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: Whenever the results of scientific work involving sodium silicate solutions are published, care should be taken to record 0 the composition of such solutions. The appellation “water glass” covers materials which differ
Oct., 1920
T H E JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
greatly in composition and properties. Mr. Vail’s recent article’ will give a n excellent idea of these variations. Attention was called to this matter by the article on “The Preservation of Eggs” by Jones and DuBois in the August 1920 number of THIS JOURNAL. The omission was particularly unfortunate in this case because the silicate solution was used as a standard. The more alkaline a solution is, the less satisfactory i t is as a n egg preservative. The presence of small amounts of sulfur compounds often causes spoilage.2 The confusion that exists in regard to sodium silicate is shown in two articles by Schurecht. In the first,3 he states that the sodium silicate used “corresponded t o the formula NazO. 3. rSiOl,” yet the lines in his graphs of the results were marked “Na2SiOa.” I n a later article,4 he gives graphs with the lines marked “NapSiOa” but no explanation is given. On account of the first article the question arises, what was the composition of the sodium silicate used in the later work? All through the literature similar confusion is found. The value of the work done would be greatly exhanced by the inclusion of data sufficient to enable one to duplicate conditions. The gravity and the percentages of NazO and of Si02 should be determined. One reason for the lack of analytical information may be the long procedure for analysis usually given in textbooks. The alkali may be determined by titration with standard acid with methyl orange as an indicator. A quick, fairly accurate method for water was devised by Ordway, in which the sample is added to an amount of ignited calcium sulfate equal to twice the weight of the Nan0 present. The mixture then is dried to constant weight. The percentage of silica is equal approximately to per cent HzO). roo-(per cent NazO
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WILLIAMSTERICRER MELLONINSTITUTE
OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA August 2 7 , 1920
AUTOMATIC METHODS OF GAS ANALYSIS DEPENDING UPON THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY Editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: M y attention has been called to an article in the April rgzo issue of the JOURNAL, by Messrs. Weaver, Palmer, Frantz, Ledig and Pickering, on automatic methods of gas analysis. May I be allowed to state one or two facts in reference t o my katharometer which is referred to in the article? I n giving an historical account of thermal conductivity methods of gas analysis your contributors have referred t o U. S. Patent 1,304,208 (1919)for details of my katharometer. They appear not to have known that the British patent was applied for in January 1gr6 and was granted after the instrument had been fully developed in its present form. The katharometer was devised in the Physics Department of the University of Birmingham in 1915 t o meet a war emergency, under restrictions a5 to money, labor, and literature imposed by circumstances. I was, therefore, in ignorance of any previous work on the subject. This great.ly alters the history as given by your contributors. The successful commercial form of the katharometer is clearly earlier than the instruments of the Sperry Gyroscope Company, the Bureau of Standards, and the University of California, although i t was unknown to those workers. The instrument has been made and sold by the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company for some years, and has given very satisfactory service in France and other theatres of the war, as well as in research work. Some results of this work have 1
THISJOVRNAL, 11 (1919), 1029.
* Chem.-Zre., 42, 195.
a Trans. A m . Ceu. Soc., 19 (1917),460 4 J . A m Cer. Soc., 1 (1918),201
1027
been communicated t o the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, from 1916 onwards. In the summer of 1918 I presented t o the Bureau of Standards a katharometer and balloon-fabric permeability tester. The balanced bridge is no novelty; it was the first I tried and I still use it in research work. T h e patent specification purposely leaves this point open and covers t h e form described in the JOURNAL.
The balanced bridge form was shown t o the British Admiralty in 1915,but as a fixed bridge proved much more useful for practically a l l commercial purposes and was most easily adapted for indicating and automatic recording, and for central reading of instruments at various distant points, i t has been most generally used. All the future work spoken of by t h e Bureau is already in hand here and much of i t has already been finished. The Bureau will find as i t proceeds with its experiments that the form which it has adopted has several disadvantages which are not at first sight apparent. These points cannot be satisfactorily dealt with in a letter, but those interested may find some information on the subject in a recent paper on the theory of the katharometer by Dr. H. A. Daynes in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. I believe that the katharorneter was the first instrument in which the effect of thermal conductivity was used in a practicable and remarkably accurate form for purposes of gas analysis. G. A. SHAKESPEAR THE UNIVERSITY BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND July 1 7 , 1920
Editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: I do not wish to dispute any of the statements regarding the history of the thermal conductivity method of gas analysis contained in the preceding note by Professor Shakespear. Several of the facts stated by Professor Shakespear were not hnown to me, however. Accepting in full Professor Shakespear’s statement of the facts, the only change which seems necessary in the article referred to is the description of the instrument developed at the University of California as “earlier” than Professor Shakesge ar’s instrument. Since the farmer was known to us about a year before we heard of Shakespear’s work, and since Shakespear’s British patent was kept secret for military reasons, this mistake was only natural. The first experimental work along this line was done at the Bureau of Standards in the late summer and autumn of 1 9 1 5 ~ following the work of Koepsel who was the real pioneer with this method; but as previously stat-d nothing practical was accomplished. The work had been resumed with every prospect of success and nearly the present form of apparatus had been evolved when we first heard of Professor Shakespear’s work, through military channels, about the first of March 1918. The first intelligible description of the apparatus was not received until a month or more later. At t h a t time we wrote t o Professor Shakespear describing our own work and referring t o the earlier investigators whose work was known t o us. No reply wa3 received to this or to at least one later letter. All correspondence was, however, through devious official channels, and our failure t o get in direct communication with Professor Shakespear may have been due to no fault of his own. The instruments developed by Professor Shakespear which are known t o us, viz., the “katharometer” and the “permeam-ter,” are beautifully constructed instruments well adapted t o the purposes for which they are intended. The “katharometer” is designed to sample and determine the amount of air in balloon gas, and is certainly one of the best instruments ever devised for the purpose. The “permiameter” is designed to test the permeability of balloon fabrics and works well, although we do not regard i t as a satisfactory substitute
