VOL. 3. No. 10 EASTERN NEW YORK SBCTION1WD TEE HIGEh a s
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of financing the trip of one of our speakers. The business men were accustomed to meet every Wednesday night f o r discussion. An arrangem e n t was worked out whereby our speaker talked to the students in the
afternoon and addressed the business men's meeting that night. While this w a s the only time that such a cooperative plan was resorted to, it has opened up an idea which would be particularly desirable to the American Chemical Society in its endeavor to secure better scientific training f o r our high-school students. Those business men were the taxpayers of the town. Taxpayers are interested in putting their tax money where it will bring in the largest returns. I f a speaker can show them that under the conditions which will prevail in the f u t u r e their children will not be properly prepared to earn a living without a knowledge of science, these taxpayers will be more willing to see their money spent f o r additional equipment and for better teaching of science in the high schools. O u r section would welcome other meetings of this sort with taxpayers and business men.
New Gland Extract Now Made for Cmnmercial Use. An extract of the parathyroid gland, a small ductless organ hack of the thyroid gland in the neck, which controls the lime content of the blood, may soon he on the medicine shelf. A. M. Hjort and H. B. North of Detroit reported their sucrrssful preparation of this hormone from animal glands to the American Chemical Society recently. The active substance that does the work is believed to be a protein.-Science Service Iodine from Seaweed Makes Excellent Medicine. The iodine that is found in certain marine plants is 200 times as dective as inorganic iodides in its power to bring the thyroid gland hack to normal. Dr. J. W. Turrentine of the U. S. Bureau pf Soils, who told of his researches a t the meeting of the American Chemical Society, said that small doses of iodine-hearing substances coming from seaweed cured simple goiter. The symptoms of iodism that often result from using inorganic iodides were lacking and there were no disturbances such as result from taking thyroid gland preparations. It appears that the iodine is present in a colloidal form in the marine plants and is absorbed very slowly by the digestive tract. This lessens the chance of over-dosing, Dr. Turrentine said. He believes that the use of iodine in this form in the treatment of thyroid disturbances should be generally tried by physicians.-Science Serdce American Fur Dyeing Industry Leads World. America not only dyes her own fur collar now, hut does it better perhaps than any other country in the wodd, William E. Austin told the American Chemical Society meeting a t Philadelphia. Before the war nine-tenths of all the colored furs used in the corn- were dyed in Europe and those that were not, were colored with German coal-tar dyes. Today, however, America tints her own and uses colors she makes herself. About forty different dyes are used here now as compared with six about ten years ago. Every color in the rainbow scale is represented, Mr. Austin said, and novel effects in applying coloring matters are being developed. American chemists and engineers have succeeded in putting the American fur dyeing industry on the map, so that today it leads the world in efficiency, modern organization, and progressive ideas.Science Service
