been described; generally speaking, acidic substances accelerate a n d basic substances retard this gelation. T h e gelation time is greatly prolonged if 0.05 per cent of either sulfur or selenium is added. T h e t e m p e r a t u r e dependence of t h e gelation time of oiticica oil is similar t o t h a t of t u n g oil. A 20 per cent increase in perilla seed production was announced. Akatetu oil w a s described. Research was conducted on t h e catalytic reduction of c a m p h o r a n d borneol. T h e contents of carotene a n d ». ' î/imin C in various wild weeds were eo* -pared in various seasons. T h e J a p a n e s e Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry cl: imed success in cultivating a variety of seaweed used for agar-agar with a growing time of 40 days, compared to t h e usual two-year period. We have traveled over a long road, and this trip has enabled us to see that in general World War II is giving industrial research new responsibilities, new types of utility. An effort has been made merely to record and not to linger over any of the principal results of this research. Perhaps our log will serve as a kind of tracing of things to come. In wartime, scientific activities are both complex and spare{ everything is surrendered to essentials. Under the largess of government, science steps outside the frame of the laboratory and wrestles with destiny.
O s b o r n e M e d a l A w a r d e d to R. A . Gortner
Willard G i b b s M e d a l to Midgley
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worked o u t methods of manufacture of t h i s compound a n d h a s been active in solving many problems connected therewith, in cluding t h e removal of lead deposits which formed with t h e straight t e t r a ethyllead. H e h a s contributed largely to t h e knowledge of t h e chemistry of r u b ber and t h e methods of synthesizing r u b ber. H e developed t h e organic chlorofluorides which have become so i m p o r t a n t and widely used as nonflammable n o n toxic refrigerants. H e was associated with t h e i m p o r t a n t developments con nected with t h e recovery of bromine from sea water. His discoveries are o u t standing, both from t h e standpoint of pioneering in brand new fields and from the standpoint of t h e commercial im portance of his discoveries.
Thomas M i d g l e y , Jr.
Π Ρ Η Ε Willard Gibbs Medal for 1941 has been awarded to T h o m a s Midgley, Jr., b y the Chicago Section of the A M E R I
Jones to Receive Pittsburgh Section A w a r d
CAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY a n d will be for
mally presented on May 22, 1942. This is the 31st award of a medal t h a t has come to be recognized as one of the leading honors in American chemistry. The citation on which D r . Midgley was selected is: His attainments are almost too well known to necessitate repetition, b u t they include the development of t h e first satisfactory indicating device for deter mining what takes place in high-speed internal combustion engines (the Midgley indicator). H e then worked out t h e deto nation characteristics of various types of fuels and developed a whole series of chemical antiknock agents culminating in t h e discovery of tetrae thy Head. He
L Webster N . Jones WEBSTER
N.
JONES, director of the Col-
lege of Engineering, Carnegie Insti-
\.y
