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A glass graduate was used as a plating tank, a cylindrical anode was used and the tube was not rotated. The solution was 1.6 N copper sulfate and 1.6 N sulfuric acid, and the deposit was thicker and smoother than the nickel deposits. Near one end of the tube a band of nickel enclosing two nickel wires was plated on, the wires forming the other side of the thermocouple circuit. After the usual external connections were made with the tube in position in the evaporator, the thermocouples were calibrated against a standard thermocouple. Water was circulated in the evaporator a t various temperatures and the thermocouples checked among themselves t,o 0.03-0.05° C. Discussion of Results
The agreement among the thermocouples attached to these three tubes was of the same order when there was a large temperature difference between the tube and the steam as it was when the tube and surroundings were in thermal equilibrium. Temperature differences of as high as 35" C. between tube and steam have been measured with these thermocouples, and the agreement between readings has always been within a millionth of a volt, corresponding to about 0.05" C., when it was possible to maintain uniform operating conditions during the reading of the thermocouples. As has been mentioned above, a thicker and smoother electroplate could be deposited if the surface of the tube was
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brushed during plating. A very thick plate of nickel (3 to 4 mm.) can be put on in this way in a hot solution with high current density if no wires are to be embedded. An arrangement of a nickel screw to be pressed or screwed against a point of the nickel surface could be devised which should answer the same purpose as the embedded wires. No experiments have been made with this type of junction, or with a junction formed by simply welding a nickel wire to a heavy nickel plate. Because of the very high rate of heat transfer between a condensing vapor and a metal surface, the measurement of the temperature of a surface on which steam is condensing is more liable to errors than a similar temperature measure ment of a surface through which heat is passing between two fluids without a change of state. It is therefore believed that this method, which has been successful in several studies in the condensation of steam during the last year, would be even more accurate in determining the temperatures of other surfaces through which heat was flowing-as, for example, in boilers or heat interchangers. Acknowledgment
The authors wish to express their thanks to Prof. W. L. Badger of this department for his helpful supervision of the work, and to Prof. E. M. Baker for his assistance in the plating processes.
Our Export and Import Trade in Chemicals' A Five-Year Review Frank Talbot and W. N. Watson WASHINGTON, D. C.
UBLIC attention is at present focused on the recent international agreements among the cartels or consolidations in Europe, for the purpose of fixing prices, preventing overproduction, and for the division and expansion of export markets, the last possibly a t the expense of the future export trade in chemicals from the United States. An analysis of our domestic import ahd export trade in chemical products is therefore of timely interest and will serve as a basis for future comparisons. The prospect of a tariff revision in the United States emphasizes the desirability of a careful study of the effect of the Tariff Act of 1922 on our import trade in chemicals during the past five-year period. A revision of the tariff involves a readjustment of tariff rates, a reclassification of many products, and the transfer of some items from the free list to the dutiable list, and vice versa. In a study of competitive conditions by the Congress, one of the principal criteria for gaging competition is the imports of any given commodity. A review of our import and export trade, furthermore, reveals many significant changes resulting from the development of new chemical products which either serve as substitutes for some of those now in use or have found new and distinct uses. I n order to have a common basis for comparison, values must be taken rather than quantities, and a correction in value made according to changes in the index of commodity prices. Index numbers for chemical products, as published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, are shown in Table I. The price base used in this table is 1926, as it
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Received December 13, 1927.
has become increasingly apparent that the year 1913 is now too remote to furnish a satisfactory base for comparing price levels in recent years. Table I-Chemicals a n d Allied Products: Index N u m b e r s of Wholesale Prices, b y Groups of C o m m o d i t i e s , 1914, 1922-1926 (Source: 1923-1926,Bureau of Labor Statistics; 1914,1922,by calculation)
1914 1922 Chemicals and drugs: Chemicals Drugs and pharmaceuticals Fertilizer materials Mixed fertilizers All chemicals and drugs Paint materials
1923
1924
1925
1926
85.1 95.6 100.6 102.2 104.1 100.0 58.3 87.4 95.7 83.7 102.7 102.5 107.4 77:7 9$:9 101.1 . . . . . . 101.3
95.8 97.7 100.0 92.6 98.8 100.0 95.9 100.4 100.0 98.9 101.8 100.0 99.7 109.3 100.0
The index number of the wholesale prices of all commodities on the same base is as follows: 1914 1922 1923
64.0 97.3 100.6
1924 1925 1926
98.1 103.5 100.0
I n the present article the statistics in general have been tabulated in accordance with the classification used by the Department of Commerce in "Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States," in 1926. As the classification in that publication has changed somewhat from year to year, it has been necessary to retabulate the data for each of the years prior to 1926 in order to give a uniform basis of comparison. Chemicals and related products have been classified in three groups, as follows: Group A consists of coal-tar chemicals, medicinals, pharmaceutical preparations, and industrial chemicals. Group B includes allied products, such LLS paints,
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fertilizers, explosives, soaps, perfumery, pyroxylin products, and polishes. I n Group C will be found vegetable oils, essential oils, gums, botanical drugs, and dyeing rtnd tanning materials and extracts. General Trend I n 1922 the imports of chemicals and related products (Groups A, B, and C) were valued a t $204,836,000, and in 1926 a t $262,382,000-an increase of 28 per cent. Exports of products in these three groups were valued a t $134,209,000 in 1922, and a t $174,283,000 in 1926-an increase of 30 per cent. Table I1 shows the value of imports and exports of products in Groups A, B, and C. T a b l e 11-Chemicals a n d Related Products: Value of I m p o r t s a n d Exports, 1914, 1922-1926, a n d First N i n e M o n t h s of 1927 (000 omitted) YEAR IMPORTS EXPORTS 1914 (fiscal) $159,321 $ 86,867
1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 (first 9 months)
204,836 242,550 221,409 257,647 262,382 201,385
134,209 151,933 142,561 16B,059 174,283 136,776
Of the products in Groups A, B, C, imported in 1926, valued a t $262,382,000, a total of $185,294,000, or 71 per cent, was imported free of duty, and $77,088,000, or 29 per cent, was dutiable. Among the leading products imported in 1926 are sodium nitrate ($42,781,386); coconut oil, a product of the Philippine Islands ($22,087,870); dead or creosote oil ($11,720,000); palm oil ($10,111,588); and crude potassium chloride (muriate of potash) ($6,195,830). Among the principal products exported in 1926 are gum rosin ($21,903,780); ammonium sulfate ($9,824,000); dyes ($5,950,159); benzene ($5,513,173) ; phosphate rock ($4,435,590) ; carbon black ($3,622,907); and caustic soda ($3,111,510). Imports of chemicals and allied products (Groups A and B) in the fiscal year 1914 were approximately double the value of exports in that year. I n 1923, the first full calendar year
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during which the act of 1922 was in effect, the values of domestic imports and exports of products in Groups A and B were practically identical. The annual value of imports during the period 1924-1926 has been slightly in excess of the value of exports. Imports of chemicals and allied products (Groups A and B) were valued a t $103,880,000 in 1914; $97,717,000 in 1922; and $137,570,000 in 1926. The value is about 33 per cent greater in 1926 than in 1914, but after making a correction according to the index of chemicals and drugs the value is approximately the same in 1926 as in 1914. Data presented in Table I11 indicate an increase of 52 per cent from 1922 to 1926 in the imports of chemicals and allied products (Groups A and B) entered free of duty and of 22 per cent in the value of dutiable products. Of the products in Group C the imports during the years 19231926, with the exception of 1924, were valued at approxi,mately $120,000,000 each year. Data presented in Table IV indicate that Groups A and B had an export value of $56,385,000 in 1914; $105,788,000 in 1922; and $132,373,000 in 1926. The value for each of the years 1922-1926 shows an increase over 1914, after making a correction according to the index of prices. During 1922-1926 there was an increase in exports each year, with the exception of 1924.. The value of exports of products in Group C has increased each year during the five years ending with 1926 when exports were $41,910,000. Group A COAL-TARCmMIcALs-Imports in 1914 of coal-tar chemicals (principally coal-tar dyes and other finished products) were valued a t $16,141,000. The value has increased since the passage of the act of 1922, while the character of the imports has undergone a notable change. In 1926 imports of coal-tar chemicals were valued a t $19,827,000, of which total coal-tar crudes were valued a t $13,069,000, and dyes and other finished products a t $6,007,000. The imports
Table 111-Imports of C h e m i c a l s a n d Related Products, 1914, 1922-1926 a n d N i n e M o n t h s of 1927 (Compiled from “Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States,” Department of Commerce) (000 omitted)
1914 (fiscal) Total zrouus A. B. and C 5159.321 Chemicals Hnd allied products (total Groups A and B) . 103;880 Free Dutiable Group A-Chemicals (total) 50 315 Coal-tar chemicals (total) Id141 Crudes Intermediates Dyes and other finished products Medicinals and pharmaceutical preparations 6,306 Acids and acid anhydrides 1,457 Ammonium compounds (except fertilizers) 648 Barium compounds 441 Calcium compounds (acetate and chloride) 62 Potassium compounds (except fertilizers) 1,835 Sodium compounds (except fertilizers) 1,653 Other chemicals 21.772 Group B-Allied products (total) 53,565 Paints, pigments, varnishes (total) 2,341 Mineral pigments 615 Chemical pigments 1,074 Paints, stains, enamels 588 Varnishes 64 Fertilizer and fertilizer materials (total) 46,307 Nitrogenous 25,563 Phosphate 1,146 Potash 15,356 Other 4,242 Explosives, ammunition, pyrotechnics 847 Soaps 831 Perfumery, cosmetics toilet reparations 2,607 Pyroxylin products (
