It was also announced that a paper mill, costing 20,000,000 yen ($6,500,000), will be built shortly.
Physical Chemistry in the Soviet Union
Steel Foundry Resumes Operations
The Japanese announced that one of the foundry works has resumed operations, producing 300 tons of steel per month. This achievement has no great significance when it is remembered that the annual iron consumption of Java itself was 120,000 tons. The Japanese further announced that important equipment of the General Motors plant at Tandjong Priok, near Batavia, which had been moved to the interior of Java and completely destroyed, has been found. Sugar Cane Areas to Produce Cotton
The Japanese have announced that the kapok plantations have been put under military supervision. However, of the total of 480,000 acres planted with kapok, only 60,000 acres are part of plantations. The remaining area, planted with kapok, belongs to native growers. The Japanese have also announced that in the Philippines 45,000 acres of land planted up to now with sugar cane, will be transformed to cotton-growing, in order to make the Philippines one of the large cotton-producing centers of Southeast Asia. Textile Factories Resume Operation on Limited Scale
The textile factories, which were left intact on account of their importance to the native population for clothing have resumed operations on a reduced scale. —
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India Increases Explosives Production INDIA is rapidly attaining self-sufficiency in the manufacture of high explosives, according to a report to our Government. Pure toluene for nitration is being produced, it i s stated, at a new benzenetoluene plant; a nitric acid plant, recently installed in an explosives factory, has passed acceptance tests. The first unit of a sulfuric acid concentration plant of Indian manufacture has also been found satisfactory and additional plants have been ordered. Production on a plant scale of mineral jelly for cordite has been successful; a new process for making the latter has been developed which eliminates the use of imported materials. Mercury fulminate for detonators and kieselguhr for making dynamite are being manufactured and a T N T plant is nearing completion.
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BE effective, research into physical chemistry requires good laboratories and workshops, with abundant equipment, none of which Russia possessed in prerevolutionary times. These few words are necessary to appreciate the progress made by physical chemistry in the Soviet Union in the course of the past 25 years. How different is the picture today! In my institute in Leningrad, for instance, there were large workshops at the disposal of budding scientists, with a staff of 40 workmen, each of whom was a past master in his field. Physical chemistry in the Soviet Union originally developed along two main lines —physical and chemical. The first originated in the Physicotechnical Institute under A. Joffee and in the Optical Institute under D . Rozhedestvensky, both in Leningrad, and was subsequently often referred to as chemical physics. In the early twenties the Laboratory of Electronic Chemistry of the Physicotechnical Institute was founded under the direction of the author of these lines, and in 1931 was converted into a large independent Institute of Chemical Physics. A similar process of concentration of physicochemical forces also proceeded in the Optical Institute, the Optical Glass Department being formed under Grebenshchikov and the Photographic and Photochemical Branch under Terenin. As for the second or chemical trend, the Karpov Physicochemical Institute was founded in Moscow under the direction of Bach. A t the same time the Ukrainian Institute of Physical Chemistry was founded in Dniepropetrovsk, first under Pisarevsky and then under his disciple Brodsky. On the initiative of the Leningrad group, the first physicochemical conference was convened in Leningrad in 1927. This conference marked the inauguration of new trends in chemical kinetics, which led to results that have aroused the interest of the scientific world. To anticipate a little, the seventh conference, likewise devoted to chemical kinetics, which met in Leningrad in 1931, bore something of the character of an international congress; nine eminent foreign scientists read papers, while papers were sent in by leading physicochemists, Langmuir and Taylor, of America, and Hinshelwood and Garner of England. In the thirties Soviet physical chemistry developed into a powerful science, with wide ramifications in diverse fields of theory and practice. It may be safely said that in the past 25 years, Soviet physical chemistry has won for itself a leading place in highly important branches.
CHEMICAL
Most characteristic of its development in this period is the work done in three branches: structure of matter, speed of chemical reactions or chemical kinetics, and chemical phenomena on surfaces of bodies. In the first of these branches Soviet science has done comparatively little, but even here certain, important achievements are to be recorded. One of the most important discoveries of this period— combined scattering of light by molecules, or the Raman effect—was simultaneously and independently discovered by the Indian scientist Raman and the Soviet scientists Mandelstam and Landsberg. We know what a n important part this phenomenon has played i n the study of the structure of matter. Subsequent Soviet work, notably by Gross, has considerably facilitated progress in this field. Kapustinsky devised simple and reliable methods for calculating t h e energy of crystal screens, successfully applied in geochemistry; Syrkin applied definitions of dipolar factors in the calculation of molecular structure; the Optical Institute worked on fine structure of molecular spectra, etc. The pioneer role of Soviet physical chemistry in the second and third branches is generally acknowledged. Together with the German scientist Frank, Nobel Prize winner and exile from Nazi Germany, the Soviet scientists Terenin and Kondratyev laid the foundations of modern photochemistry by their experiments on t h e disintegration of salt vapors by light, a n d electronic bombardment. Subsequently these scientists took an active share in the foundation of the science of elementary chemical processes (transmission of energy, elementary reactions of atoms, molecules, etc.). In the twenties Semenov and his collaborators, parallel with the school of the Englishman Hinshelwood, laid the foundations for the study of chain reactions. Their views aroused the interest of foreign researchers and active work i n this field in all countries resulted in t h e science of chain reactions becoming o n e of the fundamental branches of chemical kinetics, embracing important chemical processes. The modern theory of combustion and explosions has likewise been largely developed by Soviet scientists—Hariton, Zeldovich, Sokolik, Neuman, Semenov, and other staff members of the Institute of Physical Chemistry. The work of Rozinsky on pseudochemical reactions in solids, of Rabinovich on processes of photographic development, and of Roginsky, Balandin, Temkin, and others on the theory of catalysis, made no little contribution to the world progress of
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chemical kinetics of heterogeneous reactions. No less definite and even more numerous are the achievements of Soviet physical chemistry in the development of the science of phenomena on surfaces of bodies. The precipitation of metals on electrodes during the passage of a current through a solution and electrolysis in general, work on dry cells and accumulators, phenomena of solution, and corrosion of metals—all these important electrochemical phenomena are connected with the behavior of the so-called double electric layer on surface electrodes. New stimulus to electrochemistry was given by the theory of building up and breaking down of this double layer. With the German exile Stern, Frumkin is the founder of the modern theory in this field. Extensive theoretical and experimental work of Frumkin and his school threw light on details of structure of the double layer, on kinetics of its discharge in electrodes, and the value of these phenomena in theoretical and applied electrochemistry. It would scarcely be an exaggeration to say that Frumkin's school takes the lead in modern theoretical electrochemistry. An interesting Soviet school in the field of surface phenomena was founded by Rebinder. Apart from his extensive work on the influence of superficial layers on the properties of emulsions in suspension and colloids, of special interest is his latest work on the influence of environmental medium on elasticity, plasticity, and strength of solids. Addition of the slightest admixture of superficially active substances to a neutral fluid surrounding a solid body has considerable influence on its mechanical properties and in particular on its strength. Rebinder discovered many of these phenomena, provided interesting theoretical interpretations, and finally applied them to technology, thus facilitating and expediting the working of metals and drilling of hard rock. Mention should also be made of the pioneer work of Derigin on the theory of the lubricating effect of a layer of liquid between frictional surfaces, of his theory of the stability of colloids, and his work on radius action of molecular forces in thin layers of liquid. Noteworthy, too, is the work of Grebenshchikov on reactions in fine layers of surfaces of solid bodies, and its brilliant practical application in speeding up polishing of optical glass and metal. Extensive researches of the Soviet scientists Rabinovich, Dumansky, Kargin, Shalnikov, and others in colloidal chemistry have helped no little to promote its progress. Such in its main outline i s the path of development of Soviet physical chemistry during the 25 years' existence of the Soviet state. Over a year ago our country was the victim of attack by a treacherous enemy, who is trying to turn the whole world back to VOLUME
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days of barbarism and reduce all freedomloving nations to slavery. This attack has interrupted our peaceful constructive work. Soviet physical chemists who are not at the front are, like all our people, devoting all their efforts, experience, and knowledge to speeding up our industry and perfecting the armament of our heroic Red Army, in whose ranks many of our young scientists are fighting. We are confident that our colleagues in America and Great Britain are doing likewise and we believe that the hour is not far off when by a crushing blow at Fascism the enemy will be destroyed and mankind will enter on a new and flourishing era of science and culture. NIKOLAI SEMENOV
Member of the Academy of Science of the U. S. S. R.
Rubber Products from South America GROWTH of rubber manufacturing capacity in the other Americas in the past decade is emphasized in a recent contract by the United States for purchase from Brazil of an unspecified amount of rubber goods. Brazil has three tire factories with sufficient capacity to allow some surplus for the export market and may be able to cover minimum needs of neighboring countries like Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, and Peru. Argentina has three tire factories, but no rubber of her own. In all there are 12 tire factories in the other Americas, as well as a number of other rubber goods factories, and additional plants are projected or under construction. Substitutes Found for Scarce Medicinals VARIOUS substitutes have been devised to meet the scarcity or complete lack of important medicinals and related products in France, according to a report to the Department of Commerce. Cod liver oil is replaced by tunny liver oil under the guise of chocolate sweets. Mercurochrome supplants iodine, and derivatives of oleaginous plants take the place of vaseline. Sterilized cotton and gauze are made from rayon. Experts are also trying to discover substitutes for certain other natural products, such as mustard powder. Chemical Found to Retard Bread M o l d CANADIAN experiments have shown that sodium proprionate retards mold in wartime bread made from a flour containing larger amounts of wheat germ than the white flour normally used. The chemical does not alter the flavor, quality, or appearance of the bread. Tests have shown that mold in butter and cheese is retarded
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when wrappers are impregnated with sodium proprionate. Synthetic Camphor Produced in India SYNTHETIC camphor is being made in Madras by Deccan Chemicals, Ltd., according to an unofficial report to the Commerce Department. This company was incorporated in July 1940 as a private firm but has recently been reorganized into a public company, with a capital of 500,000 rupees. The company plans to increase the capacity of its Madras plant, which is equipped for the manufacture of acetic and hydrochloric acids as well as synthetic camphor, and to build an additional factory in Bombay. Paraguay Exports Surplus Alcohol PARAGUAY uses considerable quantities of alcohol as motor fuel and exports that product to both Argentina and Uruguay. With her own alcohol needs supplied, Paraguay last year exported a total of 201,941 liters, of which 119,659 went to Argentina and 82,282 to Uruguay. The government at Asuncion is interested in the further development of the local alcohol industry, but has been unable to obtain priorities covering necessary equipment. Supplemental Swedish-Danish Trade Agreement (or the Year 1942 UNDER the terms of a supplement to the existing Swedish-Danish trade agreement for the second half of 1942, signed in October, Denmark is to make additional deliveries of 5,000 tons of sugar, 150 tons of preserved eggs, milk, preserves, and artificial honey to the amount of 7,500,000 kroner (about $1,875,000 at par) against exports of wood, paper, pulp, steel, tools, and machinery to the same amount by Sweden. In addition Sweden will supply similar goods to the amount of 5,260,000 kroner (about $1,315,000), and receive in return 2,000 tons of Danish butter. e^0
BETWEEN September and the end of the
year about 120,000 gallons of nonfreezing medicinal cod liver oil in St. Johns, Newfoundland, is expected to be offered for shipment, according to an unofficial report received by the government. There is a possibility of a further 50,000 to 100,000 gallons being available later. e^®
PRODUCTION of caffeine citrate in India has increased owing to orders placed by the Medical Stores Department. Tea planters are now turning over tea waste to Indianfirmsinstead of exporting it. 1577
