RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN A CHEMICAL AGE ALPRED L. FERG~SON, UNIVERSITY
OF
MICHIGAN, ANN ARBOR, MVIIMIGAN
The object of this paper i s two-fold: ,first, to bring to the attention of the reader some of the fundamental deep-seated factors which have caused this to he "the age of chemistry": second., to indicate sources from which the reader may, at his leisure, obtain more detailed information. Much emphasis i s pkzed npov publtcity uzmpaigms that are a n eforL to educate the general publu and the younger generation concerning the important part chemistry has played in the past and will play in the future i n bringing to this country increased health, happiness, and prosperity. I t is pointed out that the marvelous firogress i n chemistry has resulted from the development of a research consciousness by those in charge of industrial work.
. . . . . .
"This is the age of chemistry," is a statement which you have probably all seen or beard. Chemistry has come to be a common household word. It has escaped from the confining walls of academic institutions and has taken up residence in every home and every industry. The realization is rapidly spreading that chemistry is not limited to the test tube, and that the great chemical laboratories are not in the buildings on university and college campuses but in the fields and forests of the farmer and the manufacturing plants of every industry. This popularization of chemistry is probably its greatest recent development in this country, because it is largely responsible for the other developments. I shall have more to say upon this topic later. Chemistry is concerned with the compositions of substances and changes in the compositions of substances, however brpught about. There are ninety-two different kinds of blocks, and only ninety-two, which can be put together in different ways to make up all the thousands of individual substances in the universe. These building blocks which the chemist uses are, as you know, the elements. One of the duties of the chemist is to take samples of the substances with which we are surrounded and continually working and, by the application of very definite methods, to tear down the structure and determine what elements entered into it, their relative amounts, and the manner in which they were arranged. Another duty of the chemist is to discover the laws and principles which Nature used in constructing the various substances she has built out of these elements for our convenience or, i t may be in some cases, our inconvenience. But his third task is more important. After having discovered the elements which Nature used in building substances and the principles and laws involved, he proceeds to construct these substances himself. The product which the chemist makes is popularly called artificial as contrasted with the material produced by Nature. There is, unfortunately, a popular feeling that the artificial product is inferior to the natural. The fact is, however, that the artificial or synthetic substances are in general superior. 1181
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During the last few years the chemist has carried his efforts to an even higher plane. After having dissected suhstances into their elements and learned the plan or architecture of their arrangement, and later reconstructed the elements into the original forms, he has gone a step farther and by deliberately leaving out certain sections of the original plan or interchanging sections or even adding new sections he has learned the properties contributed by these various parts. Equipped with this information he has constructed entirely new substances not found in Nature hut possessing certain predetermined properties possessed by similar naturally occurring substances. This kind of work is of especial significance in medical science, though, during the last five years, it has resulted in remarkable accomplishments in organic industrial chemistry. I have already stated that probably the most important recent development in chemistry is its popularization. This has led to and has been coincident with remarkable progress along three major lines which are all intimately interrelated. These are: firstly, the application of the methods and principles of chemistry in the field of medicine; secondly, the keen appreciation by the public in general and the chemical industries in particular of the value of research; thirdly, the introduction of new and scientific methods in the preparation and industrial production of well-known chemicals and of chemicals heretofore produced only by Nature, or in many cases never before known. I shall give some attention to each of these. It is not my intention to consider details, my purpose will he more to do two things; to bring to your attention,some of the fundamental, deep-seated factors involved in recent developments iqchemistty, and to indicate sources from which you may, a t your leisure, obtain more detailed information. I shall consider first the application of chemistry in the field of medicine. Not many years ago it was universally accepted and is the belief of a large proportion of people even today that the processes going on within the human hody are actuated by mysterious, so-called vital forces and that it is sacrilegious to investigate these too closely. As evidence I might refer to the Scopes trial in Tennessee and the action of legislative bodies prohibiting the teaching of evolution in the schools of the state. Science has demonstrated, however, that the human hody and the bodies of all animals, in fact, all living, growing things are chemical laboratories in which innumerable chemical reactions are going on. In the past, information concerning the happenings within these laboratories was obtained largely through the aid of the microscope. Such information has been of great service in the medical profession and humanity has benefited materially thereby. The microscope can furnish, however, no really fundamental information. Its information corresponds to what a person might obtain concerning the operations of a great trust company by walking through the corridors or
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the various floors of the building in which the company is located. He could observe that there are many rooms in which something is happening. Some people are entering these rooms, others coming out, and still others wandering down the corridors. The chemist, however, is like the expert accountant; he looks within the various compartments and observes the inner workings; he checks over the input and the outgo and accounts for the difference. The chemist starts where the medical man leaves off. He attempts to determine what happens to the many different kinds of molecules within the cells themselves. Chemists have by no means completed this investigation of life, growth, and decay; in fact they have scarcely started. The investigation has proceeded far enough, however, to convince many of us that all phenomena exhibited by living things, both plants or animals, result from straight chemical reactions. Plants, as I have stated, are chemical factories. They take into these factories as raw materials carbon dioxide and oxygen from the air; water, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and small quantities of other elements from the soil. All of these substances are precisely the same inanimate chemicals the chemist has in the bottles upon his shelf. Within the leaves of the plants these raw materials, with the aid of energy in the form of sunlight, are converted into dozens of new substances that go to make up living, growing plants. Some of these substances are simple while others are so complex as to defy the analytical ability of the best chemists. The materials produced in largest quantities in these plant factories are known as cellulose, sugars, oils, and proteins; and they are produce4 with no apparent effort and without the use of extreme agencies. These manufacturing activities of the little leaves have challenged the ingenuity of the wisest men; but the challenge remains unmet; man has been unable t o make some of these materials. These products, so easily produced by plants, are in turn the raw materials consumed by members of the animal kingdom. Every animal is made up of numberless little chemical laboratories where these raw materials are converted into hundreds of new chemical individuals that make up the flesh and bones and blood and other parts of the living organism. Each of these little chemical laboratories within a given living body has its special work to do, yet the whole is a most wonderful organization. Every part works in harmony with every other part, the product of one is the raw material of another. So long as there is coijperation and harmony within, and no disturbance from without, all is well and health and happiness prevail; but let one of these little laboratories get out of order through some disturbance withm or without, then another part of the organization does not receive essential raw material or the material is improperly prepared. Then disease and sorrow result. Until a few years ago, before the chemist stepped in to assist, the physi-
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cian knew absolutely nothmg of a fundamental nature concerning the chemical reactions taking place within the human body. Through purely empirical methods they had come to associate certain physical manifestations such as temperature change, rate of heart beat, appearance of the tongue and others with which probably most of you are familiar, with more or less definite ailments. They had learned, further, that certain drugs administered in the proper manner might relieve the difficulty. But they were totally unable to describe the chemical action responsible for the disturbance or the chemical action which the administered drug produced to restore normal conditions. .These basic questions can be solved only by the chemist. That this situation is realized by the medical profession is evidenced in several ways. Probably one of the first indications was an increase in chemistry requirements by medical schools. The principal demand has been for more work in physical chemistry. In response to this there have appeared such textbooks as: FINDLAY, A,, ''Physi4 Chemistry for Students of Medicine;' Longmans, Green and Co., New York, 1924. GELESPIE. Chemisbv." . L. -1... "Phvsical . .. McGraw-Hill Book Co.. New York. 1931. MAASS,O., AND STEACIE,E. W. R., "An Introduction to the Principles of Physical Chemistry," John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1931. MCCLENDON. J. F., AND MEDES.G., "Physic~lChemistry in Biology and Medicine," W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1925. STEEL,M., "Physical Chemistry and Biophysics," John Wiley and Sons., Inc., New York, 1928.
In our medical school, the heads of major departments require that their advanced graduate students take both lecture and laboratory courses in physical chemistry, colloid chemistry, and electrochemistry. To assist the graduate students and research men in this borderline field between medicine and chemistry, there are many reference books. The following list is by no means complete but it shows the general trend of developments. ARMSBY, H. P., m M o m o ~ C. . R., "The Animal as a Converter ofMatter and Energy," Chemical Catalog Co., New York, 1925. BARGER,G., "Some Applications of Organic Chemistry in Biology and Medicine," McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1930. BA~OWUIET, M., "Organic Medicinal Chemicals," D. Van Nostrand Co., New York, 1920.
B e c n r r o ~ H., ~ . "Colloids in Biology and Medicine," D. Van Nostrand Co., New Y a k , 1919.
CLAYTON. W., "Colloid Aspects of Food Chemistry and Technology," P. Blakiston's Son and Co., Philadelphia, 1932. CRYLE,G. W., "A Bipdar Theory of Living Processes." The Macmillan Co., New York, 1926.
DYSON,G. M., "The Chemistry of Chemotherapy." E. Benn Co.. London, 1928. FALK,K. G., "The Chemistry of Enzyme Action," The Chemical Catalog Co., New York, 1921.
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KBNDALL, E. C., "Thyroxine." The Chemical Catalog Co., New York, 1929. KOLB~ER. J. A.. "Principles and Practice of Chemotherapy," Saunders Co.. Philadelphia, 1926.
LOBE,J., "Proteins and the Theory of Colloidal Behavior," McGraw-Hill Boak Co.. New York, 1924. MAY,P.. "The Chemistry of Synthetic Drugs," Longmans. Green and Co., New York, 1921.
P n a r . W.. "Colloid Chemistry of the Proteins," J. and A. Churchill, London, 1922. RoBERTsoN, T. B., "The Physical Chemistry of the Proteins," Longmans. Green and Co., New York, 1920. SEARLE, A. B., "The Use of Colloids in Health and Disease," Constable and Ca., London, 1920.
SHERMAN, H. C., "Chemistry of Food and Nutrition," The Maanillan Co.. New York. 1926.
SHERMAN, H. C., AND SMITH. S. L.. "The Vitamins," The Chemical Catalog Co., New York. 1922. S#RENSEN, S. P. L., "Proteins," The Fleishmann Laboratories, New York. 1925. STIEGLITZ, J. 0.."Chemistry in Medicine; a Cdpwperative Treatise Intended to Give Examples of Progress Made in Medicine with the Aid of Chemistry," The Chemical Foundation, Inc., New York, 1928. WELLS,H. G., "The Chemical Aspects of Immunity," The Chemical Catalog Co., New York, 1925.
The book, "Chemistry in Medicine," appeared about three years ago and I shall have more to say about it later. Proteins, which are so-called colloidal substances and also solutions of electrolytes, are necessary constituents of every living cell. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that reactions between these materials constitute an important part of body phenomena. It is this bgief that has led to the publication of many of the books in the above list. All of these authors attempt to show that such reactions are purely chemical in nature. I might say that this has been, also, one of our major lmes of research in electrochemistry a t the University of Michigan. The above books are written, for the most part, by men who are primarily chemists; and the trend of modern medicine toward chemistry is clearly evident. Dr. W. J. Mayo in a recent address stated that "the epochal studies of the chemist-physician, Pasteur, have been of greater service to mankind than those of any other known human being." The work of Emil Fischer on the chemistry of sugars made possible the recent advances in the knowledge of metabolism of carbohydrates. His remarkable work on the chemistry of amino acids and their synthesis into polypeptides laid the foundation for a study of the chemistry of proteins and their digestion and metabolism. The new science of chemotherapy originated by Paul Ehdich is coming to dominate medical thought. In Currat
[email protected] an article appeared recently, entitled "Paul Ehrlich's Justification of the Capture of Medicine by the New Chemistry." It is stated in this article that "more immediately
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practical than any other scientific development of our time is the subjection of the art of medicine to principles of chemistry." Chemotherapy is the application of the exact, scientific principles of chemistry to the preparation of pure chemicals which will cure specific diseases without undue injury to the body cells. The predominant thought in modern chemotherapy is that the particular chemical agent or drug has a special affinity or combining power for certain parasites. There are, however, practically no exact experimental data to establish the nature and mechanism of the selective aflinity of chemical agents for parasites and the relation between these properties and the chemical constitution of the compounds. Wells in his book, "The Chemical Aspects of Immunity," states that, "Immunological reactions, the processes by which the living organism defends itself against the chemical attacks of the enemies and so is able to exist in an environment seething with such enemies, are chemical reactions." Falk in his book on "The Chemistry of Enzyme Action" states that "Enzyme actions may be treated as a group of chemical reactions analogous to other chemical changes. The substances taking part in such actions are an integral part of chemical science." About fifty per cent. of the articles in some of the medical journals are on pure chemical research along medical lines. In fact I take the Journal of General Physiology because of the many articles it contains on the application of electrochemical methods to problems of physiology. I have frequently made the stacment to my classes that the greatest advances in the field of medicine in the near future are to be made through the applications of the principles and methods of chemistry, especially physical, colloid, and electrochemistry; also that there is no line of chemical work that holds such possibilities for the chemist in the near future as its applications to medicine. Before leaving this field of development I wish to tell you something more about this little book entitled "Chemistry in Medicine" and its sponsor. No discussion of the development of chemistry in the field of medicine should be presented without callimg attention to the outstanding services rendered by a man who is not a chemist. Mr. Francis P. Garvan is a lawyer in New York City, yet no man in this country has done more to place chemistty, in all its fields of endeavor, upon the high pinnacle of success, which the whole world recognizes i t has today, than Mr. Garvan. The descriptions of his own experiences and the experiences of those closely associated with him during the extremely critical stages in the life of the young chemical industry during and following the war are more thrilling than a novel. He saw in chemistry marvelous possibilities for bringing to this country increased health, happiness, and prosperity. These ideas
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so impressed him that he consecrated his indomitable will and fighting spirit as well as his fortune to the cause. He was keenly alert to the fact that if you wish to accomplish something big and of national importance you must take the people into your confidence and enlist their support. To do this it is necessary to put your ideas, your propositions, and your facts in a language that everybody can understand and then a means must be devised for distributing the information throughout the country, and finally the people must be induced to read it. With these ends in mind he had published by The Chemical Foundation, Inc., of which he was president, pamphlets that told the stories, in a dramatic manner, of the ways in which the chemists saved Germany from utter defeat in the early stages of the war and how they made i t possible for Germany to be continually surprising the allies with new engines of war. They pictured the adventurous trips of the Deutschland to 'this country with its cargoes of concentrated aniline dyes valued a t millions of dollars. They related the pitiful calls of our hospitals for local anesthetics to alleviate suffering on the operating table, the frantic appeals for the hypnotic that soothes the epileptic, and the furious demands for many other chemicals used both in health and industry, the supplies of which were suddenly cut off by the war. These stories were picked up by the public press and became common topics of conversation on the street corners of every city and village and in the homes of the uneducated as well as the educated. But this was only the beginning of his publicity campaign. It was realized that more detailed information must be furnished concerning the relation of chemistry to the common materials of daily life. c This was accomplished through the publication of a book written by the late Dr. Slosson entitled "Creative Chemistry." Had it not been for this book it is very doubtful whether the chemical industry would have survived for long after the war. This campaign of publicity and education has been continued from that time to the present. And from the ambitious remarks that Mr. Garvan made recently he has only started. The culmination of his efforts, so far, to correlate the activities of chemistry and medicine, is this little book entitled "Chemistry in Medicine." The editor is Julius Stieglitz, head of the chemistry department of the University of Chicago. Advisory editors are Dr. Carlson, professor of physiology, University of Chicago; Dr. Hunt, professor of pharmacology a t Harvard Medical School; Dr. Lillie, professor of zoology a t the University of Chicago; Dr. Wells, professor of pathology a t the University of Chicago. There are thirty-nine topics each presented by an authority in the field. All authors and all editors contributed their services free. The book was published and is distributed a t cost. Most of the sections are written in a popular, non-technical style so as to be understandable by one who is a student of neither chemistry nor medicine.
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I stated earlier that probably the greatest recent development in chemistry is its popularization, since this is largely responsible for the other developments. You are probably beginning to appreciate the significance of that statement; but I wish, in this connection, to point out another highly commendable phase of this publicity and educational campaign that Mr. Garvan is carrying on. I t should be mentioned that all of these activities have been undertaken with the approval and coiiperation of the American Chemical Society. In June, 1923, a letter was received by the Society from Mr. Garvan which read in part as follows: In order that the youth of our country may have an intelligent appreciation of the vital relation of the development of chemistry to our national defense, to the intensiiication and purification of industry and agriculture and to the progress of medicine throughout the age of chemistry upon which we have entefed, and in memory of our daughter, Patricia, Mrs. Garvan and myself tender to you the sum of $10,000. $6000 is to be expended by you in awarding in each state six prizes of $20 each to the students in all schools, public and private, for the six best essays evidencing an understanding of the importance of chemistry in our national life. In addition, we have providedfor six four-year scholarships in chemistry or chemical engineering to be awarded by you among the successful students in each of the several states. These scholarships will carry $500 a year and tuition. Naturally the gift was accepted and immediately the complicated machinery for placing it in effect was worked out. President Hoover, then Secretary of Commerce, became chairplan of the National Committee. When he entered the White House the chairmanship was turned over to Secretary of Interior, Dr. R. L. Wilbur. Other members of the committees constitute an imposing list of many of the best known people from all walks of life in the United States. Appropriate literature and posters were sent to 14,798 high schools. The necessity soon became evident for reference books written in a popular style to serve as source material for the essays. The Chemical Foundation, Inc., arranged for the publication and distribution of five books. These were sent free to all the high-school libraries, all members of the committees, and hundreds of interested people. The titles of these books are: "The Life of Pasteur," "Discovery-The Spirit and Service of Science," "Creative Chemistry," h he Riddle of the Rhine," and "The Future Independence and Progress of American Medicine in the Age of Chemistry." It is not necessary for me to elaborate upon the tremendous interest and enlightenment in chemistry this program has developed among the younger generation and in thousands of homes. I t means that an even more marvelous development is assured to chemistry, in all of its lines, in the future than it has recently experienced in the past. I must not take more
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time to discuss this publicity campaign, but I hope enough has been said so that you may appreciate my attitude in the statement which I made that the greatest recent development in chemistry is its popularization. So far I have considered two phases of my topic, namely, the popularization of chemistry and its application in the field of medicine; the third phase I am going to call the intensive industrialization of research. Prior to about the beginning of the World War, chemistry both in its academic and industrial form in the United States was not recognized by the world a t large as of any significance. The facilities of university laboratories, even for research, were very limited, aqd American chemical literature was not especially significant. It was generally recognized that a man to prepare himself for a life work in chemistry must go to Germany or some other European country for his training. The catalog of any leading university shows that nearly all of the older members of the chemistry faculty received their degrees abroad. That situation is completely changed now. It is distinctly unusual to find younger members of the faculty with advanced degrees from abroad. Our laboratories are the best in the world with respect to physical equipment and probably in respect, also, to personnel, and our chemical literature is surpassed by none. An even greater transformation has taken place in chemical research in industry. Before the World War, chemical research was limited almost entirely, what there was, to the laboratories of academic institutions. Industrial chemistry was a mere child whose voice was not heard outside our own borders and was scarcely audible within. The companies making chemicals depended almost entirely upon outside spurces for raw materials and intermediates and were entirely a t the mercy of foreign manufacturers. Industrial chemical research simply did not exist. This meant that when the war started, our chemical industry, such as i t was, was nearly completely ruined because of the inability to import raw materials. Foreign countries deliberately attempted to hold back raw materials as a means of forcing us into the war. Many of our other fundamental industries that depended upon either home or imported chemicals came to a standstill. Probably the most striking illustration was the textile industry since, a t that time, all dyes were imported. You probably all recall those trying years. But, as the old saying goes, "necessity is the mother of invention"; and every available chemist and chemical laboratory was called upon to assist in pulling us out of that critical situation. Never in all history was such an impetus given to research. The situation was acute and the rewards were high. The government established great research laboratories a t Washington and sponsored work in college laboratories. The National Research Council was organized to suggest, direct, and coordinate research activities. Industrial research laboratories were authorized by boards of directors. The whole country was seething with activity.
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It is easy to see, therefore, why, during the war period, the chemical industry in this country showed such a marvelous development. The end of the war, however, meant the end of the leading impetus for research and development. During the first few years after the war there existed a marked over-production. There was a keen competition between American chemical manufacturers t o supply the home demand. The most important factor, however, that threatened the very life of this young industry was competition from the outside. Foreign manufacturers made a tremendous effort to regain the chemical trade of this country that they lost during the war. They saw in the husky young American chemical industry the possibility not only of the loss of the American consumer but active competition in foreign markets. The stories of the things that happened during that readjustment period are more thrilling than fiction: The fight was finally won, for the time being a t least, by the tariff protection to the American chemical industry in 1923. During this readjustment period i t was clearly evident to the keen observers that the success or failure of the new industry in this country depended primarily upon its ability to meet new developments in the future; in other words it depended upon the extent to which research was adopted in all of its phases. A realization of this situation caused many national organizations, in cooperation with far-seeing, public-spirited men like Mr. Garvan, to attempt to establish a national research consciousness. Among the leading organizations in this movement were: The American Chemical Society, the National Research Council,&heNational Academy of Sciences. The result was the publication of articles picturing the achievements of research in other countries, the remarkable accomplishments during the war, and the necessity for an even greater research activity in the future. These articles appeared in all kinds of industrial magazines and were converted into popular stories for the general newspaper press and popular magazines. In fact a new news agency known as Science Serwice was brought into existence for the purpose of translating technical reports of research into common language for the general public. This campaign was followed by the publication of a number of books treating upon industrial research activities in more detail, yet in popular language. Something like thirty such books have been published during the last five years. I wish to call your attention especially to some of these. ALDERMAN. E. A,. "Science and Research in the Service of Business." University of Virginia, 1929. A-NIUS. S. A,. ''Chemistxy in Modern Life." D. VanNostrand Co.. New York. 1925. CUSEMAN,A. S., "Chemistry and Civilization," E. P. Duttan and Co., New York, 1925. FARREL,H.. "What Price Progress?" Putnam Co., New York, 1926. FINDLAY, A., "Chemistry in the Service of Man," Longmans, Green and Co., New York, 1925.
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HOWE, H. E., "Chemistry in the World's Work," D. Van Nostrand Co., 1926. Horn, H. E., "Chemistry in Industry," 2 vols., The Chemical Foundation. Inc.. New York, 1924, 1925. L ~ EA., D., "Handwriting on the WaU; a Chemist's Interpretation," Little, Brown and Co..Boston, 1928. MILLIKAN, R. A,, "Science and the New Civilization," Scribner, New York, 1930. NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL, "Bibliography on Research; Selected Articles from the Technical Press," 1923-26, National Research Council, Washington, 1926. Nanomr. RESEARCHC o m a , "Industrial Research Laboratories of the United States," National Research Council, Bulletin No. GO, Washington, 1927. As I mentioned earlier, what I am attempting to do in this article is, firstly, to indicate in a broad general way the lines along which the major developments in chemistry have taken place, and secondly to direct you to the sources where you may obtain more detailed treatment of the special topics that may appeal to you. A good idea of the extent to which this publicity or educational campaign has progressed, may be obtained from a booklet entitled "Five Years of Research in Industry." It is compiled by C. J. West under the auspices of the National Research Council and is simply a bibliography, or reading list as they call it, of articles that have appeared during the last five years in technical magazines that merely discuss the subject of research from various angles. The articles are grouped under 91 topics and there are about 2000. None of these describe particular research investigations, they are all general discussions. I should like to quote a few statements from some of these articles just to give you the general trend of the whole.movement. In an address before the American Associatiog. for the Advancement of Science, a t Pasadena, California, last June, Maurice Holland, director of Division of Engineering Research of the National Research Council, made such statements as these: Research is one of the best forms of security for capital invested in industry. There is a direct relation between the research rating and the security ranking of the leaders of American Industry. The science story appears on the front page today for the reason that the achievements in the field of pure science are changing the face of the world. Lawrence V. Redman, vice-president and director of research of the Bakelite Corporation, and president of the American Chemical Society, was awarded the Grasselli Medal for 1931 in recognition of his paper on, "Cost of Research and Its Apportionment." In that article he states, In every well-conducted business there are certain charges that have long been considered as inescapable. Included in these are interest on borrowed capital, rents, taxes, insurance, depreciation, obsolescence. It is time, in this industrial age, that there be added to these fixed charges a charge for an adequate and sustained program
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of research without which no industry can progress, if indeed it can survive . . .Better might a manufacturer cancel his fire insurance than drop his only insurance against retrogression. The January 5, 1932, issue of the Christian Science Monitor carries on its front page an article which contains the following statements: Remembering that the chemical corporations which retained their research staffs during the slump of 1921 were the leaders in the prosperity which followed, chemical manufacturers during the present slack times have not laid off many of their research workers, according to an announcement by the American Chemical Society made public Saturday. For this reason, i t is explained, there is less unemployment among chemists than among other professional groups . . .In many instances, moreover, research workers have risen into the ranks of executive officials, so that the chemist now has representatives in the front office to speak up for him. I t is coming to be generally accepted that the mamelous developments resulting from research, especially in chemistry, are materially altering the economic adjustments in this country. Whole books are being written on this phase alone. One of the best of these is probably, "Chemical Engineering Economics," by C. Tayler, McGraw-Hill, 1926. All of the larger banking and financial organizations have expert chemists on their staffs whose duty i t is to interpret the current developments in this field and advise as to the soundness of new adventures and the future outlook for established concerns. ' As Little puts it in his hook, There has grown up in the minds $f the financier, the industrial executive, and the man in the street a more adequate appreciation of the chemist as a keystone in the industrial structure, and of research as the price of progress. There has been forced upon their attention in many striking ways the fact that no industry is secure today unless its foundations are firmly sunk into the bedrock of research. This has been an exceedingly bitter pill for the managers and directors of some of our oldest established industries t o swallow; hut they are all coming t o it. Their sentiment in general is typified by the expression of the president of a large industrial concern when he was being interviewed upon the subject. He closed the interview with the remark, "Damn the chemist, I will have nothing to do with him or his research." But even though this feeling may exist, the chemist with his research is findmg his way into every type of industry; and i t does not take him long to demonstrate that his services were a profitable investment. The president of a chemical manufacturing firm recently stated that, Research is the one tool by which, in the short space of 12 to 15 years, American chemists and chemical engineers have established
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in America an organic chemical industry, the magnitude of which is so great and the quality of whose products is so good that it is the marvel of our European competitors. The result of this educational and publicity campaign has produced a harvest that is simply astounding. Not only has the resentment of the manager and board of directors largely disappeared, but they are coming to feel that money invested in research will bring greater returns than in any other place. In 1920 the National Research Council survey listed 575 industrial laboratories in the Unitedstates, in seven years this had doubled, and now there are more than 1600. We are inclined to forget that the General Electric Research Laboratory was established only thirty years ago and that it was not until 1912 when the present seven-story research building was constructed that i t had reached any considerable proportion. Five years later another six-story building was added. They now have about 150,000 square feet of floor space and 200 rooms given over to research. The Western Electric has a research staff of more than 1500 chemists and engineers. Probably the most rapidly growing chemical research laboratory is that of the du Pont de Nemours and Co. The company was not incorporated until 1915, hut it has employed 1200 research chemists a t one time and has spent $3,000,000 on research in a single year. Hours might be spent discussing the subject of research, thousands of articles have been written upon it, but I will remind you again that my object is not to exhaust a topic but simply to point out topics and attempt to show their importance and indicate where you can pursue your investigation of them further a t your leisure. Another very noticeable and very recent trend in chemical development is the tendency of small companies to amalgamate and form large corporations, and for a few of the larger companies to expand by organizing new subsidiary units or absorbing other smaller companies already estahlished. The present du Pont de Nemours and Co. is a development from the small du Pont powder mill established in 1802. The company reorganized and took on many new activities in 1915. It absorbed the General Explosives Co. in 1924 and the Grasselli Chemical Co. in 1928. It has established several subsidiary plants for making rayon, nitrocellulose, plastics, paints, varnishes, lacquers, cellophane, methanol by hydrogenation, ethyl alcohol, and glycerol by fermentation, and in 1929 they estahlished a large synthetic ammonia plant. This company manufactures a large part of the dyestuffs now used in the United States. It also produces its own wood flour and wood pulp. The plan in these amalgamations and future developments appears to
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be to become as nearly self-contained as possible. Starting with the raw materials of nature, one unit converts these into products which become the raw materials for another unit, and so the procession continues until the final materials are ready for the consumer. Du Pont is one of the few companies that has continued to expand and make good profits during the present depression. Their recent success may be attributed to the product cellophane with which you are all familiar in the form of very thin transparent covering for candy, baked goods, cigars, cigarettes, etc. This material is only one of the many recent developments of pure research. The story of the growth of the du Pont de Nemours and Co. is simply typical of many in the chemical industry. The Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation was created in 1920 by the consolidation of the General Chemical Co., producers of heavy chemicals; the Solvay Process Co., manufacturers of N%CO8, alkali hydroxides, and chlorine; the Semet-Solvay Co., producers of coke, coal tar, and other byproducts of the coke oven; the Barrett Co., producers of coal-tar products, including roofing material and road-making material; the National Aniline and Chemical Co., manufacturer of dyestuffs. Since then it has acquired the Atmospheric Nitrogen Corporation, producers of fixed nitrogen. I n 1928 they opened a plant a t Hopewell, Virginia, which will produce 90,000 tons of fixed nitrogen a year and which is said to have cost $35,000,000. Still other plants are under construction. It also controls the U. S. Rubber Co. In 1928 the company distributed $16,000,000 in dividends and retained a surplus to make a total capital and profit surplus of $182,000,000 accnmulated in nine years. The Union Carbide Corporation like the du Pont is one of the oldest. It was reorganized in 1927 into the Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation. This was the amalgamation of 35 subsidiaries which were pioneers in their respective lines. In 1928 it acquired the Acheson Graphite Corporation. In 1929 it had 145 plants in operation, some of which are in Canada and Norway. The Dow Chemical Co. of Michigan has seen a wonderful expansion due largely t o the development of new materials as the result of research. It promises to have even a greater future through the production of magnesium and its alloys. The Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey is commonly thought of as only an oil company, and as the world's leading producer of petroleum. It was one of the last large industries to adopt scientific research, but it is now rapidly coming to be one of the leading chemical corporations in the United States. It is the second largest producer of natural gas, which is rapidly becoming one of the most important sources of raw material for chemical synthesis. You have probably all read newspaper stories of the recent German patent by which it is possible to convert petroleum still residues, heavy crudes, and
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even coal, by hydrogenation, into gasoline and other valuable products. The patents are in the hands of a great German W s t ; but the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey has made arrangements to operate in this country. I understand that several plants are now under construction and some are actually operating. The International Combustion Engineering Corporation was incorporated in 1920. There are subsidiaries engaged in the reiining of coal tar and production of products from it. Branches are located in Canada, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and Australia. The Air Reduction Company was incorporated in 1925. I believe it is now the foremost producer of oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, neon, helium, krypton, and xenon, and liquid gases. It recently acquired the U. S. Industrial Alcohol Co., which itself was a consolidation of several companies. The Eastman Kodak Co. is usually thought of only as the world's largest producer of kodaks and films; but i t has recently expanded largely into the field of pure and applied chemicals. It has opened up a large plant a t Kingsport, Tennessee, for the production of acetic acid by destructive distillation of wood waste. Together with the Anode Rubber co. of Great Britain and the Goodrich Rubber Co. it controls the process for the production of rubber specialties by electrodeposition. This tendency to consolidate into large corporations is by no means limited to the United States. In England there is the Imperial Chemical Industries which is a merger of seventy-five chemical companies in England. It was formed in 1926. It is the largest indfistrial corporation in the British Empire. In 1928 it was making 25,000 tons of 5800 different dyestuffs and intermediates. In Germany there is what is known as the I. G., a corporation formed, in 1925, of the principal organic chemical companies. It is now producing something like 300,000 tons of gasoline from coal by the Bergius process and probably will soon supply practically the whole of Germany's needs for motor fuel. It recently acquired 40% of the capital stock of the Ford Motor Co. of Germany. It was the first to produce synthetic methanol industrially. It is the world's most important producer of fixed nitrogen. It threatens to appear in the markets of the world with synthetic rubber. It controls the whole German dye industry. There are similar amalgamated chemical companies in France and Italy. It is impossible to foretell to what this pronounced trend toward centralization and organization is going to lead. If properly operated these great corporations should result in economic gains to themselves and the consumer; but on the other hand keen competition is the mainspring of progress and it is easy to see how organization may kill competition. There is one new movement which could never have happened had it not been for these large national organizations and this is the formation of in-
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ternational combmations for the control of production and the allotment of markets. Over-expansion and over-production is probably one of the leading causes for the present world-wide economic situation. Let us take as an example the dye industry. The following table shows the production capacity and the actual production for one year, I believe in 1928. Copocily
Germany United States Great Britain France Switzerland
Actual
in Tons
Produdion
200,000 57,000 40,000 22,000 16.000
20.000 44,000 17,000 16,000 11,000
In 1928 the National Chemical Corporation of Germany, France, and Switzerland, and I believe since then Great Britain has joined, formed an international organization. This international organization limits the production of dyestuffs in each country and apportions the foreign trade. There is also a pooling of all research information, and patents are exchanged. Last year a similar organization was formed to control the nitrate industry. Every country in the world interested in the production of nitrates except the United States, was a member. It created considerable commotion last year but has now gone to pieces due to inability to agree upon fundamental points and the failure of some producers to abide by the decisions of the organization. Through new developments Chilean nitrate can be produced a t a reduction in cost okabout 40%. It is hard to tell what effect this is going to have upon the extensive synthetic nitrate plants. I believe Germany has recently placed a high duty upon all nitrogenous materials. Immediately after the failure of the international nitrate cartel, ammonium sulfate prices dropped from $32.00 per ton to $27.50. It looks as though the material is being dumped into this country a t the present time. The nitrogen fixation industry in this country has grown a t an enormous rate, however, during the last five years and will probably be able to withstand any shock from the outside. In 1929 we ranked ninth in volume of fixed nitrogen production but now we are surpassed only by Germany. There appears to be a distinct tendency toward the formation of world organizations to control production and distribution. I do not know of any such organization, however, in which companies in the United States are members. It looks just now as though it is developing into a situation of the United States against the organized world. If such should become the case the results are likely to be unfortunate. The summary of the status of the chemical industry of the world contained in the following table is instrtictive.
VOL. 9. NO. 7 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN A CHEMICAL AGE Nd Profirs af1cr Dcp~cciolion Erwcrrcd in Millions
Standard Oil of N. J. (U. S.) Du Pont Corporation (U. S.) I. G. (Germany) Allied Chemical & Dye (U.S.) Union Carbide and Carbon (U. S.) Imperial Chemical (England) Eastman Kodak (U. S.) Montecatini (Italy) Air Reduction (U. S.)
134 64 28 30 30.6 2fi 20 5 3.5
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Paid i n Diuidcnds far 1928
36.6
49.7 27 15.8 16.2 20 lfi.8 4.8 2
I cannot understand what was done with the difference between net profits and paid dividends in the case of Standard Oil Co. From this table one sees that the American companies together made profits of about 282 millions against 59 millions for the remainder of the world. From these figures one could make many stories, some of them highly gratifying hut others fraught with grave possibilities. Although industries have made phenomenal progress during the last ten years, and especially during the period from 1925 to 1930,yet there was probably never a time when industry was less secure than now. Research is largely responsible for what industries are today, yet research is equally responsible for their instability. I shall close my remarks with a brief discussion of this paradoxical situation. You are probably all familiar with what happened to the wood distillation industry a few years ago. One of their principal products was wood alcohol. They went to bed one night in high spjrits only to wake up the next morning and discover that they had been floating for years upon the river of content and self-satisfaction hut now suddenly found themselves caught in rapids which were likely to carny them to complete ruin. The German chemists had been very active during this period and had perfected a method for making synthetic alcohol a t a price much lower than the wood distillers could meet. In 1930 the production of synthetic methanol was 10,000,000 gallons, which was twice that of 1929. Now acetic acid, another basic product in the wood distillation industry, is being made from coke and lime through calcium carbide and acetylene. The preparation of solvents has been for years an important chemical industry hut it has recently become especially so because of the development of artificial silk, plastics, paints, and varnishes which require enormous quantities of organic solvents. One solvent has been displacing another so rapidly that it is impossible to keep up with the procession. During the last five years, and right up to the present moment, things have been happening so rapidly in the paint and varnish industry that it has been like attempting to build on shifting sands. Before one product of the research laboratory could become established another has come to
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take its place. Just the other day I was talking with a chemist connected with one of the paint and varnish companies in Detroit and he said it will be only a short time before the old-fashioned products based upon natural pigments, oils, and turpentine will be completely displaced by synthetic materials. The prodnction of Duco lacquers increased from one-half million gallons in 1924 to ten million in 1926; I have no idea what it is now. A few years ago, you recall, there was a great scare about the supply of gasoline giving out. According to the views expressed then, we should be paying about $1.00 a gallon for gasoline now, while in reality it costs less now than it did then, and states are instituting government action to cut down prodnction in order to force up prices. Since that time revolutionary changes have been brought about by the introduction of research into the petroleum industry. The amount of gasoline obtainable from a gallon of petroleum has been increased several hundred per cent. by the cracking process. Nearly 50% of the gasoline consumed today is cracked. What is likely to produce an even greater change is the new process discovered by Bergius of Germany for the hydrogenation of heavy oils and residues and even coal for the production of gasoline. This process is controlled by the I. G . of Germany, but some kind of a cooperative research program between the I. G . of Germany and the Standard Oil of New Jersey has been in progress for about three years. It is confidently expected the results of this research will revolutionize refining practice. This combination is known in this country as the Hydro Patents Company. Shares were sold to eighteen petroleum refining concerns in the United States. A similar holding company is beingforme4to license the I. G. standard process in other countries outside of Germany. These new developments are converting the petroleum industry into a chemical industry; and the same transformation is due for the coal industry. In the face of the unprecedented industrial development, each year has witnessed a decrease in coal consumption. The coal operators are beginning to wake up to the fact that something must be done. Their way out is through research. A few years ago one of the great industries in this part of the country was putting up natural ice in the winter and distributing it in the summer. Ice was shipped from here to nearly all parts of the United States. Now you see the great storage houses standing empty. This industry was destroyed by the research of the chemist and engineer; and in its place they put the artificial ice plant in each local community. The tourist can now obtain pure ice for his thermos jug in the heart of the western desert as readily and a t approximately the same price as in Detroit. But the research worker did not stop there, he started placing individual ice plants directly in private homes, meat markets, restaurants, hotels, etc. This means the artificial ice companies are likely soon to pass into history. But these individual refrigeration plants are electrically operated and the companies producing
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them had scarcely gotten well under way before gas-operated refrigeration appeared on the horizon; and the chances are in its favor in the race which the future is sure to bring. Another competitor to a r a c i a l ice is so-called "dry ice," which is solid carbon dioxide. The Dry Ice CorporAtion of America was formed iu 1925, and during the intervening period this industry has reached huge proportions. If you have your ice cream delivered to your home today from an up-to-date factory it comes packed in dry ice. But already threatening storm clouds have appeared for this industry. A few months ago a well was brought in in Mexico which spouts dry ice from the earth. This is so pure that solid chunks may be placed directly in a glass of water to which may he added also the proper flavoring, thus providing one with his favorite carbonated drink. Dry ice is now being shipped from the hot region of Mexico to New York for refrigeration purposes. Withm the last month I saw an announcement that a similar well has been located in Colorado. At about the same time there came the report from the Government Bureau of Chemistry to the effect that the food research division has developed a new type of frozen fruit pulp which promises a new outlet for the western fruit grower and packer, a new fruit base for the ice-cream manufacturer and soda fountain operator, and a new product for direct consumption in the home. I t is claimed the product has a remarkably smooth texture and full retention of the original flavor. So far the method has been perfected for peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, pears, raspberries, strawberries, and grapes. I t would seem that the discovery of dry ice in Colorado and Mexico, together with this development of frozen fruit, should work out in a coijperative lpanner to the great advautage of the western fruit growers. I stated earlier that the raw materials used by human heings in promoting growth and life within their own bodies are, largely, fats or oils, sugar or starches, and proteins. The sugars and starches are obtained directly from plants; while the fats and proteins come largely from animals. All of these are the products of the farm and produced by Nature. It appears from this that the human race depends upon the farmer for its very existence. With the farmer occupying such a strategic position one might wonder why so much agitation in this country over the farm problem. There would be no farm problem if farmers could complete their organizations so that they, themselves, could establish the prices for the products of their farms. Every other industry dictates to the purchaser what he shall pay, the farmer is the only one who has to take what the purchaser is willing to give. For years attempts have been made to form farmers' organizations so strong that they could completely control production and distribution and thus establish the prices which the remainder of the human population must pay for what they eat and wear. Distinct progress has been made along this line and its accomplishment is highly probable.
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Should such a situation arise, however, chemistry would probably be used to save the day for the urban population. I mentioned earlier that the chemist has not been able to duplicate the processes of Nature in the preparation of fats, starches, and proteins; but, if dire necessity demanded, I have no doubt that chemistry would come to the rescue. An interesting paper along this line by W. I. Hale, research director of the Dow Chemical Co., appeared in the December, 1930, issue of the Indwtrial and Engineering Chemistry. It is entitled "When Agriculture Enters the Chemical Industry." The whole tone of the article is that even now agriculture is a t the mercy of chemistry and yet chemistry will be ultimately the salvation of agriculture. Dr. Hale considers agriculture is solely an organic chemical activity. The farmer produces organic chemical mixtures consisting chiefly of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. Most of the effotZs toward farm relief have been in the direction of increased prices and decreased product. Dr. Hale states that this is directly opposed to what must and will happen. The price of farm produce should be, according to him, determined solely by its chemical value. It is pointed out that a bushel of corn yields 30 lb. of starch worth 3 cents a pound. On this basis corn should sell a t 40 to 50 cents. One might say the price of starch should be increased; but this in turn is determined by the price of dextrose. Dextrose can be prepared from waste wood by the new Bergius process a t 1.5 cents a pound which is equivalent to only one cent a pound for starch. And this is no speculative dream. Plans are now being considered for the construction of a plant in this country to make dextrose by the Bergius method. A few years ago about forty millions of bshels of corn were fermented to make alcohol. Anti-prohibitionists are tellmg the farmers that prohibition is responsible for the loss of this market. This is not true; the reason why corn is not used today in the fermentation industry is because a cheaper source of raw material was found in blackstrap molasses. This fact is realized by the farm element in Congress and an attempt was made last year to place such a high tariff on blackstrap molasses, which is largely imported, as to force the alcohol manufacturer again to use farm products as raw material. The chemists entered the discussion and pointed out that a high tariff would not benei5t the farmer because the chemist has prepared alcohol from ethylene, and withm a year alcohol will be produced from this source a t 18 cents a gallon; a t that time it was selling for 45. This will mean the ruination of the fermentation industry; it is, also, something for the petroleum industry to thmk about. These figures look bad for the starch-producing phase of agriculture. The fats and oil phase has been for several years in competition with chemistry through the synthetic production of lard and butter; and I believe agriculture is fighting a losing battle. As Dr. Hale states, synthetic chemistry has never lost a battle with natural products.
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The third phase of agriculture, namely, the production of proteins, has had, so far, practically no competition with synthetic chemistry, but a few clouds are appearing above the horizon. At the Atlanta meeting of the American Chemical Society, Dr. Wesson presented his audience with tasty sandwiches spread with "synthetic boloney," a high-protein coucentrate made from cottonsccds. Thc September, 1931, issue of the News Edition of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry contains this announcement: Coal chemistry has already advanced to the point where, by technically practicable processes, it is possible to obtain directly from coal and coke such substances as are used by nature in the synthesis of the animal and human body. Work in this direction has been prosecuted in the Gcsellschaft fiir Kohlentechnik for more than a decade, and i t has bridged the gap between chemicals andthe materials occurring in coal, which falls within the range of protein formation. When one considers that even today, in purchasing a living animal which contains approximately 18% proteiu one must pay 5.50 marks a kilogram for protein, and that proteiu in meat and eggs costs from 12 to 15 marks a kilogram, i t is evident that protein-at least in the form a t present obtainable--can be produced industrially from coal a t a price to compete. One cannot a t present imagine artificial subsistence, but surely a definite direction is being marked in this field, and i t is shown that the production of albuminous materials from a coal base is ready to be disclosed.
For some years people have been encouiaged to eat large quantitie-s of carrots, lettuce, spinach, milk, oranges, yeast, cod-liver oil, etc., in order to secure enough of the various vitamins which the chemist has shown to be essential to good health. But this is all rapidly changing. The chemist is rapidly devising ways of extracting the precious vitamins and some may be obtained now in the form of tablets. I t is very likely that they will soon be prepared synthetically. If mental processes arc the result of chemical reactions, and I must confess I do not see what else they can be, it is possible the chemist of the future will determine what chemicals are involved in the diierent types of mental processes and will be able to control these processes. Doctor Bancroft has recently shown that definite chemicals will remove certain types of insanity, and also that a normal person may be made temporarily insane by known chemicals. This is truly the age of chemistry and research, and, though the chemist has made marvelous progress during the last few years, he has in reality barely started his work. Those who believe that prosperity such as we have had in the past will never come again have not reckoned with the chemist.
