March
10, 1927
INDUSTRIAL
AND ENGINEERING
Reorganization of Bureau of Chemistry, Bureau of Soils, and Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory Appropriation bills passed by the present Congress make possible the reorganization of the work of the Bureaus of Chemistry and Soils and the Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory in accordance with recommendations made by the Secretary of Agriculture and discussed in news releases of last December. Two new bureaus have been arranged, one of which is to be known as Food and Drugs Administration, and the other as t h e Bureau of Chemistry and Soils. Under Food and Drugs Administration will come the regulatory work involving food and drugs, insecticides and fungicides, naval stores, cattle foods, and tea inspection. This bureau will also be charged with all investigations incident to the preparation of court cases. T h e Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, of which there will be a chief and an associate chief, will consist of three units, namely, Chemical-Technological Research, Soils Research and Survey, and Fertilizer and Fixed Nitrogen. Under Chemical-Technological Research will be placed such laboratories of the present Bureau of Chemistry as those dealing with color, proteins, carbohydrates, oils and fats, dust explosion, research on insecticides, research on leather, paper, naval stores, farm products, and crop chemistry. Soils Research and Survey will comprise much of the work now being done by the Bureau of Soils and in addition there will be assigned to it from Plant Industry, the Laboratories of Soil Fertility and of Soil Bacteriology. Fertilizer research and the work of the Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory will come under the third unit. This extensive reorganization, which separates completely the work involving scientific research from the work incident to law enforcement, makes it necessary to bring into the service several highly trained men. T h e U. S. Civil Service Commission has announced an unusual method of competition to be followed in filling the post of chief of the Bureau of Chemistry a n d Soils, and it is understood t h a t from the list of those who will apply and qualify for this position two or more other men required for responsible positions in the Bureau as reorganized m a y be selected. T h e duties of the position are to direct a n d administer t h e work of the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils carried on by a personnel of approximately 540 persons under an annual appropriation amounting to SI ,115,005 for t h e next fiscal year. I n cooperation with the assistant chiefs and the respective division leaders he will be expected to initiate, outline, develop, a n d direct the various phases of research, demonstration, and service work devolving upon t h e bureau. High administrative responsibility is involved, such as contact with t h e chemical industry, and the applicant should particularly have t h e ability to plan, direct, a n d coordinate research and investigation of the most advanced character. Instead of the usual form of civil service examination, a special board has been formed to pass upon the qualifications of candidates. The board is composed of A. F . Woods, Director of R e search of the Department of Agriculture, J. G. Lipman, director of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, and Frederick W. Browne, consulting examiner of t h e Civil Service Commission. The examination will consist solely of a consideration of qualifications by this board. T h e minimum qualifications for consideration are a doctor's degree from an institution of recognized standing, a t least ten years' experience in t h e direction and performance of chemical and soil research of a character to show the required degree of knowledge and ability in both chemistry and soils, administrative capacity of the highest order, a n d thorough familiarity with the literature of chemistry and soils, a n d with the activities of scientific a n d professional organizations and associations concerned with the subject. The applicant must also have a personality which will enable him to deal tactfully with the personnel of t h e research units to be under his direction and with other research a n d administrative agencies. T h e entrance salary is $6000 a year a n d promotion may be made without change in assignment up t o $7500 a year. Qualified persons who wish to be considered should apply t o the Civil Service Commission, Washington, D . C , for F o r m 2600, which must be executed and returned with list of the applicant's technical publications and reprints in so far as they are available in time to be on file in the office of the Civil Service Commission a t Washington n o t later than April 5, 1927.
Ira Remsen Passes Away J u s t as this issue of the News Edition is about to b e printed, we have received word of t h e death of Ira Remsen, PresidentKmeritus of Johns-Hopkins University a n d one of t h e pioneer teachers of chemistry in America, as well as a leader in t h e development of our science, A fitting biographical sketch and obituary notice will appear in a later issue of T H I S JOURNAL or the News Edition.
CHEMISTRY
3
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry for April 1 This -will be another group of some 35 titles which will appeal to a great variety of interests. T h e manufacture of amyl acetate from natural gas, a discussion of recent developments in zeolite softening, an outline of sewage purification studies a t the Lawrence, Mass., Experiment Station, and a comparative study of two methods of vaporizing a paraffin-base petroleum open the number. Fumigation tests with chloropicrin and a paper o n fungicidal and bactericidal action of selenium and tellurium compounds are timely. The influence of rust film thickness upon the rate of corrosion of steel a d d s the result of another study pertinent to the corrosion problem. A second paper of the series o n potash from greensand and a report on the properties of ethylene glycol are other interesting titles. There will be a discussion of our foreign trade in chemicals a n d allied products in 192(5, a proposed new food dye, and new tables for specific gravity and per cent of glycerol. A study of petroleum lubricants is the title of a paper marking the fiftieth anniversary of the author's first contribution t o the technical press. There a r e two important papers on mercury, one upon its detection, and the other upon determination of its vapor. H y d r o carbons in gas, the low temperature carbonization of coal, and a iikthod for separating individual hydrocarbons in coal gas by fractional distillation will interest the workers in this field. The volatility of certain paint and varnish removers is discussed, and in addition to a group of papers on advances in analytical chemistry, the following titles may be mentioned: Commercial Gelatins, Distillation of Formaldehyde Solution, Effect of Neutral Salts upon H y d e Substance, Kinetics of Catalyzed Gas Reactions in Flow Systems, Tin-Iron Alloy in Tin Plate, and Viscosity of Cellulose-Cuprammonium Solutions.
Lime in the Treatment of Industrial Wastes The program of the Spring Meeting of t h e American Chemical Society to be held in Richmond, Va., April 11 to 16, will include a symposium on lime, a p a r t of which is t o be devoted t o a discussion of t h e very timely problem of t h e t r e a t m e n t and disposal of industrial wastes. In Wisconsin a very extensive series of tests, looking toward t h e disposal of cannery wastes, were conducted during t h e past y e a r b y the State Board of Health, in conjunction with t h e Wisconsin Canners' Association, which is doing everything in its power t o cooperate with the public and sanitary officials. I n this case, a lime and iron t r e a t m e n t proved most satisfactory. These tests, among others, will be described a t the Society's Symposium by L. F . Warrick, of t h e Wisconsin Board of Health, and other sanitary engineers and chemists will participate in the discussions. The industrial waste problem will undoubtedly be of interest to all those attending t h e Symposium. Other papers on the slaking and handling of lime will also be of importance in this connection. Prof. J. R. Withrow, head of the Chemical Engineering Department, Ohio State University, is in charge of the preparation of the Symposium, and will preside during the sessions.
Reserve Officers' Luncheon at Richmond An informal meeting of reserve officers is planned a t a luncheon, April 13, in Richmond, Va., in connection with t h e Spring Meeting of the American Chemical Society. T h e meeting will be under the auspices of t h e reserve officers of the Chemical Warfare Service, b n t all officers of the Regular Army, the National Guard, and t h e Reserve Corps of every branch of the service are cordially invited to attend. It is planned to h a v e a brief talk by a high official of t h e service and b y some prominent representative of the American Chemical Society.
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science to Have New Building The Board of Trustees of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science a t its regular meeting on March 1 authorized the Building Committee t o start immediate construction of the new college building on the site a t 42nd, 43rd, Woodland, and Kingessing Avenues which was acquired several years ago. The building will be of three stories in the Georgian style of architecture, and will accommodate n o t more t h a n eight hundred students, .including all regular a n d special classes. Ground will b e broken immediately, a n d t h e building will be completed in about nine months. T h e building is to cost a b o u t $600,000.00.
