February 20, 1931
INDUSTRIAL
AND ENGINEERING
CHEMISTRY
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Some Chemical Research Laboratories in Indianapolis One of the twentieth century developments of great importance t o science has been the increasing recognition by industrial a s well as academic leaders of the value of research in insuring, n o t only t h e growth, but the very life of most lines of endeavor. A survey of the territory embraced by the Indiana Section discloses immediately that this fact is being appreciated to a very gratifying extent. T h e last issue of the N E W S EDITION carried a brief reference to a large number of the educational institutions of the state, most of which are engaged in varying degrees i n the carrying o n of fundamental research. The larger universities, as would b e expected, devote much energy to definite lines of investigations, as has long been the case. In addition, however, there have been developed in the Indianapolis district several outstanding research laboratories supported entirely by industrial concerns. T h e work of these laboratories not only aims toward developing marketable products, b u t in addition embraces original investigations along lines more or less closely related to these products. The following descriptions by no means cover the field of i n dustrial research being carried on in the Indianapolis district,
Section of Pharmacological Laboratory, Eli Lilly & Co.
but they do serve as examples of organizations which have de veloped most completely the research possibilities related to their lines of endeavor. Lilly Research Laboratories The largest and oldest of these laboratories is that of Eli Lilly and Co., manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and biologicals. T h e company was founded fifty-five years ago by Colonel Eli Lilly, a pharmacist, and has remained in the con trol of professional pharmacists and chem ists w h o have kept to the original purpose of the founder—namely, t o make products for use under the directions of physicians. T o day the company ranks as one of the largest institutions of its kind in America. Josiah K. Lilly, son of the founder, is now presi dent, while his sons, Eli and Josiah K., Jr., are vice presidents in charge, respectively, of manufacturing and marketing research. The pharmaceutical and chemical manu facturing laboratories, the main research laboratories, and the principal offices are in Indianapolis. The main biological labora tories, with their extensive horse stables and small-animal quarters, are located on a farm east of Indianapolis, near Greenfield. Cer tain types of research are pursued through out t i e year at the latter plant. During the summer months a branch research labo ratory is maintained at the Marine Bio logical Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass. Medical research is continually in progress in the laboratories at the Indianapolis plant, and also in t h e specially equipped laboratories maintained at the Indianapolis City Hospital, where practical clinical problems are encountered. I n addition, studies are conducted in numerous university and other clinics throughout the country which work with the Indian apolis group. From a laboratory employing, in the eighties, one chemist, it has grown until its corps of chemists, pharmacists, pharmacolo gists, bacteriologists, and medical investigators now numbers over seventy-five, of whom forty devote their entire time to re
search problems. Under the able direction uf G. H. A. Clowes, t h e research activities have expanded so much during t h e past decade that the four floors of the building specially constructed and equipped for this purpose are no longer adequate, necessitat ing the occupancy of several entire floors of adjoining buildings. This department was accorded the privilege of cooperating with t h e original investigators at the University of Toronto in the development of a pure, stable, uniform commercial preparation of insulin. The first insulin commercially available in the United States, and that used in most of the early clinical studies in this country, w a s produced in the Lilly Research Laboratories. The development of large-scale production of liver extract, specific in the treatment of pernicious anemia, was accomplished i n cooperation with the original investigators a t Harvard Uni versity Mledical School. Intensive research is constantly going on in this field, directed not alone t o the production of the hormones, but also toward the development of new laboratory methods for their evaluation and t o the determination of their chemical nature. Other investi gators are carrying on just as intensive research in the field of bacteriology, immunology, and serology. From these laboratories came the first vitamin preparations containing stated amounts of vitamin A measured by growth resumption methods. Today a skilled group of investigators i s intensively studying the constantly expanding group of vitamins. The development and use of isoamylethyi barbituric acid, amytal, will serve as an example of the research in the field of synthetic drugs. The recent discovery of the clinical research group that sodium amytal possesses distinct value in the pre anesthetic preparation of patients has been received a s a marked contribution to the field of anesthesia. Reilly Laboratories The newest and most modern of Indianapolis' research labora tories, dedicated just a year ago, is supported by the Reilly Chemi cal Co. This company, headed by Peter C. Reilly, produces direct coal-tar products such as naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene, tar acids and bases, phenol, cresol, etc.; derivatives of coal-tar products which find application in such varied industries as ore notation, synthetic resins, rubber, dyes, paint manufac turing, petroleum refining, steel production and carburization, wood preservation, disinfectants and fungicides, etc. ; and carbon products for various purposes, such as abrasives, decolorizing carbons, graphite, etc. μ T h e Reilly Laboratories are devoted exclusively to research and development, the basis of the present work being chemical and physical research upon coal and coal tar and their derivatives. Ira H . Derby, the present director, organized the unit in 1918 a t Minneapolis, and in 1920 it was transferred to Indianapolis. T h e organization of the laboratories comprises the following main di visions: organic, flotation, analytical, inorganic, metallurgical, chemical engineering, and mechanical engineering. The person nel now includes thirty men whose time is devoted exclusively t o research and development.
Reilly Laboratories
Carleton B. Edwards, assistant director, has been largely re sponsible for the design of the new laboratory, which is a two-story and basement building of concrete and brick construction. I t was designed specifically for research and contains all modern fa cilities and conveniences for the most varied work ranging from pure science t o routine control. The building is equipped with specially designed oak furniture with table tops of Alberene stone. Duriron i s used throughout for drains, and block tin for the distilled-water system. The floors are linoleum with terrazo border and cove. Full window space is provided for all laboratories.
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NEWS EDITION
Features of construction and equipment that have been found particularly satisfactory are the following: two buildings, one for the research work proper and one for the machine shop, boiler room, and semi-plant equipment; an arrangement of all service connections that gives great flexibility in changing or repairing such connections; 18-inch hollow walls with ready access which enclose all main-line plumbing and electrical services; automati cally controlled boiler for heating and power, and for process steam of various pressures ; electrical systems for direct and alternating currents, covering a wide range of voltages; all fume hoods with individual fans on the roof, and with automatically controlled drying ovens; well-equipped kitchen and dining room; and many somewhat unusual pieces of apparatus, such as a large Freas thermostat, Bureau of Mines equipment for testing coal carbonization, small ore-flotation plant, etc. Van Camp's Research Laboratories Another institution of interest to chemists is the Van Camp Packing Co., where one may find a notable example of the appli cation of chemistry to the production of ready-to-serve foods. This company's research and control interests began in 1912 with the employment of George A. Fisher, the present director of
Vol. 9, No. 4
Electrical Equipment at Chemical Exposition IVIany advances in electrical equipment for control of chemical and non-chemical processes in laboratory and factory will be shown at the ^Thirteenth Exposition of Chemical Industries. Drying and baking ovens in a wide range of sizes, large temperaturecontrolled tanks, sensitive thermostat-controlled water baths, humidity-controlled cabinets, liquid-air tanks, temperature regulators, etc., are some of the devices by which electricity is tiarnessed t o meet the needs of the chemist in laboratory and factory. One in-teresting advance in thermoelectric science to be shown at "the Exposition is an electric oven in which a blast of hot air is circulated horizontally at high velocity over the contents passing between shelves and racks, thereby effecting great saving in time, improving heat distribution, and insuring more uniform temperature control. Ovens of this type are designed to meet the requirements of exacting research where it is desired to main tain accixrate and uniform heating conditions in all parts of the oven chamber, and for other similar applications. They are furnished in sizes from small bench equipment with a cord for connecting into the lighting circuit and rated as 50-watt size, to a 2700-watt size with a temperature range from 150° to 260° C . INTew industrial electrical equipment will include st* el-melting furnaces of large size and new design. One manufacturer whose largest furnace prior to January, 1929, was a 600-pound 150-kilowatt unit melting a charge of steel in a little over an hoi-ir, has gradually added larger sizes until a 4500-pound furnace, reçiuiiing^ 600 kilowatts and melting in about 2 hours, has been built, whale a 7800-pound furnace is under construction- These additions have been accompanied by improvements in efficie^icies, better refractories, and more accurate temperature control, all of which will be illustrated in his exhibit.
The Faraday Celebrations The Royal Institution of Great Britain and the Institution of Electrical Engineers have issued the provisional program for the Faraday Celebrations to b e held in London from September 21 to 25, 1931. These dates have been arranged in cooperation with the British Association for the Advancement of Science, whose centenary meeting begins on September 23, also in London. Further details of the Faraday Celebrations may be secured b>y addressing the General Secretary, Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle St., London, W. 1. A Room a t Research and Control Laboratories, Van Camp Packing Co., Inc.
research, as chemist to start the task of applying modern scien tific control to the purchase of raw food materials and to their processing for canned foods. Evolving from routine control functions, the research activities of the laboratories have steadily widened in scope under Doctor Fisher's guidance. Van Camp's Research Laboratories conduct exhaustive studies of food products and of the theory of dietetics and nutrition, in cluding progressive work in quantitative analyses and biological assays. These investigations are carried on, not only within the company's own laboratories, but also through fellowships in university institutions. Swan-Myers Research Laboratories The laboratories of the Swan-Myers Co., manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and biologicals, have begun to attract attention because of their unique research on ephedrine and pollen prod ucts. At present this research staff is operating in Indianapolis, but the work will be transferred to North Chicago in the spring, owing to the recent consolidation with the Abbott Laboratories. Edgar B. Carter, director of research, has been responsible for the scientific work of the company for more than fifteen years. In the investigations on pollen and pollen extract, the laboratories have attempted to solve some of the many baffling questions that arise in the scientific treatment of hay fever. In conjunction with their laboratory work, two nation-wide surveys of the annual ragweed pollen "crop" have been completed with the aid of the U. S. Weather Bureau and the Canadian Meteorological Service.
Third Conference on Bituminous Coal The Carnegie Institute of Technology has announced that the Third International Conference on Bituminous Coal is to be held in Pittsburgh, November 16 to 21, 1931. The following men have accepted membership upon the advisory board: James A. Farrell, John Hays Hammond, Samuel Insull, Frank B. Jewett, A. W. Mellon, F. A. Merrick, Auguste G. Pratt, Η. Β. Rust, Matthew S. Sloan, Gerard Swope, and Walter C. Teagle. The program will include papers on the carbonization, liquefaction, and gasification of coal; by-products; the mechanism of combus tion; cleaning of coal and its preparation for the market; pulver ized fuel; power plants; domestic heating, etc.
Alpha Chi Sigma New York Meetings The dinners and meetings of the New York professional group of Alpha Chi Sigma are held at the Prince George Hotel, 14 East Twenty-eighth St., New York, N. Y., a t 6 :30 P. M. on the frrst Wednesday of the month. Reservations should be sent to E . R. Hanson, 230 Grove St., Bloomneld, N. J. The activities are purely social and talks by chemists on non-chemical subjects are planned. Speakers for coming meetings are: MarcEi 4—L. V. R e d m a n , Bakélite Corp. April 1—William H . F. L a m o n t , Rutgers University. May 6—Speaker t o be announced. All members of the fraternity attending t h e Chemical Exposition are especially invited.
Abstracts of Indianapolis Papers In connection with the last meeting of the SOCIETY, the Α.. C. S. News Service was obliged to return $25.00 to those who forwarded their money too late to obtain sets of abstracts, and in addition wrote to many others who requested sets, offering to place orders as they were available. The Service makes allowance for a certain increase, meeting by meeting, in the number of sets that may fce requested, but the only way to avoid disappoint ment is to decide early whether or not you wish to place an order. As heretofore, the A. C. S. News Service, 706 Mills Bldg., Washington, D. C, is in position to supply a limited number of sets of the abstracts of papers presented a t the Indianapolis meeting a t $1.00 per set. The abstracts willfc»eas furnished b y the authors of papers, and will be mailed in mimeographed form very soon after t h e meeting. The sets are not guaranteed to be complete, but they will contain all abstracts obtainable from division secre taries up t o the time of the meeting. In order to save unnecessary correspondence and the keeping of records, it is requested that those desiring sets remit S 1.00 with their order.
