In its endeavor to bring the importance of chemistry before the layman in a non-technical way, one of the very first activities of the Foundation was to distribute popularly written chemistry books such as Slosson's "Creative Chemistry" to a large number of the business men and educators of the country, emphasizing the tremendous importance of chemistry to industry, elimination of waste, conservation of national resources, and research in the prevention and cure of disease. In this connection, The Chemical Foundation published several popularly written books, such as "Chemistry in Industryw-two volumes, "Chemistry in Agriculture," and "Chemistry in Medicine," all of which have been widely distributed throughout the United States, and many of which are now used as textbooks in our schools and colleges. In addition to the distribution of this large number of books, the Foundation has distributed hundreds of thousands of copies of various pamphlets, booklets, and other informative literature pertaining to the value of chemistry to all human activities, the total of such distribution being approximately hventy million pieces of literature. It is no exaggeration to say that this literature has educated the whole American nation. Flying Electrons Cause Evolutionary Changes. The mutations, or sudden evolutionary changes, that can be caused by exposing living organisms t o x-rays, radium and similar powerful radiations, are probably due t o high-speed negatively charged electrons, or beta rays. Such rays are given off directly by radium, and arise as a result of x-ray bombardment of solid matter. The researches on which this conclusion is based were described recently before the American Society of Zodlogists by Dr. Frank Blair Hanson of WashingtonUniversity, St. Louis. Dr. Hanson exposed fruit flies t o the action of radium, giving different sets of them varying degrees of protection behind thin lead screens. The number of mutations produced varied according to the degree of protection. Then he made measurements of the number of beta oartides that got u ~ hthe same set of screens. - t h r o. and found tbat these varied in exactly the same numerical proportion as the mutations. In brief, the more intense the beta-ray bombardment, the more frequent the mutations.Science Sem'ce Synthetic Cod-Liver Oil Being . Manufactured Now. A new product that has codliver oil's ability to build bones and prevent rickets but that is without the offensive taste of the fish oil is now being manufactured by an American 6rm under the Steenbock patents on irradiated foods. This new kind of "&-liver oil" is based on the newly discovered fact that a chemical substance, ergosterol, found in the fish oil, is the substance that has the antirachitic power. Ergosterol is also found, in an inactive state, in yeast and in certain fungi. It has been isolated from ergot oil, found in the fungus on rye which furnishes medicine with another widely used substance, ergot. Exposure t o ultraviolet rays, either from the sun or from artificial sources, gives yeast ergosterol the antirachitic properties. This activated yeast ergosterol bas been dissolved in peanut and cottonseed oils and is being manufactured and will be sold as a cad-liver oil substitute. The process was worked out by Dr. Charles E. Bills. The new product has the further advantage tbat it will not spoil and grow rancid as cod-liver oil sometimes does.-Soience Senrice
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