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the other hand, in most syndicates, which had a common interest only in the sales of their products and also consisted of independent manufacturing units, the calculât ion of costs was a great secret of the individual concerns and therefore a comparison of costs is not possible. As compared with other industries, the literature of calculating manufacturing costs in the chemical industry is very meager. Based on forty years of experience and connected most of this time with the best organized chemical concern in the world (according to his own statement), Peter Schlôsser issued this book as a practical guide for an orderly system of calculating exact manufacturing costs. Volume I describes the bookkeeping for manufacturing plants (technical bookkeeping), Volume II shows a reproduction of all the forms (printed cards, sheets) used by the various offices concerned. The department performing the "technical bookkeeping" is organized into a number of divisions and subdivisions: (1) division calculating total manufacturing costs including subdivision directly connected with the operations, «indivisions for repair work, transportation, shipping, wages, etc.; (2) control of raw materials (control of bills and weights of incoming material, control of usage of material in the various plants, control of freight, etc.); (3) final calculation to obtain the real cost of products of a past period of manufacture (every product is separately calculated); (4) control of finished products (this section takes over all goods which are for sale, fixes selling prices, etc.); (5) control of the investment of the plant (value of land, buildings, equipment, inventory of offices, etc.); (6) depreciation; and (7) statistics. The author believes the book should be of special interest to the young plant chemist and also to the advanced student who intends to obtain a position in the chemical industry.
VOL. 16. NO. 20
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
OTTO RUNGE
Study of Patents on Petroleum Cracking with Special Reference to Their APresent Status. David Mc Knight, Jr.
627 pages. Universitv of Texas, Austin, Texas, 1938. Price, $3.00. THIS is a book of 627 pages, in which there is a report of the study by the author, who approaches the problem from the technical aspect rather than the legal. After presenting the cracking patent situation in the first chapter, the author presents the various patented processes, and in the tenth chapter begins a discussion of the development of the situation, including a critical review of its history and present status. This is followed by a criticism of the patent structure in the cracking art, with the last 500 pages of the book devoted to a catalog of United States patents on cracking or conversion of petroleum hydrocarbon oils. Th is includes indexes of patentees .and assignees and an index of litigation involving such patents.
Combating Industrial Disease wo new bulletins outlining "how" T measures for combating industrial disease and for guarding employee health
are being distributed by the Air Hygiene Foundation, 4400 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, P a , to its member companies. One deals with ''Determination of Lead," a metal which alone or in combination constitutes a triple threat to health of workmen exposed, as it and its compounds can be inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin. The bulletin explains that lead dusts, fumes, and mists may be
dispersed in air when using or processing lead, its alloys, or compounds, and describes methods for sampling air t o check the presence of lead. The other bulletin, 'Identification of Industrial Dusts," discusses the method of identifying minerals by their optical properties known as optical mineralogy, and states that the identification of industrial dust is accomplished best by using petrography as the basis of analytical work and supplementing it whenever necessary with chemical determinations. Characteristics of a few minerals commonly found in dust are listed. Dusts are classified in four general groups. The bulletins are part of a series prepared by the Preventive Engineering Committee of Air Hygiene Foundation, of which Philip Drinker, of Harvard University, is chairman. Others issued this year include, "Determination of Benzol Vapor/1 "Use and Care of Respirators," "Determination of Chlorinated Hydrocarbon 1 Vapor," "Design of Exhaust Hoods/ and "Design of Duct Work for Exhaust Systems." The next will cover sampling for the control of atmospheric impurities.
Natural Gasoline Code HE American Petroleum Institute T has announced the publication of Code 50-B, "Measuring, Sampling, and Testing
Natural Gasoline (Tentative)," as a companion code to Code 50-A, "Measuring, Sampling, and Testing Natural Gas (Tentative)," issued last year. Under the chairmanship of F. E. Rice, the Main Committee on Measuring. Sampling, and Testing Natural Gas and
Natural Gasoline of the institute's Division of Production sponsored this code embracing standards and practices which, from technical soundness, general usage, or simplicity, have been found most dependable and worthy of broad dissemination. Only methods judged to be in widespread use in commercial transactions were considered suitable for inclusion. Single copies are available from the New York and Dallas offices of the institute at 35 cents each, with discounts for quantity.
Tenite Specifications C 4ΠΡΕΝ1ΧΕ Specifications" is the title of a X new publication of The Tennessee Eastman Corp., Kingsport, Tenn. The book of 20 pages contains physical and chemical data of value to those who must select material for any particular use. Much of the information is presented in tabular form, which includes all the Tenite formulas. In addition a number of graphs make useful comparisons and present data in brief, useful form.
Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal ANTHRACITE
INDUSTRIES,
INC.,
has
x \ . issued an interesting booklet, en titled "Program and Progress," which deals with Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal and outlines an extensive program of technical and educational work that is in progress on modern methods of using an thracite. The publication presents inter esting statistics calling attention to some little-appreciated aspects of the industry, including its magnitude. Copies may be obtained from Anthracite Industries, Inc., Chrysler Bldg., New York, Ν. Υ.
1U WALL STREET of CHEMISTRY GRADUAL improvement in the chemical business was evident in August and A continued through September, and indi
cations are that earnings for the third quarter are considerably better than for the second quarter and that the fourth quarter will show further improvement. During the first ten days in October the industry had a more definite upturn in orders than has been experienced for some time. Earnings, however, continue be low those of 1937. ALLIED CHEMICAL & DYE C O . has filed
with the Securities and Exchange Com mission a report of its miscellaneous in vestments. These include (as of Decem ber 31, 1937) 178,682 shares of OwensIllinois Glass Co. and 30,713 shares of Libbey-Owens-Ford common stock. The company's income account shows that dividends received amounted to $20,523,432 out of $22,983,669 in 1937; $22,680,558 out of $25,638,014 in 1936; and $27,479,700 out of $30,818,484 in 1935. INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL CORP.
and subsidiaries for the year ended June 30,1938, show net profit of $701,328, after depreciation, depletion, interest, estimated federal income taxes, and surtax on un distributed profits. This is equal after dividend requirements on 7 per cent cumulative prior preference stock (par $100, with accumulated unpaid dividends of $6350,000) to less than one cent a share on no-par common, and compares with $770,154 or 16 cents a share on com mon in the preceding year. During the
year the company sold its half interest in the Kaliwerke Sollstedt Gewerkschaft, from which no benefit had been received in recent years, and invested the proceeds in the Kaliwerke Salzdetfurth Aktiengesellschaft, as it is impossible to take funds out of Germany. Durine the year $1,771,700 unissued bonds held in the treasury were canceled and $883,000 issued bonds were retired and canceled, leaving $4,750,000 bonds outstanding. LIBBEY-OWENS-FORD GLASS C O . for the
nine months ended September 30, 1938, shows net profit of $428,705 after depre ciation, federal income taxes, etc., equiva lent to 17 cents a share on common. This compares with $8,848,159 or $3.53 a share in the first nine months of 1937. For the three months ended September 30, 1938, net profit was $850,586 or 34 cents a share, compared with net profit of $3,216,690 in the September quarter of 1937 and net loss of $50,352 in the quarter ended June 30,1938. In his letter to stockholders the president expressed satisfaction a t the steady rise in sales during August and September. Operations were increased at each of the company's factories and more than 1700 employees were added to the payroll dur ing the quarter. A. O. SMITH CORP. and subsidiary for
the fiscal year ended July 31, 1938, show net loss of $982,155 after taxes, deprecia tion, etc. This compares with net income of $16,555 or 3 cents a share in the preced ing year.
