VOL.7, No. 4
POTASH I N T H E UNITED STATES
761
the greensand, leucite, and alunite deposits and the brines of the Great Salt Lake Desert mentioned above, together with others whicb i t has not been feasible to discuss in this paper. There can be little doubt that the potash industry in this country is here to stay. Its expansion through the development of additional sources of supply may be confidently expected, both because of the increasing consumption, which is already foreshadowed by the latest figures (1928), and because of the earnest attention now being given here to problems of potash production. Importations of foreign potash will continue because freight differentials in its favor will probably persist a t many centers of consumption. The presence in this country of so many sources of potash and the knowledge already gained regarding their possible exploitation will serve as a check on the prices of foreign supplies. The American farmer may therefore feel assured that his potash needs will henceforth be fully and cheaply met. Potash Storage and Loading a t Hamburg, Germany. The potash storage and loading installation, still under construction a t Hamburg, Germany's principal potash harbor, has cost in the neighborhood of 81,600,000. Its principal warehouse possesses acapacity of 120,000metric tons, and the cluay is long e n o u ~ h((over900 ft.) to permit two . ocran-going vessels t o load a t the same time. I n the warehouse an elaborate system of conveyors reduces human power t o a minimum. Four hundred tons of loose or hagged potash may be discharged from warehouse into vessel within one hour. By means of various technical contrivances different grades of potash may be discharged into a vessel's hold at the same time. Automatic scales, hagging arrangements, and bagsewing machines are also included. An interesting innovation is the heating of all means of conveyance to prevent caking.-Chem. Age ~
~
~
Two New Vitamins Discovered. No less than two new vitamins have recently been discovered by English scientists. Katherine Hope Coward and her colleagues a t the Pharmaceutical Society in London, have just published a paper describing a new vitamin which has somehow escaped notice before. Scientists do not yet know whether this new factor is nccessary for the human race, but Miss Coward's experiments have proved that it is necessary for the growth of that all-important animal, the experimental rat. No name has yet been given to this vitamin. I t has been found in fresh milk, lettuce, grass, ox muscle, liver, and wheat embryo. The other new vitamin has recently been described by Vera Reader of the Biochemical Department, Oxford University. The original Vitamin B was said to prevent beri-beri. Scientists found later that Vitamin B really consisted of a t least two seuarate factors, and they decided to call them B1 and B2. Miss Reader now has lound that in the Vitamin B of yeast there is a third growth factor which is chemically distinct from either of the other two. She suggested the name 8 3 for this new factor. .. Like B2, it can be destroyed by heat. The pellagra-preventing factor in foodstuffs, known as P-P, was also once thought to he part of Vitamin B.-Science Senice
