VOL.7, No. 4
CHEMICAL DIGEST
917
cluding copper, zinc, lead, and the alkaline earth halides. The Collections also oecasionally include reviews and bibliographies of articles in pure and applied chemistry by Czechoslovak scientists. Those so far given contain some hundreds of references t o papers published within the last two years, and from this i t is apparent that there is considerable scientific activity in Czechodovak universities and research institutes.
U. S. Department of Agriculture Plans Manifold Researches. Lighted cigarettes . carelessly thrown from windows have become such a fire menace that an item of $7000 in the Agricultural Appropriation bill, now before Congress, has been specified for research by the U. S. Bureau of Chemistry, looking toward fireproofing cotton cloth such as is used for awnings. Such a method, if successfully developed, i t is estimated, would increase the sales of cotton cloth used for outdoor purposes from $70,000,000 t o twice or three times this amount. The cotton cloth fireproofing experiments are only one part of a series of interesting investigations important t o industry which the Agricultural Department is t o undertake in cooperation with other government agencies next year, providing Congress allows the increase of $53,430 for industrial investigational work, which has heen approved by the Appropriations Committee. The Bureau of Chemistry wishes to investigate chromium plating in order t o discover whether there could possibly be any menace t o health in connection with its use in food utensils. Similarly, i t is desired to study the possible slight or cumulative poisonous effects t o the human body, that might be attendant upon the use of new spray materials in producing fruits and vegetables. Three new fumigants have been developed by the Department, ethyl formate. ethylene oxide, and ethylene dichloride. These are widely used, and a check-up on their effects is desired. Funds totaling $14,000 are asked for research on the chemical structure and economic uses of lignin, an amorphous, resinous substance in woods and in practically all plant materials. It is left in cornstalks when the cellulose is taken out for paper-making. Its use in the making of resin or dyes seems to be indicated. So complex is the chemistry of this substance that it is believed i t may he many years before very much is known about it. Chemists are said t o be anticipating great industrial developments fram the use of lignin, comparable to the rayon, lacquer, and film industries which have come as a result of the detailed study of cellulose. Foreign chemists, i t is said, are now turning their attention to lignin research, and it is helieved probable that the country which first comes to understand this substance may reap large rewards. The uses of furfural, Dr. Henry G. Knight, chief of the Bureau of Chemistry pointed out t o the Appropriations Committee, would seem t o be a parallel, indicating that lignin must have economic possibilities. Furfural is obtained from oat hulls and other wastes, and is now produced as a side-line by a hreaMast food concern for eleven cents per pound. It can be used for making telephone mouthpieces, door knobs, penholders, ink-stands, electric fixtures, and airplane parts. Dextrin from sweet potato starch, on which the Bureau of Chemistry is working, Dr. Knight said he believed would eventually prove a satisfactory adhesive for postage stamps and fine stationery. Because people insist upon licking these and therefore tasting them, the glue used must not be offensive. The adhesive now used is made from tapioca. Among the new oils on which the Bureau has worked during the past year are walnut oil made from waste walnut meats, tomato-seed oil, and avocado-seed oil. The walnut oil is largely used in paints, but also has some use as a salad oil. The other two oils are used in soap manufacture.-Science Sm'ce
