MISCELLANEOUS Space, Time, and Einstein. P. R. HEYL. Sci. Mo., 29, 230-5 (Scpt., 1929\.A very clear, nonmathermtical and interesting discussion of the primary foundations G. W. S. upon which Einstein's theory rests. Chemical Engineering Examinations. ANON. Chem. Age. 21, 8 2 3 (July 27, 1929).-A selection of questions asked in a recent examination for associate-memherE. R. W. ship in the Institution of Chemical Engineers. The International Relationship of Minerals. ANON. Chem. Ace, Mo. Met. Sect., 21, 9-11 (Aug. 3, 1929); see also Chem. 6'Ind., 48, 779-80 (Aug. 9, 1929).Ertracts from an address delivered by Sir Thomas Holland to the British Assoc. for the Ada. o j Science. No nation has in its own right minerals enough to supply all its needs. The two nations which come the nearest t o having enough for their own needs are the United States and the British Empire. If these nations, "agree in refusing t o export mineral products to those countries that infringe the Kellogg Pact, no war can last very long." E. R.W. Need for an International Repository for Original Research Data. R. W. THATCHER. Science, 70, 167 (Aug. 16, 1929). G. H. W. A Unitied System of Presenting Bibliographies. J. L. ST. JOHN. S~ience,70, 217 (Aug. 30, 1929).-The desirability of a unified system is presented. The namedate type is preferred. One of the items from a samplc bibliography reads thus: Bailey, C. H., and Sberwood, R. C. 1926. Relation of crude protein content of flour to loaf volume. G. H. W. Cereal Chem. 3 : 393402. Useful Acids Made from Sawdust. Indications of a possible future use for the sawdust that now makes useless and troublesome mountains around sawmills were contained in a paper presented recently before the Minneapolis meeting of the American Chemical Society by Prof. W. H. Peterson, R. J. Allgeier, and Prof. E. B. Fred of the University of Wisconsin. I n a codperative chemical-bacteriological research program, they have discovered how t o make the powdery wood waste into acetic acid, the active principle of vinegar, and lactic acid, which is what makes sour milk sour. Both these acids have industrial uses :hat render their domestic significance an entirely secondary matter. Three steps were involved in turning wood into acid. The first was turning it into sugar, which was done by the old familiar method of treating it with a strong chemical, such as sulfuric or hydrochloric acid. Then the pulp was further treated with a carhohydrate-converting enzyme contained in malt sprouts. Finally the process was completed by the addition of a microorganism that has the power to ferment bath hexose and pentose sugars into acid. From 80 t o 90 per cent of the sugar present was fermented, the resulting mixture of acids consisting of ten parts of lactic to one of acetic. Wood sugar produced by the Bergius process in Germany fermented equally well and gave the same yield and ratio of products.-Sn'ence Sewice Men Breathe Automobile Exhaust Fumes to Test Safety of Vehicular Tunnel. The U. S. Bureau of Mines, in codperation with the bridge and tunnel commissions of New Jersey and New York, has recently conducted an experiment t o discover whether persons exposed for long periods of time to the exhaust fumes in the Holland Vehicular Tunnel would become ill. Sin men volunteered to breathe the fumes for from four to seven hours each day over a period of 68 days. The gas mixture used in the experiment contained 2.3, and 4 parts of carbon monoxide to 10,000 parts of air. Some of the men had frontal headaches after breathing the mildest mixture for 3'12hours and after an exposure of only I l l 2hours t o the strongest mixtures. After four hours of exposure t o the Cpart mixture the blood had ahsorbcd the gas t o an extent of 30 per cent. No serious effects were noted in the short time that i t would take to drive through the tunnel.-Science Service
