the moment, the notorious provincialism and "intramuralism" of our colleges is standing us in good stead. There will be enough confused running to and fro for a time yet, without a few thousand more college boys added to the throng. But from now on it will be an increasing problem for our educational institutions to
convince their students that the things they are now doing are worth while, immediately as well as ultimately. It will be harder and harder to persuade them of the pertinence of the letter of the President of the United States, which we published in the October, 1940, number of the JOURNAL.
I
N 1914 the average production of gasoline amounted to 14 The current story of synthetic rubber may be summarized as: per cent of the crude, as contrasted to about 75 per cent now being obtained in the modern refineries. Starling Molerial Product The fermentation of gasoline by bacteria to yield 10 per cent 1. Diolefin: a. Isoprene.. ............. Natural rubber methane and 90 per cent ethane has been reported by Dr. A. C. Thaysen, eminent British bacteriologist. b. Butadiene, polymerized by Na.. .............. Bum (German product) It is reported that vitamin preparations now occupy third place in the drugstore field, which is another way of saying products) that the present generation is certainly vitamin conscious. The 2, chloroprene (with or withnewest addition to the vitamin family is vitamin M, found a t out modifiers). ....... Neoprene ..................... Sovprene present only in liver, according to the National Live Stock and Meat Board. 3. Diolebns withmodiliers: a. B u t a d h e f styrene.. . . Buns S BY the v d o cold set process of printing, the ink dries almost instantaneously because the hot ink solidifies as soon as it comes b. Butadiene + acrylonitrile.. ............... Perbunan or Buna N in contact with the paper. This prevents the spread or penetrac. Butadiene + ?. , ,. , , ,. , Ameripol, Cbemigum, Hycar, tion of the ink with the use of softer and coarser papers. Synthal The paper used by the Western Ud0n facsimile apparatus 4. Olefins diolefins.. ....... Butyl rubber for transmitting written or typed messages acts as an elec- 5. Vinyl chloride tricresyltrical conductor. It is blackened locally by the passage of a phosphate ............ Koroseal current and the original message is reproduced. This is made 6. a. Ethylene dichloride f Na&. ............... Thiokol A possible by special chemical treatment of the paper. b. Dichloroethylether + The production of rayon started in 1911 and it took eleven Na&.. .............. Thiokol B years for annual production to reach 15,000.000 pounds, whereas 7. Isobutylene., , , , , , , , ,. . , . , the manufacture of nylon is expected to exceed this annual Production figure in less than two Years from the time of its introBV the end of 1941. the cavacitv for the vroduction of neoduction on the market. will have reached 9000 ions &ualb, br about six times "Tempered" nylon, which is botb transparent and flexible. is the available capacity in the summer of 1939. obtained by extruding hot filaments from a spiunerette into a A new plant is being built by Goadyear Tire and Rubber Comcold bath of water or other appropriate liquid. By depositing pany at Akron that will have a capacity of 5500 tons of Chemimolten nylon, through a slot orifice, on the smooth surface of a gum annually. Other expansions by various companies will cooled drum, dry "tempering" is obtained. The sheets pro- soon give a total synthetic rubber capacity of about 100,000 duced in this manner may be used as aircraft windshields, cur- tons annually, or approximately 20 per cent of the country's rency and policy paper, film for safety glass, playing cards, ordinary requirementsfor rubber. photographic film base, and as window and lamp shades. Studies by Mills and Colvin, of the University of Cincinnati, According to Professor Hibbert of McGU University, waod indicate that vitamin BI may be an important factor in affording can undergo liquefaction, by subjecting it to high pressure, protection against the evil effectsof excessive heat. and can then be separated into its various chemical constituents. Soap exports during the fist six months of 1940 amounted to Antioxidants such as henzylaminopbenol, used in concentra- 17.330,M)O pounds compared to 12,750,000 pounds for the first tions of less than 0.01 per cent, are now being used extensively to six months of 1939. I t looks like the world is trying to clean up. stabilize gasoline against gum formation and deterioration durThe Meiji Mining Company is constructing a plant a t Kushiro ing storage. for the productionof caustic soda, hydrogen, chlorine, and magThe synthetic gasolines, of the 100-octane class, are produced nesium from sea water. almost entirely from the butanes and butenes obtained from the Rice straw is now being utilized by the Japanese in the procracking process. Isobutylene may be polymerized to the dimer duction of furfural. and then hydrogenated to give 22.4-trimethylpentane (isoThe Nissan Chemical Company is producing about one ton of octane), or isobutylene may be co-polymerized with n-butylene synthetic tannin per day from cresol. by the hot acid or phosphoric acid process to give a mixture which According to paint experts, objects appear lighter in weight if is hydrogenated to yield a fuel with a 92- to 98octane rating, or colored blue or yellow, but heavier if painted red or orange. isobutylene may be co-polymerized with isohutane in the pres- This might be a cue for those interested in reducing. ence of concentrated sulfuric acid to give mixed octanes (mostly, The ---- disturbance of the water balance in t*sues of the hodv hv 2.2.4trimethylpentane). or isobutane may be added to ethylene falling barometric pressure, according to Dr. C. A. Mills o i the a t a temperature of about 500" C. and a pressure of 5000 pounds University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, may have an effect to give 22-dimethylhexane (neohexane). on one's temperament. Since May 14, 1940, Java has been the center of the world's If you wish to test your chemical I. Q.. try "Howe's About It quinine industry, and ample production of botb cinchona bark Questions" in the News Editim of Industrial and Engineering and manufactured quinine seems assured. Cltenrislryfor September. B40. p. 810. Indole is now being produced synthetically by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.
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