608 for superior quality film, particularly color film, are stimulating
development in this field."
I
The previous dependency of the Schering Corporation for research on the former German parent company is being remedied by the erection of a new biological laboratory, conversion of existing space to chemical research, expansion of the research staff, undertaking of numerous clinical projects, and active participation in war research projects sponsored by the Committee on Medical Research of the National Research Council. Relations are being established with many public health agencies of Latin-American countries to determine what problems may confront them in the future. Studies are being made of problems which may arise in this country from introduction of tropical diseases and other health conditions when our men return from overseas. Extensive studies are being made in the field of hormones. In the case of two other vested companies, active work is under way looking to the development of sev· eral patented products or processes. The Vlaelz s process for the recovery of zinc has been • U. S. Patents 1,618,204, 1,705,128, 1,728,681, 1,754,170, 1,755,712, 1,762,867, 1,921,825.
NEW material is no.w being eOlplo!ed in aircraft co~struction which possesses httherto unattalllable strength III proportion to weight. The new material is a plastic reinforced with glass fibers. Experimental samples are said to bave been produced 'With tensile strengths of over 80.000 pounds per square inch. While the impact strength of ordinary plastics is about two foot· pounds on a standard test, samples of the glass and plastic com· bination have shown impact resistance of over 20 foot-pounds. Another important feature of the new material is that it can be molded into aircraft structural parts with low pressures and with. out the use of expensive molds. This reduces both the cost of fabrication and the number of man-hours required. The material can be machined and has the dimensional stability of the metals. Mr. Games Slayter, of the Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, describes the principle involved in the manufacture of glass and plastic combinations as follows: "All materials contain imperfections. If the material is unifoml in its structure, stresses accumulate around the imperfections. Cracks propagate across the material and the material fails. Nature guards against failure of her strong materials by fiberizing them. A tree consists of cellulose fibers bonded with lignin. "\Vhen we draw glass into fine fibers and combine them with a plastic we distribute the imperfections so that there is not. one chance in a million that those in one fiber will match with those in another. The finer the fibers, the wider is the distribution of im· perfections. and the smaller is the possibility that a stress accumulating at an imperfection will propagate through the mass." Continuous filament glass fibers now produced on a commercial scale have an average diameter ranging from U/\OO,OOO of an inch
A
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
widely used and is now being adapted to similar treatments of other important war materials. Studies are being made of the Lurgi coal process. A plant, built under these patents, has for a number of years been successfully operating on lignite coal in North Dakota. Experiments are now under way look· iug to the utilization of this process in producing a smokeless fuel and important acid oils from Utah coal. A series of protein condensate products, known as Lamepons,6 are being marketed by one of the companies and arrangements have been made with a research laboratory to develop new uses for these materials, as well as improvements in manufacture. The Lamepons are important in the textile field as detergents, and in a refined form are finding uses in the cosmetic field in shampoos and shaving creams. They also have possibilities for salt water soap. Research has also been undertaken with regard to certain patents on powder metallurgy? and license contracts in this field are pending with several manufacturers. 'Lamepon is covered by the following U. S. Patents: 2,015,912,2,100,090, 2,1l9,872, 2,137,310, 2,144,824, 2,151,241, 2,210,595, 2,260,123 . 1 u. S. Patents: 2,151,599, 2,217,569, 2,287,082, 2,291,865, 2,304,130, 2,305,172, 2,306,449.
to U/J«JofIOO of an inch, and a tensile strength varying from 350,()(X) to 450,000 pounds per square inch. Fibers are being produced experimentally ranging in diameter down to '/UlO,f1II1J of an inch. Fibers of this diameter have been measured with tensile strength as high as 3,500,000 pounds per square inch. Developments in the field of plastics have been heralded as foreshadowing revolutionary changes that will drive minerals from certain fields. For some purposes plastics do appear likely to furnish highly satisfactory replacements for certain metals, but plastics are more likely to provide new uses for minerals ill con~ jUllction with them, or to free minerals for uses to which they are supremely well fitted, than to result in any net decrease in the use of minerals. VERYWHERE we read DOW of penicillin, the potent germkiller isolated from the green mold found on bread aDd cheese, penicillium no/alum. A second bactericidal substance is reported to have been isolated from the same source. to which the name "penal in" has been given. \Vhile penicillin is a nitrogen-containing substance of low molecular weight, soluble in organic solvents, the new penatill is a complc.x protein, not dialyzable or extractable by organic solvents. The action of penatin is attributed to its ability to decompose dextrose with the liberation of hydrogen peroxide, which is toxic to bacteria. Penatio is highly bacteriostatic and bactericidal in the presence of dextrose, aud is particularly effective against Gram-negative organisms not readily acted upon by penicillin. Fairly large doses of penatill have been injected successfully into experimental animals. and small amounts are even tolerated intravenously.
E
