T
HE WAR needs for ethyl alcohol during 1943 are estimated a t 476,000,000 gallons, about half of which will be used in the production of butadiene. The economical production of ethyl alcohol from citrus pulp and peel waste is reported by the United States Citrus Products Laboratory of Winter Haven, Florida. The cost of production is about two-thirds of that when blackstrap molasses is used. The Argentine proposes t o spend 24,000,000 pesos for the construction and equipment of a plant to produce power alcohol from barley, cereals, corn, potatoes, and wheat. One of the Ford plants a t Dearborn has completed a pilot plant for the production of 1000 pounds of wool fiber per day from the proteins of soybeans. The beans are bound and deoiled by solvent extraction, the resulting meal dissolved and acidified t o precipitate the protein, and the precipitated protein is washed, dried, redissolved, aged, and extruded through spinnerettes t o give a wool-like thread. The printer of the future may cast his type from nylon, according to U. S. patent No. 2,282,448. Thepatent claims that the impressions are clear and sharp, and that the material may he recast as wear demands. Copprr. a- a critical nwt.ll, i$ u . 4 extensively in the production uf l3ordvaux copper mixture for sprays. Rcccnr studies at Cornell I'nivcr*lly indicate that silvrr nitrate and lnuryl sulfate mixture may replace in part a t least this particular use of copper sulfate. In Italy, someattempts have been made to recover capper from the leaves of vines sprayed with copper salts. As much as five pounds of copper per acre have been recovered. To conserve on rubber, tire manufacturers are planning t o produce an all cotton overshoe that will add 2500 t o 10.000 miles t o
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\Vhrn chlurinated ruhher is m i x d with ordinary ruhbcr and rulranired in the uiual way, a fire-reri5tanr prurhwr i. obtained. according to I ' S pntcnr S o . ?.?8C,.C!I:
Soft formulations of ethyl cellulose, according to the Hercules Powder Company, may be used satisfactorily for the production of baby pants, coated fabrics, electrical tape, footwear, garden hose, gloves, golf halls, gun covers, hospital sheeting, impregnated fabrics, mason jar rings, raincoats, rubber hose, surgical tape, water tubing, and wire insulation. Hercules Powder Company is now producing ethyl cellulose a t a plant in Virginia, which is the largest chemical cotton plant in the world. Fourteen new factories are t o be built for the production of dry milk. The production of dry milk solids during 1942 is estimated a t 500,000,000 pounds. an increase of 26,000,000 over that of 1941. For convenience in transportation, twenty-six gallons of milk may be evaporated t o leave a residue of thirty-three pounds, which may then be compressed into a nine-inch milk brick. Dicoumarin, originally isolated from clover, has been synthesized by Link and associates of the University of Wisconsin. It is an effectiveanti-clottingagent, wbichmay be administeredorally. I t is about one-tenth as costly as heparin, which is obtained from horse liver and used as an anticlotting agent. The cocoons of the silkworms, according t o reliable reports, are now being extracted for vitamin B t o enrich food products in Japan rather than being woven into silk far export t o the United States. Recent studies indicate that the vitamin C content of the orange and tomato is Less susceptible t o deterioration than is that of the apple and carrot. The p H of the medium or the presence of certain buffers or inhibitors may account for this. Chemical research bas given t o the United States, since 1917, a minimum of five major war products: camphor, dyestuffs, nitrates, synthetic fibers, and synthetic rubber. It all of these materials were imported now, it would take a fleet of ships spanning the Atlantic about one mile apart t o meet our requirements.
