CCORDING to the Gallup poll, 45 per cent of adult Americans use no citrus fruits, tomatoes, or juices in their daily dietary; 38 per cent use no eggs; 34 per cent use no cheese or milk; 25 per cent use no green leaf or yellow vegetables; 12 per cent use no fish, poultry, or meat; 8 per cent use no fruit or potatoes; and 3 per cent use no enriched bread or whole grain cereal. The per capita consumption of sugar in the United States increased from 8.8 pounds in 1793 to 118 pounds in 1943. By a low-temperature dehydration of sugar extracts, similar to that used in the dehydration of blood serum, a creamy, sweettasting vitamin and mineral-rich product is obtained which has a tartness similar to that of very sweet orange juice. This sugar has a mineral content of about 3 1h per cent and contains vitamins, A, B complex, C, and K. Powdered liver is now produced through liquefaction by treatment with papain and subsequent dehydration in a vacuum spray dryer. This product may be preserved indefinitely without refrigeration. The water may be restored as desired, or the powder may he used for seasoning other foods. Food fortified with Delsterol, to provide adequate amounts of vitamin D, has practically doubled the hatchability of eggs. The annual capacity of the United States for the production of aluminum is rated at 1,000,000 tons and that for magnesium is placed at 300,000 tons. This year approximately 640,000,000 gallons of alcohol will be used in the production of butadiene, mustard gas, smokeless powder, and other war materials. The first crop of guayule rubber has been harvested from 550 acres near Salinas, California, and has yielded about 600 tons of milled rubber. The program calls for planting as much as 500,000 acres of guayule. A new thennosetting plastic, which may be made from corn stalks and other fibrous material, has been developed at the Northern Regional Laboratory. This is a lignin plastic with properties similar to those of the phenol-formaldehyde group. A plant. for the production of cloth from seaweed is reported to be in operation at Jatren, Norway. Triethylene glycol vapor has been shown to be an effective means of killing bacteria in the sterilization of a room. The chemical seasoning of wood by the use of 40 to 100 pounds
of urea per thousand board feet, according to preliminary tests, is good assurance against the growth of wood-rotting fungi. Loofah sponges are of particular importance because they will absorb oil selectively in the presence of water. It is predicted that in the postwar era, superfuel will be available that will give 40 miles per gallon at a price competitive with the current price for ordinary gasoline. Thiourea and thiouracil have both been used effectively in the treatment of goiter, probably because of their inhibition of the activity of the thyroid gland. During 1943 more than 5,000,000 tons of farm products were: dehydrated and reduced to approximately one-tenth of their I fonner weight, thus conserving appreciably on shipping space. The Hollanders are not rationing coffee. Instead they grind up roasted tulip bulbs for their percolators. Since March of 1942, chemists at Cornell University, working on a project sponsored by B. F. Goodrich, have tested 2000 plants as possible producers of rubber, but none to date can compete with the Russian dandelion. Three types of de-icing paints are now in use. One contains a low-freezing, free-flowing oil which prevents adhesion of the ice to the plane; another contains water-soluble salts which dissolve in the ice and cause it to melt; and the third has electri· cal conducting properties so that the paint film may be heated electrically at will. Preliminary experiments indicate that soap is a useful ingredient in cement mixes for highway construction, because it tends to inhibit scaling wben salt is added to remove ice. During the siege of Leningrad, a decoction made from pine leaves played an important role in providing the inhabitants with vitamin C and tbus prevented a plague of scurvy. Tomato plants, when treated witb napbtboxyacetic acid vapors before the flowers open, are induced to produce seedless tomatoes. Twenty thousand miles of a new synthetic textile filament weigh only a pound, only one-eighth the weight of the finest silk filament. The fatality rate in the armed forces up to 1943 was only about 4 per cent, compared to 7.7 per cent for World War I. This marked reduction is attributed to the use of the sulfa drugs, blood plasma, and new anesthetics. ED. F. DBGBRING
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In thejirst 12 months oj the war, the quantity oj petroleum and petroleum products sent to our troops was more than 80 times that shipped in the first 12 months oj the the last world war. Instead of horlJes, mulelJ, and forage, our armed forces now use trucks, tractors, bulldozers, gasoline, and oil. In Tunisia, Jor example, 18,000 gallons of gasoline were consumed jor every hour each mechanized division was on the move. On a very active day in North Africa, the Allied Air Forces aZone required 1,500,000 gallons of high octane gasoline. In one such day, these air JorcelJ conlJumed enough high octane gaB to operate 45,000 car clubsJor a year. A lJingle mechanized division required enough gasoline to run 52 average car clubsJor a year. So important is the transport oj gasoline-the liJe blood oj motorized warfarethat on occasion, as, for example,Jor UlJe in Labrador, the tank trucks have been cut in halves, flown out oj thilJ country, and welded together again at their destination. Wherever U. S. troops go, supply jorces, trucks, and gasoline can be counted on. to do a job. Still, military aircraJt have sometimes not only been Jorced down because they have run out of gas, but on the other hand, have been unable to take off for the same reason. Tanks hove been abandoned after unsuccessful attempts have been made to obtainJuelJrom other vehicles; jeeps and valuable armaments have been le}t behind for the same realJon. As bases are taken over Jrom the enemy, and new bases are built, the spread of gasoline supplies must be greater to avoid unnecessary risks occasioned by lack oj reJueling points, and gasoline mu.st be available in a.s many places and in as great a re.serve a.s possible.
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