INDUSTRISL, A N D ENGINEERING CHEAWISTRY
March, 1926 No.
IWENTOR
1,535,963 1,538,076
Tanner Young
DATE 4 /28/25 5 ’19/25
1,544,687 1,544,688
Sebrell, el 02. Sebrell, et nl.
7/7/25 7/7/25
1,546,713 1,546,876
Bruni Weijs
7/21/25 7 ’21/25
SUBSTANCE US~D Halogenated alkylamine Unsymmetrical ditolyl substituted guanidine Benzothiazole disulfide Lead salt of mercaptobenzothiazole 1-Anilinobenzothiazole Reaction product of diphenylguanidine and dimethyldithiocarbamic acid
317 DATE
NO. 1,546,877
INVENTOR Weiss
7/21/2.5
1,547,554 1,547,553
Bogemann, et al. Bogemann. el al.
7/28/25 7/28/25
1,558,707 Nolony 1,559,196 Stevens 1,559,197 Stevens 1,559,198 Stevens 1,559,393 Whittelsey
10/27/25 10/27/25 10/27/25 10/27/25 10/2;/23
SCBSTANCE USED Disubstituted guanidine and 1mercaptobenzothiazole Dipiperidyl base Di-mer hydrogenated quinoline compounds Tetramethylthiuram disulfide Tetratolytricarbodiimide Tetraxylitricarbodiimide Tetraphenyltricarbodiimide Phenylimidothiosulfurous acid
Chemists’ Club Honors William Henry Nichols HE annual dinner of the Chemists’ Club was held on Wednesday evening, January 27, 1926, and was in honor of William Henry hTichols. This is the first time t h a t one of these annual affairs has had for its main object the honoring of a man who has attained success in the chemical profession. Marston T.Bogert acted as toastmaster. Frank Bailey, chairman of the board of directors of the Prudence Company, Brooklyn, N. Y., a n intimate friend of long standing spoke of Dr. Nichols, particularly as a sentimentalist, as a lover of youth, and as a man of great belief and confidence in the future. H e pointed out t h a t Dr. Nichols’ gifts are not found listed among those great institutions which are attended by the sons of the wealthy, but rather among those schools 90 per cent of whose attendance is made up of boys who could not pay their expenses to our great institutions. Dr. Nichols not only gives of his money, but follows i t up with his personal attention and devotion t o the enterprises in which he is interested. Mr. Bailey attributed much of Dr. Nichols’ success t o his being a believer in young men. In his associations with him for many years in the Title Guaranty & Trust Company, Mr. Bailey said: “I never suggested a man for the board from Brooklyn who had not been in his Sunday School class. H e believed in t h a t Sunday School class, and there was no man in that Sunday
School class who, in the Doctor’s judgment, was not worthy of being the President of the United States.” Dr. Nichols responded, for the most part, in a facetious vein, %ut before closing his remarks referred to the first meeting of which was attended by the AMERICANCHEMICALSOCIETY thirty-five, of whom he and Dr. Niese are the sole survivors. He said t h a t the chemist has “a great advantage over men of very many other professions. He has a profession t o which there is no end,” and “in future the chemist is going to be called upon more and more. The very life of the world and the happenings of the world depend tremendously upon what the chemists do as chemists, but if they want to use their efforts t o produce the greatest results they will not only follow out the idea of improving and extending their knowledge as much as they can as they go along, but they will fit themselves so t h a t by their ordinary intelligence, by their citizenship, by their association with their fellowmen, they will not only be shown to be chemists and to know chemistry but to be men who know men and know how t o help men.” James F. Norris, president of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY and professor of organic chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, made the principal address of the evening, which follows.
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William H. Nichols By James F. Norris
I
T WAS a happy idea of the past presidents of this club
to give the members an opportunity each year to get together t o do honor to the men of achievement in our science. To be selected as the first t o be so honored is a distinction in itself. I accepted with keen pleasure a n invitation to speak, because I thought highly of the plan, and because I was eager t o do my part in recognizing the work of Dr. Nichols. When I came t o think over how the opportunity was to be met, the conclusion was forced upon me t h a t I was not so well qualified t o evaluate the services of our honored guest as others who have devoted their energies in the field of applied science. The most distinguished critics of the fine arts have not themselves been experts with the tools of these arts; too close an acquaintance with the details of technic may lead t o a point of view so restricted t h a t the broader aspects are not appreciated. It is possible, therefore, t h a t one who has centered his attention largely on pure science may be able t o see the significance of the achievements of a man whose place in the scientific world has been won by his ability t o apply the results of research t o the advancement of civilization. And, further, it takes no knowledge of technical details to recognize true character, high ideals, the spirit of the fellowship of man in world progress, and sane judgment in meeting perplexing prob-
lems.
I want to tell you something of Dr. Nichols’ contributions t o the industrial development of America, and I am again in a difficult position. Our inbred sense of propriety makes us feel t h a t we should not praise a man to his face. It is only in the realm of what is called love t h a t one feels free to heap up encomiums: and love is, as you know, a kind of madness-but of a delightful variety. I know all of you will pardon me if I throw away propriety and speak my true convictions, and I hope also t h a t Dr. Nichols will take a more or less detached point of view during the recital of the story of a great individual and at the end perhaps decide whether the hero of the tale utilized t o the best the ability given him and the opportunities presented. Many of the things I shall mention are known t o you, but i t is good, once in a while, t o tell over an inspiring tale. The story opens with a young man eighteen years of age who has just won the degree of bachelor of science a t New York University. H e had previously prepared for college a t the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, and as a young lad had thought out plans for his life work. After weighing the opportunities in different fields and examining these in the light of his own capabilities, he decided t o take up the study of chemistry. H e had found in the chemical business that there were few who had been carefully educated for it through exact scientific
ISDUSTRIAL -4lYD ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
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training a t college. Dr. John W. Draper was then attracting students to N~~ y o r k University by his inspiring teaching, and two years of hard work gave him the preparation desired. If I were writing in the style of Horatio Alger or telling a bedtime story, I would point out the evident lessons to be drawn from the attitude of the youth in choosing a life work and the determination shown in winning his way. Throughout the story we shall see strength of character and good judgment in an unusual degree in meeting problems as they arise. But it will be unnecessary t o point the moral here. M a n u f a c t u r e s Acids
Vol. 18, No. 3
about finding out the reason why, and they discovered, as the oil refiners had already discovered, t h a t 65-degree acid was not strong enough for refining oil, whereas 66-degree acid met every requirement. The young chemist had started out in business with the firm belief that technical processes must be carried out under control from the laboratory. And his sense of honesty did not permit him to make false statements in regard t o his product. The conviction of the lad in the preparatory school t h a t the use of a thorough knowledge of chemistry must eventually advance chemical industry was rapidly coming true. Processes were improved and new raw materials utilized. Ingenious devices made it possible to use successfully pyrites as a source of sulfur in making sulfuric acid. One advance led t o another, often in a way entirely unanticipated. Continuous effort t o improve and t o find new ways, with science as a tool, could not but result in great achievements in a field where the practical man had been dictator.
The firm of Walter and Nichols was formed to manufacture acids, but as the junior partner had not yet reached nineteen years of age, his father assumed the financial responsibilities of the partnership. These were strenuous days for the young man, who had t o handle the work in both the laboratory and the plant. The senior partner looked after the office work and the business end; but his untimely death, as the result Produces Copper M a t t e of a n accident, threw the entire responsibility on the young man fresh from T h e p y r i t e s burner developed by Herreshoff put the firm in a position t o college without business experience. He recognize and grasp the opportunity for tried to meet the situation by getting up a development t h a t led far afield into very early in the morning in order to do the factory and laboratory work in new world industry. One day a much discouraged man the forenoon. The afternoon was spent came into the office and showed the in seeking orders and the evening in future captain of industry a sample of cleaning up the office duties. William H. Nichols an ore from a mine he owned in Canada. But this state of affairs could not go on. Good judgment led t o the employment “Are vou interested in t h a t ? ” he asked. A knowledge of mineralogy made it of J. B. Herreshoff as factory manager, possible to recognize the sample as a sulfide of iron containing and a n association was formed which later led to results of the greatest significance in the development of the chemical in- copper pyrites. “Yes,” was t h e quick response. The visitor’s face brightened. “Thank Heaven,” he said, “I have been to dustries of this country. every other chemical works and could interest no one in it.” This story, like all good tales t h a t hold out interest, must The mine was bought and attention paid to utilizing the byhave its ups and downs. Bad luck must pursue the hero so that he can overcome it t o our great pleasure. A villain must, product of copper cinder. Herreshoff invented a water-jacket furnace for smelting it into copper matte. The young enthusinow and then, get the upper hand and seem t o have the hero asts tried t o interest others in their revolutionary methods. in his power only t o be foiled in the end. They were told by English metallurgists t h a t i t was ridiculous Everything was running smoothly; business was good; the to try to match the experience of a single year against the knowlclouds had passed away; when suddenly all orders ceased. It was not bad luck, this time, t h a t brought t h e crisis; the edge gained as the result of handling copper ores for over two villain showed his face. The other manufacturers of acids hundred years. But youth, courage, inspiration, and ingenuity had come t o a so-called gentleman’s agreement in regard t o won as they should. It was not long before t h e small beginnings prices, and as the result of cutting had booked the future orders became the controlling power in the world of copper. At first the matte was sold t o refiners and all went well, as of the customers of the new firm. It looked like a catastrophethe by-product had been changed into a valuable commodity. ruin. Remembering my Oliver Optic, this is the place t o begin a But one day came an unexpected blow-refiners refused to handle any more of the matte. We are taught from childhood t h a t new chapter entitled, “The Reward of Virtue.” We will let our hero tell in his own words how t h e villains were overcome. adversity is a blessing in disguise; t h a t as the road gets rougher our strength increases; t h a t manhood is won only by battling When I began making this acid, I found that, although all against discouragement, It is hard t o believe. Many fail-a the sulfuric acid on the market was labelled as 66 degrees, much few grow stronger. of i t was under strength, usually only 65 degrees. I made mine 66 degrees and marked i t accordingly. Before long I Electrolytic Refining was waited on by a body of my competitors, who declared t o me: “You are making a fool of yourself. You are only a young The men who controlled the production of copper came to man and new a t the business and perhaps that’s why you don’t seem t o know t h a t you are incurring unnecessary expense to t h e conclusion t h a t the matte produced from the by-product yourself by making your sulfuric acid 66 degrees when 65 degrees of the manufacture of sulfuric acid was being sold at too low a is just as good.” I told them t h a t if I made 65-degree acid price. They had made a n agreement among themselves as to I must put “65 degrees” on the package and t h a t if I put “66 degrees” on t h e package I must make 66-degree acid. They prices and suggested that they should all work together. When went off very much dissatisfied and disgruntled. the proposition was refused the ultimatum was given-no more About this time the process of refining oil was discovered matte would be accepted for refining. and orders for sulfuric poured in to us faster than we could This action and the way in which it was met proved t o be fill them. But though we were swamped with demands for our product, our competitors were not. Of course they set the blessing in disguise. “If they won’t do it, I will do it my-
I-VDUSTRId L .4SD ESGI-VEERISG CHEMISTRY
March, 1926
self.” And before the day was over, with the aid of his associates, preliminary plans were drawn up which developed into another revolutionary process in the copper industry, electrolytic refining. The gold and silver first recovered in this way from the crude metal were, I am happy t o say, but a small fraction of the bullion the process yielded-wealth that made possible generous gifts to chemical education, charity, and other good works. The business was growing almost beyond bounds. It was marked by progressive management on both the commercial and scientific sides. Advantage was taken of all new discoveries that could be applied and new industrial processes were installed. The contact process for sulfuric acid was brought to a high state of perfection, and a n organic chemical industry was started. Later the very difficult problem of synthetic ammonia was attacked. Qualities That M a d e Success Possible
It is a record of great achievement. How could a single individual play such a commanding part in i t ? The qualities required for success as time went on developed as the need for them arose. The teachings of a Quaker mother laid the foundations of a character made up of the elements necessary for real success. Honesty, perseverance, and optimism are acquired in childhood. They are good qualities with which to start life. The ability to think things through before action is taken and the power t o push ahead when the path has been laid out come when decisions are t o be made. The recognition of the value of the services of others and the gift of winning the enthusiastic cooperation of those who can help are necessary for success, when many hands and many minds go t o make up the finished whole. An agreeable personality t h a t inspires confidence comes as the result of the possession of the more fundamental qualities just mentioned. I have studied the achievements of our honored guest and have read much t h a t he has written, and I have seen through it all the expression of a character rich in the highest human qualities. I confess, however, I cannot analyze his genius for organization, and it is this genius t h a t sets him apart from the rest and gives him the commanding position which he will always hold when the history of chemical industry is written. As the industry developed in widely diversified directionsheavy chemicals, dyestuffs, metallurgy, refining of copper-the grasp on the complex problems grew firmer. They were separated and yet woven into a,whole, where each part strengthened
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the others. I t was genius, and genius cannot be explained, not even by the possessor of it. ’tVe recognize it and do it honor. I could quote to you the long list of distinctions t h a t have been bestowed on our guest from kings, learned societies, and universities. I have been told that the collection of academic hoods that have been placed on his shoulders is a wonder to behold with all their brilliant colors. I could list the societies t h a t have, a t home and abroad, honored themselves by electing him their president. I would like to quote certain passages from his published addresses, t o illustrate his point of view and outlook on life and interpret them in the light of results accomplished. I can, however, hut stress the fact that Dr. Nichols has alyays appreciated the responsibilities that come with business and financial success. He has given freely of his great talents in helping to do the world’s work. For years, as chairman of the trustees of the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, he was the guiding hand in developing a small preparatory school into a technical institution of the first rank. He has established a foundation that is quietly helping in many good causes. There has been no blare of trumpets. We shall have to wait a long time, I hope, before we can know the good that has been done. I finished reading, a short time ago, a book that so took hold of me t h a t I have been unable to get its lessons out of my mind. It was the life of an immigrant who developed into a successful inventor. The autobiography was written in a simple but forceful way. It told the story of the development of a character from the lessons learned a t a mother’s knee, in the fields herding cattle, in t h e struggles t o get a n education in an alien country, in the mastery of the fundamentals of mathematics and physics, and, finally, in successful achievements. Along with the development of the man was told in a very simple way the growth of the great electrical industry. It is a rare book and worthy of the recognition and the prize i t has received. As I have studied Dr. Nichols’s life I have had before me another possible autobiography-the story of a youth who developed into a captain of industry. It would be a lesson and an inspiration t o young men. It would be filled with incidents t h a t have t h e spirit of drama. And it would trace the developments of t h e chemical industries of the United States during over half a century when triumph followed triumph. It is a duty owed to posterity, and I hope Dr. hTicholswill feel that the time is near a t hand when he can use his well-earned leisure t o recall the past and write a history of chemical progress and the life of the man who led in making the history.
Protecting “Doctor” from CO, Pollution’ By L. J. C a t l i n THE S T A N D A R D
OIL CO. (KANSAS),NEODESEA, KANS.
HE treatment of petroleum distillates in clo3ed systems usually involves several steps, each of which is represented by one or more towers, or tanks, allowing a comparatively quiescent period in the continuous flow, in order to settle the treating reagents. Where sulfuric acid is used i t generally precedes the doctor treatment, and a water wash is used between the two to remove any remaining acid from the.distillate before coming in contact with the doctor. I n a recent test, in which an ext,ra tower was placed between the water wash and the doctor, where “spent” doctor I
Received February 13 19315
was used till completely neutralized, it was found that the resulting product was nearly pure sodium carbonate. The most feasible explanation seems to be that carbon dioxide is released from the wash water by the reaction of sulfuric acid on bicarbonates, and this carries over with the oil. Although not harmful to the oil, it is obviously detrimental to the doctor, which is usually restored after the lead has been precipitated. The acid may be neutralized with reagents that are cheaper than caustic soda-as, for example, hydrated lime. At any rate the effectiveness of restored doctor may be increased, as well as its usefulness prolonged, by protecting the caustic from pollution by carbon dioxide by a separate stage of treatment.
