In m y paper of th e above title, published in This Journal, 13 (1921), 625, the following errors on page 626 escaped correction:
C olum n 1, 4 th line fro m b o tto m , " lig h t tra n sm issio n ” sh ould re a d " lig h t a b so rp tio n .”
C olum n 2, line 2, " b a n d s of h ighest tran sm issio n (m in im a of ab so rp tio n )'* - should re a d " b a n d s of a b so rp tio n ."
C olum n 2, line 4, "1 1 .3 0 for safro l” sh ould be "1 3 .3 5 for safro l.”
C olum n 2, lin e 5, " m in im u m ” sh ould re a d " m a x im u m .”
C o lu m n 2, line 8, " m in im a ” sh o u ld re a d " m a x im a .”
Ernest C. Crocker Ma s s a c h u s e t t s In s t i t u t eo p Te c h n o l o g y
Ca m b r i d g e, Ma s s. J a n u a ry 9, 1922
A Revision of the Optical M ethod for Analyz
ing M ixtures of Sucrose and Raffinose (Correction)
T hree typographical errors are to be noted in th e p ap er b y C. A. Browne and C. A. G am ble [This Journal, 13 (1921), 793].
On page 795, Form ulas 11 an d 13 and th e form ula for N should contain plus signs instead of m ultiplication signs.
Mar., 1922 T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING C H E M IS T R Y 245
W A S H I N G T O N N O T E S
Mu s c l e Sh o a l s
On F ebruary 2 th e Secretary of W ar sent the H enry F ord M uscle Shoals offer to Congress, accom panied by his rep o rt and appended docum ents, w hich included a detailed analysis of th e offer by th e Chief of Engineers and by th e Chief of Ordnance,
•and on F ebruary 0 he tran sm itted similar d a ta to th e Senate.
T he H ouse referred the m a tte r to th e Com m ittee on M ilitary Affairs and th a t com m ittee started its public hearings on February 8, the Secretary of W ar being th e first witness to appear before the com m ittee. H e stated th a t he preferred a oO-year lease b u t th a t he was perfectly willing to waive this personal preler-
•ence if th e com m ittee preferred th e 100-year period. H e did n o t understand th a t th e production of nitrates by M r. 1-ord a t N itra te P la n t No. 2 would be sufficient in am ount to affect th e
¡market throughout th e w hole country, as he estim ated M r.
F o rd ’s o u tp u t would n o t be more th a n one-thirtieth or one- fortieth of all of th e fertilizer used in the country. H e felt th a t while there was no reason w hatever to d o u b t M r. I'o ra s sincerity, there was nothing in th e agreem ent to prevent his successors from abandoning th e operation of the p lan t if they saw lit an lienee he th o u g h t th a t there should be some guarantee in the co n tract t h a t th e lessee w ould continue to m anufacture nitrates and fertilizers and suggested th a t this m ight best be accomplished 'by th e form ation of a com pany so th a t the contract. would be
w ith th e com pany ra th e r th a n w ith M r. I'o rd personally.
M ajor G eneral Williams, Chief of Ordnance, followed the
‘Secretary of W ar and occupied th e greater p a rt of one day s
•sessions in explaining valuations of properties involved in th e F ord offer. H e sta te d th a t it had cost th e G overnm ent about
$88,000,000 to construct N itra te P lants Nos. 1 and 2, th e steam power p lan t a t M uscle Shoals, the Waco I-ime Q uarry, and the Gorgas W arrior p la n t and th e transm ission lines. 1 he present value of these p lan ts he estim ated a t $16,000,000 and their scrap value a t $8,000,000. r . ,« •
M ajo r General Lansing H . Beach, Chief of Army Engineers, was th en called before th e com m ittee. H e said there are cer tain features in th e 100-year lease w hich should receive^con
sideration because of th e slowness in V i? .V<: n,1w fo , t mV m arket for power in th a t locality. H e also felt th a t another fe a tu c of the aw ard to M r. Ford w hich deserved consideration was the fact th a t the Tennessee R iver possesses an immense p o tm tia lity w ith regard to w ater power developm ent. H e sta te d th a t there is no stream in the country, considering th e "
which it carries and th e steepness of its slope, which will farnish th e am o u n t of w ater power th a t th e Tennessee R iver does, ex -cept perhaps th e S t. Lawrence.
Colonel H ull, A cting Judge A dvocate General, was the: next witness an d answ ered questions relative to th e legal aspect t h M3r ° rFoPrd°Id>fd 1n o t appear before th e comm ittee, b u t was represented by M r. W. B. M ayo, engineer, who stated th a t M r.
F ord was n o t willing to modify his proposal in f “ L ^ H e r T s O to clarify th e language an d th a t he would n o t consider a oO year proposal. I t is his plan to use N itra te IMant N o. l to makc th e raw m aterials th a t go into the m anufacture of autom obdes -and N itra te P la n t No. 2 for th e m anufacture of fertd iz e% , H e fu rth er intends to use all th e power developed a t th e various M uscle Shoals p lants for his own purposes. Com m ittee T he Senate has referred th e 1-ord proposal to the_C °n«m :tee
■of A griculture and F orestry, and the com m ittee will hold its first public hearings on F ebruary 16. T h e Pr° P ° n ? ^ d ° s w ith F ord m easure feel th a t their cause is m th e hands of. fnend_s w ith this com m ittee and those opposed to th e F o r d proposal feeLthat th ey will be well taken care of in th e H ouse Com m ittee on M ill ta ry Affairs.
Th e Dy e Pr o b e
T he subcom m ittee of the Judiciary, ^ m v M ^ a te th e dye and chemical industry, has been
Shortridge of California as chairm an T he oth er m e m b e rso th e com m ittee are S enator Reed of Missouri an ‘ throueh- of K entucky. T h e support of chemical nianufacturers tb r o i^ h o u t th e country has been pledged to th e c o m n i t t « D ^ C h « ; H . H e rty in his capacity as President of th e Si °Jn etic Organic Chemical M anufacturers Association, and R . C. Jeflcott, I resi d ent o f l L A m erican Dyes In stitu te, has wi7. ^ th e 'o m m .tte e offering to cooperate w ith them and ^eih U tc their labors in
« very way. T he public hearings began h e b ru a rj ~0.
Pa t e n t Of f i c e Re l i e f
On F ebruary 14 the Senate passed, w ithout am endm ent, the P a te n t Office relief bill. I t begins to look as if the bill will be
come a law before Th i s Jo u r n a l issues and th a t a m easure of re
lief is in sight for th e P a te n t Office which now has on hand 02,000 applications for patents aside from 6000 applications for tra d e m arks and designs— more work th an was received in th a t ofhee for any entire year up to 1909 and enough w ork to keep the P aten t Office busy if it closed its doors and did n o t do any new work for the rest of th e year.
St a n d a r d i z a t i o n o f Gl a s s w a r e
A t the request of the Section of Physics and C hem istry of the Association of Scientific A pparatus M akers of the U nited S tates of America the Bureau of Standards called a conference of m anufacturers of chemical glassware and representatives of users and dealers to consider the standardization of sizes and shapes of beakers, flasks, and o th er lines of apparatus. T h e conference opened a t the Bureau of S tandards a t 10 o clock on Ja n u a ry ¿.8 and later adjourned to th e Shoreliam H otel.
T he m anufacturers expressed a willingness to cooperate in th e unification and standardization of sizes and shapes along th e lines of th e recom mendations of th e Com m ittee on G uaranteed Reagents and Standard A pparatus of th e American Chemical Society which have previously been published in Th i s Jo u r n a l,
13 (1921) 1070, and a subcom m ittee was appointed b y th e conference to work o u t th e details of this standardization. T he working com m ittee consists of representatives of th e Corning Glass Works, the Kimble Glass Co., the Vineland F lin t G ass Co., and W hitall T atum . M r. W alter E im er was authorized to serve as executive officer.
Me t r i c Sy s t e m Re f e r e n d u m
\ t ^ meeting of th e N ational Council of th e C ham ber of Com
merce or the U nited States on th e afternoon of F ebruary 9, a t th e W ashington H otel, W ashington, D. C., th e question Shall there be legislation for th e compulsory adoption of th e m etric svstem ?” was discussed. T he re p o rt to th e Board of D irectors bv the Special Com m ittee on th e M etric System was read by M r E dm und D. Fisher, chairm an of th e com m ittee. 1 his rep o rt favored the taking of a referendum throughout th e country on the question of the adoption of th e m etric system , and suggested the wording of th e question substantially m accord w ith th e L add bill now before Congress. A fter addresses on th e ad v a n t
a g e of the metric system by H ow ard R ichards J r Secretary o the American M c t r i c Association, and on th e disadvantages of th e svstem by W. C. Wilson, A ssistant to th e P resident of th e American In stitu te of W eights and M easures a lively discussion took place during th e course of which bo th sides were presented in detail A t th e close of the discussion, th e Council passed a resolution recommending th e postponem ent of the referendum to a more fitting time.
Re c o v e r yo f Po t a s h Lo s t i n Wa s h i n g Wo o l
A sm all wool w asher m ade for recovering po tash from fleeces in a solution of sufficient concentration to m ake th e recovery of th e potash profitable has been designed and is being tried o u t bv the Bureau of Chemistry. I t is said th a t th e average fleece contains about 4 per cent of potash by weight b u t m the ordinary m ethod of washing wool it comes out in such dilute solution th a t it does n o t pay to recover th e salt. . T . ,
A bout 600,000,000 lbs. of wool are scoured m the U nited States each year, and if only 3 per cent of potash are recovered it would am ount to 18,000,000 lbs. of actual potash th a t would be available for use in fertilizers. Some nitrogen is also recov
ered from wool along w ith th e potash.
T he U nited States Tariff Commission has expanded its census of dves and coal-tar chemicals to include o th er synthetic organic chemicals T he prom pt retu rn of th e schedules by th e m anu
facturers it is hoped will insure earlier publication of th e census th an has heretofore been possible.
T he N ational A gricultural Conference w hich assembled in W ashington a t the call of Secretary of A griculture W allace id io u m ed on Jan u ary 28 a fter adopting a resolution favorm g the acceptance of th e H enry Ford offer for M uscle Shoals.
F e b ru a ry 14, 1922
T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G IN E E R IN G C H E M IS T R Y Vol. 14, No.^3
L O N D O N L E T T E R
B y St e p h e n Mia l l, 157 H a v ersto c k H ill, N . W . 3, H a m p ste a d , E n g lan d
I have heard no regrets th a t th e year 1921 has now come to a close. I t has been the w orst year for chemical in d u stry in history. T here m ay have been in th e middle ages worse years from th e point of view of the progress and well-being of m an
kind, b u t in those early days applied chem istry, as such, did not exist.
W e seem here— it m ay be a delusion—b u t we seem to have passed th e w orst of th e depression. T he textile industries are a little b e tte r th a n they were, the engineering industries are no worse; they hardly could be. T he hom e m arkets are on th e whole n o t quite so stag n an t as th ey were six m onths ago, and th e export business seems to be a little brighter. Of th e m anufacturers of chemicals, no large firm has gone into liquida
tion, and of th e m erchants very few. T he soap industry seems now to be blessed by a num ber of orders and in some o th er branches of industry th e outlook is brighter. No reasonable , m an here expects good trad e in 1922 b u t alm ost all th in k it will be b e tte r th a n during the last few m onths. T he political hori
zon has undoubtedly cleared even in Europe, where fears and anim osities dating back a few centuries are a p t to flare up a t intervals because some sentim ent of nationality or som ething equally unsubstantial has been aroused. I t happens th a t this continent is a t the m om ent fairly peaceably inclined and it is quite possible th a t in th e course of th e cu rren t year some of th e old antagonism s will die down. I t is, of course, hopeless to expect th e Prussians to be friendly w ith th e French or th e T urks w ith th e Greeks, b u t we m ay get to th e stage w here th e y can do business together.
Sometimes in th e English papers we read of developm ents in applied chem istry b u t when th ey are closely investigated th ey tu rn o u t to be w aiting for furth er capital o r som ething of th a t sort. This is th e fate of th e Claude process for synthetic am m onia here and of o th er m eans of getting rich beyond th e dream s of avarice.
I have a fter a good deal of search come across one develop
m ent actually in being—n o t a n epoch-m aking one, certainly, b u t of interest for all th a t— an im proved m ethod of making sodium silicate. Instead of dissolving th e lum ps of crude sodium silicate obtained by roasting together soda-ash an d sand, and th en evaporating th e aqueous solution to a sirup, th e new m ethod introduces into a ball-mill a limited q u a n tity of w ater an d the lum ps of crude silicate, which are ground up tog eth er u n til a mass is obtained which sets to a solid on cooling and contains 75 per cent of silicate. T he new process is operating on a con
siderable scale in South Y orkshire and is said to be successful.
T he owners of th e w orks claim a very considerable saving by elim inating th e usual dissolving an d evaporation. Probably th e process w ith some modifications is capable of being adapted to o th er varieties of m anufacture.
Those engaged in low -tem perature carbonization of coal continue to speak w ith confidence of the satisfactory working of the p lan t a t Barnsley, and th ey prom ise to disclose some new features a m onth or tw o hence. If these claim s are well founded I hope to visit the w orks again an d to give a detailed description of th e novel features.
J a n u a ry 9, 1922
P A R I S L E T T E R
B y Ch a r l e s Lo r m a n d, 4 A venue d e l ’O b se rv a to ire, P a ris , F ran c e
Pa t e n t Re f o r m
French inventors are under th e law of 1844 in th e m a tte r of industrial ownership. This legislation has been recognized as superannuated for a long time, and a cam paign for its reform is nowr being conducted. T he chemists, who are the inventors m ost frequently involved, are specially active in this campaign.
F o r instance, a scientific com m unication m ade by th e Académie des Sciences o r in one of th e chemical societies becomes public property, b y th is very fact, especially if a p a te n t has n o t been taken o u t a t th e sam e time. Furtherm ore, it m ay happen th a t a scientific com m unication m ay n o t contain p aten tab le m aterial, though it m ay possess th e highest technical interest;
it does n o t always co n stitu te a novelty, b u t frequently it m ay involve a condition of reaction which may lead to a great in
dustrial im provem ent. Also, certain chem ists tak e o u t p aten ts b u t do n o t im m ediately find m anufacturers and financiers to m ake possible th e ir developm ent; p a te n t fees are paid for some years; then th e chem ist becomes discouraged an d stops these paym ents. Some tim e la te r he is surprised to see his p aten ts and processes p u t into operation.
All these gaps would need to be filled b y creating w h at the Syndicat des Inventeurs, who are a t the head of th e movement,, call “le droit de suite," a rig h t which would obviously be lim ited to a certain period, fifty years, fo r example. There would be an alm ost com plete fusion betw een th is droit and w h a t we French call “le droit d ’auteur." Scientific treatises w ould be deposited, ju s t as models o r machines, and to th is depot the droit d ’auteur would be paid by th e concessionaire.
Chemists differ on th e question of how to know w hether or n o t a new com pound should be patented, and after a long dis
cussion a t th e Congress of Ind u strial C hem istry it was decided th a t a new chemical compound could be patented as a new in
dustrial product, b u t th a t the holder of the p a te n t w ould be obliged to g ran t a license to an y inventor who found a b e tte r m ethod of preparation for this product. T he conditions of this license would be settled by agreem ent of those interested or fixed by th e authorities.
F u rth er, th e vote was passed th a t p aten ts of chemical products could be expropriated by th e S tate for public use.
Pr o p o s e d Re s e a r c h Co u n c il
T he French S enate is now considering a first d ra ft of a law organizing an "Office national des recherches scientifiques, industrielles e t agricoles.” T his organization is modeled on th e N ational R esearch Council in th e U nited S tates.
T his plan has been fought from th e first by Parliam ent, who see in i t a duplication of th e laboratories of th e big teaching establishm ents of th e state. I t has been decided th a t th e p a rt of th e new office would be one of coordination betw een th e dif
ferent laboratories, n o t only of the s ta te b u t also of private industry. T here have been established in F ran ce some labora
tories analogous to th e M ellon In stitu te, and these organizations would cooperate in the w ork'of this office.
Am e r i c a n De g r e e s f o r Sa l e
A n ill-worded announcem ent which appeared in a French chem ical paper has disturbed a num ber of our A m erican friends.
Individuals w ith o u t a u th o rity have been offering to secure advanced degrees in Am erican universities upon paym ent of a sum of money. I, who have seen m any of y our universities and laboratories, know th a t a degree can be obtained only by serious research work. T he activ ity of th e num erous American chemical societies and th e ir m any publications are still further witnesses th a t stu d en ts a t th e universities are forw arding science and th a t th e diplomas are th e fru it of th e ir labor. I t is no less tru e th a t m any F rench chem ists have received from America circulars offering to secure these diplomas.
In France, we are publishing notices discrediting this, b u t it would also be well if th e foreign am bassadors of th e U nited S tates would publish an advertisem ent in order to avoid such attem p ted trickery in the future.
J a n u a ry 8, 1922
Mar., 1922 T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING C H E M IS T R Y 247