New-York tribune., 1911-10-01

uendcut on the railroads for their coal. If
manufacturer knew he could get his
omandious TO work by means Of cata-
lyzcr, he could, so far as fuel supply was
concerned, locate his plant on the top Of
q mountain or in the middle of desert
II would also, the expert continued, enable
operators TO open up mines everywhere.
New fields in the Rocky Mountains, for in
stance would be worked that now are too
isolated. Miners would. he said. develop
low grade ore that they can't bother with
now because Of the cost OF power
At present. he continued. the greatest
supply of nitrate is TO be found in Chill
There arc large deposits there, but they
will not last always. When they are gone
We will be dependent on an artificial fer
tilizer 1t might be, he said. the catalyzer
referred TO by Sir William would be just
the thing 10 transform the nitrogen Of the
air in.o nitratos. Anything lie said. that
would enable us TO fix tie nitrogen at
present i'm vast quantities in the atmos-
phere i'm the form OF nitrate would very
easily. and without the necessity of using
very high temperatures. give immense
value in the production Of food supplies
from plants.
For instance, with the riSht kind Of
cmanation n farmer might be able to take
two worry cheap raw materials-SaN COM
mon ground rock-and by means of the ra-
dium onanaton IN contact with the moist
soil Hberate from that rock the potash
which it contains. II the farmer could get
the potash cheaply out of rocks the cost or
living would presumably have tendency
to go swiftly Cownward; because II the
farmer. through the agency OF this cota-
lyzer could get his nitratcs and his potash
he would have the two principal things
that his soil would need, and he might
then go 10 some worn out farm and ra'Se
- crop on it % per cent bigger than bet
TOR trained farmer with superior natural
soil could do VINO had not yet heard th'
ioyful tidings. or. having heard thcih'
rucSsod he knew too much 90 take no WIN
the new tangled cure-all nohow.
Every little lit helps tho Sugar Trust
a cent a pound added 10 the price OF sugar
means s7OOOo.oOO additional profits to TN"
company. A cent a head less for cabbage
other foodstuns similarly affected, would
help the struggling housewife proportion
atelv. Fine things would happen II TINS
CatalNZcr rs tOund anu lldu' ~ "h'''"
certain complex substances and reduce
them to simpler ones and make them
available for manufacturing or assimila-
ton OF plant life.
"'rhe scientist must be in receptive
mood with reference to new and revolu-
tlonary discoveries" said Professor Hal
lock.
"one only need refer TO the discovery OF
Argon. helium. electric waves. N-rays and
radio activity to see how easily possible 1t
is for agencies and even chemical eie-
mcnts TO exist under our very eyes without
being realized The applications OF the
catalyzer In modern industrial chemistry
are almost innumerable." the professor
continued. There is one notable in
stance. however. where satisfactory
catalyzer has rcyolutonized an enormous
industry.
In the manufacture Of sulphuric acid It
is necessary to make the gas o. tame up
an additional atom of oxygen " form
S u, which latter. combined NiG water,