Bisbee daily review., 1918-07-11
PLATINUM

To the average layman and laywoman the word platinum brings no association to the mind other than that of jewelry That to considerable extent the outcome of the war depends upon our supply of the metal occurs to very few. Yet such Is the case, and, recognizing this, congress has just en- acted measure limiting the sale, possession, and use of platinum under license from the director of the bureau of mines. Charles H. Herty, editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, explained the other day why platinum Is of such vast inn portance, why it is being desperatel ly sought for all over the world.
 What the country needs, he said, Is to be awakened to the fact that without platinum we can wage no war and that to use platinum at this time for the purpose of human adornment Is well-nigh criminal.
 "A few days ago the appropriation com mittee voted 5000, 100000 to be used for artillery for Pershing s army. That artillery isn worth red cent if 1t Is not furnished with propelling force and high explosive force inside its shells to. make the kaiser aware of our presence To get that force platinum is absolutely necessary, not as platinum, but as a catalyst in the manutac- ture of sul phuric and nitric acid. It Is also essential in airplane manufacture. A catalyst is a chemical body needed in the formation of certain chemical compounds. Platinum is the catalyst in the manufacture of sulphuric and nitric acid. A quantity of the metal can be used indefinitely for the same process. 1t loses nothing in the for nation of the gases and always maintains the same bulk and form.
 1t is true that there Is another way ot making sulphuric acid, the lead chamber process, which has been largely used in the manufacture of acids for fertilizer But there are several things that work greatly against this plan. First, our supply of lead Is not sufficient to warrant using 1t tor making munitions on any large scale; sec ond, 1t takes almost year to put up lead chamber sulphuric acid plant, whereas platinum contact process plant can be put up in about six weeks. It took the du Pont people exactly that length of time to build such a plant recently. And, third, the product furnished by the platinum pro- cess Is the strongest and best.
 he importance ot nitric acld IS equally great In the past we used to manufacture that product solely by treating Chile salt peter with sul phuric acid. Today there are good reasons why this method Is not the most efficient First of all. we must again resort to our supply of sulphuric acid, and, secondly, we have not the ships to spare to bring the saltpeter from Chile, nor do we know how long we can count upon Chile to supply us. Today the government is be- ginning the manufacture of nitric acid by the platinum gauge process. Several large plants are being erected in Ohio and in Ala bama, for the purpose of fixation of atmos- pheric nitrogen. To make nitric acid you mix ammonia gas with air and allow the mixture to pass over fine platinum gauge. The chemists of the bureau of mines have tried various substitutes for platinum, but the results are not comparable to the acid made by the platinum gauge process