Evening star., 1918-07-21

by scientists, had been worked out
and its practicabi1ity demonstrated.
BY this process. now employed In
scores Of large smelling and manu-.
featuring establishments. gases ana
m0ke from the throats and stacks OF
furnaces are separated into such ele-
nents as arsenic, sulphur and potash
BepaT1tion Is brought about by the
means Of electricity. To state the
matter plainly and concisely, smoke
and gases are filtered by the CottrelI
process. and both dust and liquids OF
great value commercially are thereby
prevented from escaping into tho air
hnd lost permanently.
-.
The discovery and the subsequent
patents would have made DR.. Cottrel
and his associates wealthy men. They
donated their rights to tho Smith
sonian Institution, however. under an
arrangement by which all the money
received for licenses was to be used
in the carrying on Of technical and
scientific researches. The surrender.
perhapA was without parallel, either
in this country or in Europe.
sulphuric acid and potash, obtained
ny lAS SOktEC1l pNOCCocs 81 g 0CAA8 1AAiS
pioyed in the war against the Ger
mans-the acid in the manufacture Of
explosives and the potash in the grow
ing Of cotton for shells and clothing
and Of food for the soldiers and civil
ians Of this country and its allies
Heretofore the United States has
procured its supply of potash from
the German monopoly which has con-
trolled that industry. Hereafter. as
is the case at present. the United
States will manufacture its own pot
ash and mainly, 1t Is thought, by the
method Of electrical precipitation dis
covered and developed by DR.. Cot
tre1l.
Dust from cement works Is now
being caught and converted into pot
ash by the process 1t Is said that
tho profit Of one company through
about $4,000 a week. All Of this value
used to escape in the air In the form
Of white particles, which settled for
miles around on fields, orchards and
houses, to the loss and annoyance of
the owners
evening. DR.. Cottrell is personally
battling against the Prussians at his
desk In Washington. He now fills
the Office of chemist at the bureau Of
mines. Gases are one Of his special
ties-deadly ones and other kinds.
LlkGWISe, ne IS an 6XP6II III tue hus
ministration Of patents, having thor
oughly studied the subject before he
gave his own patents to the Smith
sonian Institution.
Thousands Of German patents have
been taken over by A. Mitchell Pal
Many of them are medical. Others
are mechanical They are to be
utilized In this country during the
war, and accounts will be kept of the
profits and royalties. At the restora-
ton Of peace there will be a settle
assisting in formulating q policy for
the control and administration Of
these patents.
But his pot-boiler, as he describes
It; will be his chief contribution to
the war. for it is steadily and help
although, as has been shown, 1t has
passed out Of his possession. It's con-
ception, together with its application
and disposal, Is one Of the most TO-
mantle events in the history Of Amer
lean icanscience.- science.
a smile to ehe writer, "and needed q
few hundred dollars. The destructive
gases occasioned by the smelling Of
copper on the Pacific coast had de-
forested mountains, ruined crops and
caused many lawsuits. Farmers were
bulnS shS pAoPAAoe0ho SA ing cAnSA1SASs
snd in some instances smelters were
shut down.
Z approached the subject, then.
from its noxious side. Men working
I'm copper were not concerned very
much at first with the values that
might be contained in smoke, dust
and mist. The removal Of suspended
particles from, gases by the aid Of
electrical discharges was by no
means a new idea.
TT was suggested as early as 1924
tv Hohlfeld. a teacher Of mathe-
naat1cs at the Thomas School. in Leip-
xi& Germany. He found that If he
electrified q wire hung In q bottle
f1ed with smoke the smoke rap
any cleared and left a deposit on
the sides and bottom of the bottle.
The discovery made no impression on
the minds Of scientific men and was
noon forgotten. Sixty years after
ward Sir Oliver Lodge, the English
yfysic4st, re-dtscovered the same
johonomenon. and in 1855 made 1t
public In . lecture be1oz1 thu Society
III Chemical Industry 6x liverpool.
1Re urged that the prtnc3p1e be ap-
I1lied for smoke and fume abatement
lind the clearing Of foe
Patents were taken out In England
IND several other countries by A q.
Walker. who carried on experiments
With the lead fumes At his smelter
b Wales. The electrical apparatus