Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-28


inventor claims that he can save all
but the most extreme cases. He eN-
poets to demonstrate in the United
States soon.
It Is generally admitted in Europe
chat a German physician has devised
an effective cure for the dreaded At
rican sleeping sickness, which now
renders the Tropics of that continent
practically uninhabitable for white
men. This cure has been kept a Sc
cret.
In chemistry one of the most essen
tial advances during the year has
been In improving the catacyst for
fiXation of nitrogen from the air,
made at the Fixed Nitrogen Labora-
tory of the Department of Agricul-
ture here. This will make the manu-
facture of essential fertilizers much
cheaper.
Next comes the development OF
clear fuzed quartz. which will replace
glass in many cases. The fuzed
quartz does not react to heat or cold
as does glass. With optical instru
ments made of this material a scicn-
fist could study the inside of a fiery
furnace at close hand, while with
glass instruments, which would melt
and twist under intense heat, he
could do nothing. Fuzed quartz also
admits ultraviolet rays from the sun,
which are shut out by glass. Thus
it becomes of great importance to
medicine. 1t is known that babies
suffering from ricketts, can be cured
by exposure to these rays.
Progress in Dyes.
American chemists are succeeding
at last in developing dyes which will
more than compete with those of
Germany
The perfection of permalloy during
the year has placed the trans-oceanic
cable on a new plane, enabling it to
carry three messages at once. Thus
1t is in a position to compete with
radio.
An important development has been
the substitution of butyl ACETATE for
amyl ACETATE as a solvent for nitro
celulose lacquers, the basis for the
finish on automobiles This means
that material has been developed
with Viscosity enough to be sprayed
on the car and thick enough to give
color. 1t makes the finish of automo-
biies practically resistant to dust
grease and weather
olis treated with ultraviolet light
nave developed vitamins, making
them valuable IN the diets of babies
Prof. Baly of the University of Liver
pool has accomplished the synthesis
OF simple sugar from formaldahyde
with ultra violet light
Fltamin d, Bios, has been isolated
by chemists at Columbia University.
rms particular vitamin is not of par
ticular Importance. but the work has
opened up the field so that there are
good PROSPECTS of isolating other
Vitamlns-those essential food Access
sories The isolation of the others
would bring about a revolution in
many lines. For instance, it would
make possible the turning back of
skim milk into full milk by the ad-
clifton Of certain fats.
For Treating Marine Structures.
The Army chemical warfare service
has discovered methods of treating
marine structures with poisonous
compounds so that the marine borer
parasite which does damage run
ming into the millions yearly, is eff
fectually thwarted.
At the Bureau of Standards Dr.
Frederick Bates has produced granu-
lar levulose sugar out of the roots of
Jerusalem artichokes. Further de-
velopment of this may revolutionize
the sugar industry. LevuloSe is much
cane sugar It's great fault is that it
absorbs moisture from the air. so
that a bowlful, left uncoveed, might
be syrup by the time the housewife
was ready to prepare the next meal
Work in Physics.
Some of the most important work
in physics has been performed at the
Bureau of Standards, where special
A,Ny,
Of atoms.
The arc and spark spectra of the
atoms of about a dozen elements have
been photographed. One new physical
law has been formulated. The atom is
perhaps the most fascinating field of
scientific research. sAll matter-the
air, human bodies, rocks. clouds-is
built up of atoms. These in them
selves are miniature solar universes,
outer electrons or planets whirling
around massed prodons, which con-
stitute central sun.
These little universes are so small
that it would require at least AGO.
0O0,oo of them, placed side by side,
to make line an inch long. There
are millions of them in a head OF
pin. Yet the distance of the outer
electrons form each other and from
the central sun is comparatively as
great as the distance of the earth
from the other planets and erom the
sun. Through these spaces they
whirl at tremendous speed. Each
element has a different number of
outer electrons which revolve in
different orbits.
The work at the Bureau of Stand
ards has been to explore the in
teriors of these universes. This is
done with the spectroscope, one of
the most marvellous inventions ever
conceived by man. Photographs of
the spectra show that each element
radiates different scheme OF wave
lengths, producing a different color
scheme.
May Revolutionize Chemical Analysis.
The value of this work is difficult
to overestimate, Bureau of Standards
physicists claim. 1t may revolution
ize chemical analysis. The spectro-
scope can accomplish in a few min
utes what might require weeks with
chemical balances. 1t would discover
instantly, for instance, thousandth
part Of copper in gold. This could be
done by the chemist if he had suf-
ficient gold to work with. The spectra
photographer could obtain his re-
suits from a bare pinch of gold.
The real sensation Of the year, say
Washington PHYSICISTS, Is lkely 10
come this week when papers are read
telling Of experiments at the Univer-
sity of California by which spark
spectra were taken of atoms. with
| four, FIVE, six and seven electrons re-
moved, each, of course, showing
different line scheme. 1t is exceed
| ingly difficult to knock off more than
| one electron.
Besides it's value in chemical anal
ysis, the spectrosope exploration will
be valuable in isolating other ele-
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