New Britain herald., 1925-05-15
EXTRACT BROMINE
 FROM SEA WATER
Special Boat Obtains Product
 Valuable in Photography

Washington, D. C., May 1b.--The Ethyl has gone down to sea for au- tomobiles. The Ethyl is q specially constructed ship for robbing sea water Of bromine.
 "Bronins. in the last few years, has been getting revenge for de. famation of character" says bull letin from the National Geogrs phc society from its headquarters In Washington, D. c.
 1n 1908 a popular author divided Il all people into two kinds, bromides and sulphites. The sulphites, trans- ferring chemical character to men, Il were the effervescent, eager. bright, original sort; the 'illuminati' The bromides were the conservatives. the mild bores, people who were al ways saying the same things in the same old way.
 A Laboratory Drudge
 Most people are formally intro- duced to bromine. the element which forms part of all bromides, in their high scho] days, and they remember 1t as & distinctly unpleas- ant smelling, dark brown. heavy liquid that gives off an ugly brown gas readily.
 How little does the world know Its chemicals: In less than ten i years bromine stepped out of the | role assigned 1t. Mild, conservative, | meek bromins was one of the first | poisonous gases used In the world | var. Bromne made civilization | gasp in horror. And by still more 1 recent feat Of chemical acrobatics | hromine has taken to serving au- | tornobile engines. The Ethyl has | gone for bromine 10 help In the 1 making of an 'antiknock' aid. While | it does not enter into the compound | used, it has q finger in the fuel for | those explosions which make it pos sible to describe an automobile en- zine az a gatling gun firing nine ! thousand shots per minute.
 High Seas a Producing Area "The entrance of the high seas in the bromine market divides the ! production between three major sources. The United States and Ger 1 many have been the chief producers The Ethyl which has been trans i formed into q floating chemical laboratory, is prepared 10 treat r. 000 gallons of water per minute. So small is the brominc content that this large amount of water will only yield between four and five pounds of bromine. Chlorine is employed ! to treat the water and the extrac- . ton process Is fairly simple. The i chlorine can be used over and over again. The Ethyl is sent to sea because Of the impurities that might occur in shore waters. further reason suggested is that water taken from the ocean at great depth contains chemicals more highly concentrated and therefore with more bromine.
 'Bromine is now obtained chiefly from Michigan and from Stassfurt, Germany. Michigan and Sassfurt happen 10 be the sites of large salt deposits and with the salt arc other chemicals, such ass iodine, bromine and potassium.
 World History "Saltcd Down"
 Tn these deposits world history is salted down and preserved for our knowledge. T is possible to recon- struct prehistoric geography from an exploration of the extent of the beds and the strata recorded in rock salt At some distant time. a great srea of the Trussan plain was q bay of the ocean. Il vas hay like some Of those found today on the cast shore of the Caspian sea where shallow depression Is practically cut off by q sand bar. Drawing the necessary water from the Caspian sea these bays crystallizc tons upon tons Of salt annually, gradually filling themselves up. When salt crystallizes q mother liquor of other minerals, highly concentrated, re- mains. If the feeder channel is dccp this is drawn off as lighter water flows in. But if the stopper is firm in Natures huge specialization vat, the mother liquors themselves crystalline out and leave iodine, brominc, potassium and other sub stances.
 Tn placrs 'ho salt deposits in tho Stassturt rcion are nearly 4,oo0 cct thickfg II is ostirdated that at least 5000 years wire required for such deposit. 4 basin of normal sea water would have to be go miles deep 10 form such a deposit so il is certain that North Germany was oTcc the~site of a Caspian sea or a Dead sea.
 In Medicine and Photography
 'Bromine is extracted from the mother liquor after the salt is taken out oF the brine from tho deposit. The process is simple chemically but the percentage Of bromiue is go small that the price has long been high.
 Tn medicine and in photography hromine fulfUs tho part given 1t by the humorist Certain hromidcs are considered excellent sedatives Tn the dark room hromides hold back the silver salts in the erlujsions on paper and films which aN as sonsi- tive to light as Inc eyo of a bat Rromne is also important to thc dye industry,
 ''Rut it is hard 10 deny the irony Of bromdes in their newest roles of speeding enemies to destruction sni speeding up automobile engines" -