Evening star., 1925-11-29
GREAT ADVANCES
MADE BY CHEMISTS
Americans Have Evolved
Many Useful Products
in Research.

in Research.
: BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, November 2S-Work-
Ing in obscure laboratories, Ameri-
can chemists today are devotinG their
wlZardrv in an unheralded search for
new Philosophers Stones-ever seek
ms for that precious knowledge that
VIII enable them To transmute the
potential wealth now locked in Ma
ture's cupboards into actual resources
for American housewives and Ameri-
q can industry.
Between the housewife and the cap
tain of industry and the ores Of the
earth are these virtually unknown
alchemiStS. .delVinG into intinity and
atoms in u CeaSeleSS search for new
secrets, new elements and new prod
FuCtS.
Vast and important as this work
- by American chemists has been. few
realize the actual magnitude of the
progress of the art in this country.
1t was a new field for American
brains. a field in which Europe. the
birthplace and for centuries the home
OF scientific arts. had been pre-emi-
nent. But American Wizardry tri-
umphed once more.
Chemists Are Unknown
The American Chemical Society has
outlined few of The important devel-
opments of scientific research in this
country during The last few decades.
Save To the SaVantS themselves, the
names of the chemists who made
these discoveries are generally un-
known.
For example. BakeIite. that hard
hot 10 -nGT,, >frr hold
ers, radio dials. radiator caps or tim
ing gears of the automobile. Discovery
of this important material came only
after years of systematic organic
chemical research in a field in which
many scientists had labored long and
unSuCceSfully.
The modern production of furfural.
a tremendously important organic
chemical in industry. is another bril-
liant page in American chemical
achievements. Experimenting with oat
hullS, a byproduct in the preparation
or breakfast cereal. With q view to
utilizing the huIls as fuel, the savants
accidentlN stumbled upon secret
that chemically treated oat hulls give
large quantities Of furfuraI at a low
cost, with the result it Is today, with
scientific production, lhe cheapest
aldehNde available.
No less important was research into
the potential commercial utilization of
skinned milk. an investigation that
resulted in CaSeIn plastic material.
r'repareI by Coagulatiun from skim
med milk. caSein today is used in the
manufacture of fountain pens. auto
matte pencils and buttons. instead of
the hitherto unChalIenged rubber and
bone materials. In liquid form it is
used as a glue.
| Sc for Tantalum.
With The development OF the turG-
stem tilament metallic tantalum a
relatively rare metal. appeared DOOM
ed commercially. Industry had little
use for il. BGt merallurEists came to
its aid and. after wears OF experiment
tation. produced the metal in this
country at d comparatively low pro
duCtion cost. Il now IS used in the
construction Of battery chargers and
devices for delivering direct current
to the plates OF radio tubes directly
from the lamp socket. To a limited
extent, Tantaium also is used in the
manufacture of certain surgical in
StrumentS.
Using the largest diffraction graf
ing in the world. American scientists,
by separating chlorine into isuLopeS,
have produced a heavy chlorine OF
different atomic weight from the orig
lnal element. Il feat which resulted
in the first Weighable ANA visible ma
terial ever produced with an atomic
weight differing from the ordinary
element. This step was the first
actual separation of an element into
different elements and engendered a
radical organization OF the lheory OF
primary elements.
Chief among the accomplishments
in the field Of chemical warfare have
been the laying uf falling SMOKE
screens from airplaneS by discharging
the smokeproduCing material through
motor eNhauSts. jhe Stokes mortar
shell, the explosion OF which gene
rates A heavy pail Of smoke for land
fscreening; a distinctly American tear
gas called &C. \. tChloracetophennne
the &C. n" hand grenade and car
tridges which fire this gas. and the
Mcbride gas gun, a weapon that dis
charges laChrymal gas INTO the faces
Of advancing troops.
Originally military weapon, tear
gas" nevertheless has found import
ant appliance in peace tines. Police
have found it an effective instrument.
Other important discoveries made
by American chemists during the last
decade include:
Dyeing Oranges.
Utilization as food values of the
principal protein products of blood
drawn from slaughtered animals, pre-
Tlously regarded as waste products
available only for conversion into glue
or fertilizer. Blood albumin and haze
moblobin are the principal products.
I'yreX, the heat-reSiSting. loW-eXpan-
sion glass. now used in are lamps, bat
bery Jars, TASKS, beahers and test
tubes used in laboratories. radio inSu-
latorS, eVaporattng and Chatins dishes
and other cooking Utensils.
Chromium plating, the sheathing of
other metals with a layer of chromium
plating by u electro-chemiCal process.
This process has enabled the use Of
other metals in industry whose sus-
Ceptibiity to rust made their use inn
possible until plated with rust resist
ing chromium.
Heat-treatment Of niCkel-iron alloys,
process which resulted in reVolu-
tionary change in the operation of
submarine cables.
Ethylene, chemical used in the
coloration to mature yellow OF rip
ened, but green fruit. F,ruit-oranges
or lemons-that are ripe for the
market but are still green. can be
brought to yellow tint by this treat
ment. 1t mas saved agrIculturlsts s
millions of dollars.
= Vat dyes, in the production of which
american chemists have challenged
The hitherto acknowledged superiority
OF German chemists.