Evening star., 1938-02-24
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

"A patent was issued this week,
after lapse of seven years. for one
OF the outstanding scientific dis
coveries of the generation.
1t was issued to the estate of the
late Dr. Edward w. Washburn, for
mer chief chemist of the Bureau of
Standards. for the production by
electrolysis of heavy water in 1881
and thus becomes the basic patent
for what In the future may become
an enormous industry all over the
civilized world
A few weeks earlier DR.. F. G. Brick
wedde of the Bureau of Standards
had succeeded for the first time in
obtaining, by the fractionation of
liquid hydrogen, a minute amount of
a substance which was identified at
Columbia University by Prof. Urey
as heavy hydrogen-hydrogen whose
atom weighed twice as much as did
that of ordinary hydrogen
For this identification Or. Urey
afterwards received the Nobel prize.
Theoretically the finding was of great
importance. Hydrogen, lightest Of
the elements, is the mother gas Of
the whole universe. But practically
1t was only scientific curiosity. for
it could not possibly be produced in
significant amounts.
And then came DR.. WaShburn
within few weeks with a method
of producing it in almost any amounts
that might be necessary by first pro-
ducing heavy water"
Electric Current Used.
An electric current was passed
through ordinary water, splitting the
water molecule into constituent atoms
of hydrogen and oxygen. The hydro
gen atoms concentrated at one elec-
trode and the oxygen atoms at the
other.
After time the water left in the
container was heavier than ordinary
water. The explanation was that
there are two kinds of hydrogen
atoms, one of which Is twice as heavy
as the other, and three kinds of
oxygen atoms of different weights.
All enter into the same chemical
combination to form water. When
the water was split by the electrolysis
the lighter atoms Of both hydrogen
and oxygen passed of first. 50 that
the water which was left behind
consisted chiefly of the heavier parti-
cles of both elements.
DR.. Washburn died shortly after
Mi i0h
which has revolutionized some as
poets of the science Of chemistry,
has had far-reaching results in biol
ogy, and which is engaging hundreds
of chemical laboratories throughout
the world. The discovery is COM
memorated by tablet in the as
sembly hall of the Cosmos Club, the
only local scientific accomplishment
to be SO commemorated.
This week a patent was issued to
Dr. Washburn's estate. All these
years apparently the process has gone
The manufacture Of
pure water of various weights by the
process thus far has been confined
largely to scientific laboratories, but
1t is possible that eventually a vast
industry will be erected on the meth
cd discovered by DR.. Washburn as
the practical uses Of heavy water
become apparent
May Increase Life Span.
They are still somewhat in doubt.
For one thing the product has been
too scarce for big-scale experiments,
and the elapsed time has been too
short for observation of the eventual
biological effects. Last spring a dis
tinguished British chemist, DR.. James
Kendall. made the statement that
heavy water might eventually in
crease the normal span of human
life by as much as 10 years through
slowing down the processes OF water
metabolism and thus lessening the
wear and tear on the organisms which
eventually. even in the absence of
any abnormal processes, causes death
from old age. On the other hand,
some Psychologists had advanced the
theory that heavy water was the
universal elixir Of death, its natural
increase in the body tissues being
parallel with the increase Of age and
liability to physical breakdown. An
unusual concentration of it was found
in the waters of the Dead Sea. The
heavy water molecules were the last
to evaporate from that closed basin
beat upon by the sun.
While heavy water has attracted
all the attention, the patent Issued
this week also protects the produc-
ton by this same method of light
water" which can be made by the
electrolysis system equally well. Any
actual sample Of water in nature Is
= combination Of waters Of al sorts
OF weights. There are ct least : IL