Evening star., 1939-04-20
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study

u" ISeios !oOVIutOIy
And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.
Two new kinds Of rubber-one made
from sugar and the other from milk
were announced here this week.
The first, which It's inventor claims
has all the physical and chemical prop.
critics of natural rubber, was patented
by Ernst Kleiber, Geneva, Switzerland,
chemist.
The second was produced by chemists
Of the Department OF Agricultures
Bureau of Dairy Industry.
Both are made from what now are
largely waste residues of the sugar and
dairy industries. Both are described as
"rubberlike substances" since neither
has the same chemical formula as nat
ural rubber.
The Department Of Agriculture prod
uct not only is strong and elastic but
transparent. It is made from the Tactic
acid obtained from whey. Known to
chemists as ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS" the
water white, semi-solid material is
closely related to the so-called organic
glass made synthetically and used for
highway reflectors. Much the same
material now can be produced synthetl.
cally from ethylene gas or from alcohol,
but the bureau scientists claim it can
be made from milk just as cheaply and
may open up new agricultural market.
The great value, it is believed, will
come from use of the new substance as
a coating material for all types OF
fabrics, paper, ETC., so as to make them
impregnable to water, oils or gases.
Fabrics with these characteristics are
valuable in making ship sails, balloons
and uniforms for soldiers designed foe
protection against poison gases
More than 6.5OO,00o0o0 pounds Of
whey. from which the Tactic acid is
derived, is produced in the United States
every year. Most of 1t, the chemists
say, Is used inefflciently or thrown away
Commercial use has been found for only
about 100000 pounds Of Tactic acid for
various kinds Of plastic.
The sugar rubber patented by the
Swiss inventor would be made largely
from the refinery wastes, although it
could be made directly from either beet
or cane sugar. The sugars and the1
refinery wastes, he explains in his patent
application. all are NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
olnations OF various amounts of carbon
with hydrogen and oxygen The latter
always have the same proportion in the
molecule, regardless of the amount OF
carbon.
The method first involves splitting
them up into basic molecules containing
one atom Of carbon two Of hydrogen
and one Of oxygen by chemical methods
The sugar Is mixed with combination
OF hydrochloric and nitric acid. It is
then added to turpentine. With con-
slant stirring viscous mass is formed,
not greatly different in consistency from
the latex Of which natural rubber is
made.
This then is dried until all the water
Is taken out OF it. It then Is in
condition where 1t can be vulcanized,
like ordinary rubber The final product,
says the inventor, looks like rubber anc
has all the elasticity and other charac-
teristic properties Of rubber Rubber
made out of sugar itself, he admits,
might be quite expensive but the econo-
mics would rest with making it from the
refinery wastes which now give pracri-
cally no commercial return.
Over most of the United States the
past winter was exceptionally rainy
according to data summarized by the
Weather Bureau. It is clear, says DR.
j. B. Kincer, head of the climatology
division, that the recovery from the
recent series Of drought years, first
observed in 1887, is continuing.
The past winter says DR.. Kincer,
began abnormally warm and dry. BY
New Year, however, rainfall was be-
coming more abundant everywhere.
leading up to one of the wettest Febru-
aries on record. There was more than
normal rainfall in all the States except
Florida and the southwestern tier from
Texas westward. In a large part of
the Southeast all rainfall records for
this month were broken.
Diamond terrapins, headed fol
total extinction few years ago, appar-
emily have been saved as a species
through the efforts of the U. s. Bureau
Of Fisheries.
In the gay 90s this reptile was
symbol of sinfully extravagant living
Such high prices were paid that all the
sounds, estuaries and swamps along the
South Atlantic Coast were secured TO:
the creatures. BY the turn Of the CEN
tury they were fabulously scarce.
The demand dropped off with pro-
hibition. This probably saved the terra
pin, since it gave breathing spell and
an opportunity for the Government
biologists to get the race on a secure
footing again. Up to date more than
125,0O0 young have been shipped from
the Bureau Of Fisheries station at Beau
fort, S. c., for restocking the salt
marshes of the Southern States. The
brood stock Of the station, most of
which was born in captivity during the
past Is years, consists of $40 males and