Evening star., 1942-01-31
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress,
In Laboratory, Field
And, Study
By Thomas r. Henri.

L
Prospects Of rubber from corncob
and silk from wheat have Just been an.
nounced by chemists OF the United
States Department Of Agriculture.
They also have made progress II
developing a generator with which i
will be possible to provide heat anc
light for American farms with "corn
cob gas"
There is special interest in the rubber
possibilities at present. Corncobs, cot
tonseed hulls. wheat straw and othel
materials which now largely 90 te
waste yield q chemical known as fur.
fural. About 100000 pounds . yea,
are produced, mostly for making plas.
tics, but the potential production Il
enormous.
The greater part Of the synthetic
rubber now made in the world-and
the rubber upon which Germany haa
rolled to victory over Western Europe
Is produced from butadiene, q liquid
hydrocarbon which can be extracted
from coke or from petroleum. It Is an
extremely volatile liquid which boils and
disappears as vapor at about the freez-
ing point of water under atmospheric
pressure. When its molecules are
hooked together by chemical processes,
however, they form a solid which only
chemists can distinguish from the
latex obtained by tapping the rubber
tree.
Furfural has Q somewhat similar
chemical structure and has attracted
chemists for some years.
The experiments to date, DR.. Henry
G. Knight. chief Of the Bureau OF Agri-
cultural Chemistry and Engineering, re-
ports. ARE very encouraging and point
relatively low-cost intermediate which
may be used In the production Of syn
thetic rubber in . manner analogous
to the current use of butadiene"
One Of the difnculties Of making
butadiene rubber in the present emer-
gency has been that 1t would demand
the diversion Of products needed for
other war industries. This would be
the case to much less extent with
furf,uAl
The corncob gas mentioned in the
chemists report has been recognized
for some time as . possibility. The
difficulty has been some means Of ac-
tually putting it to work without too
clumsy equipment.
From wheat the Department Of Agri-
culture chemists have extracted a pro-
tein substance known as gliadine which
they found, has unusual conference
and extreme extensibility. 1t is highly
likely, they say, that 1t can be made
into fine fbers which will have most
Of the qualities Of natural silk.
They also are exploring the posi-
bilities Of cotton as . war material.
Experiments have shown that bales
20 inches thick and With Q density OF
80 pounds or more per cubic foot
cannot be penetrated by bullets from a
.3o-caliber Enfield army rife. The ex.
periments are being continued in CO.
operation with the War Department te
determine their resistance to projectilee
Of laroer size and to bomb fragments.
Shoe sizes may be due for a complete
new deal based on actual measurements
Of tens Of thousands Of feet.
Experts Of the Department Of Agri-
cultures Bureau Of Home Economics
now are experimenting with new meth
DDS Of measuring feet which take into
account the curves as well as the dimen-
sions. Special instruments have been
brought from England, where the sys-
tenn was devised but not applied on Q
large scale.
From the project. the Department Of
Agriculture workers believe, will come
fewer sizes which will fit more persons
more comfortably, perhaps eliminate q
lot Of foot trouble and result in big
savings by eliminating need for al
terations.
Present shoe sizes, It is pointed out In
q report on the project. are largely with
out rhyme or reason. There are about
1S0 standard sizes for women and 100
for men. U. s. Army shoes are pro-
duced in 90 sizes. Into these standards
all sorts of variations must be intro
duced to suit individuals.
Shoes are made In half sizes progress
ing upwards by intervals Of a sixth Of
an inch in length and a quarter inch
in girth. AL possible combinations Of
these measurements are sold
Now, 1t Is pointed out by Carol W.
Moffett in her report on the project,
feet do not grow or vary in that FASH
ion. The third Of an inch between sizes
Is an arbitrary standard without any
logical anatomical or physiological basis.
Studies Of anatomy" she says, Gin
dicate that the body does not grow In
regular progressions, nor does it differ
In various portions by evenly disposed
intervals. Measurement Of each segment
Of the foot would disclose exactly how
and where feet differ In dimensions and
conformations. New size standards
probably would call for unequal disper-
sion Of size intervals, such as q study Of
childrens body measurements has In
dicated"
Before the Civil War, Miss MofYett
explains. there was no need for sizes
Shoemakers measured the feet Of their
customers and made the shoes to fit
the individual. The war caused an un-
precedented demand for shoes for SOL
diers and mass production was intro
duced in the North. Each manufac-
turer had his own Sizes They were
considered trade secrets. Not until 1886
when shoe dealers organized Q national
trade association, was a set Of stand