220 The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVI, No. 6, 



The satisfaction to many Industrial Chemists in the last 

 two years of being able to contribute to the solution of these 

 problems and of being conscious of the salvation of many 

 businesses from financial ruin through the exercise of their 

 chemical experience, has seldom been so widely distributed as 

 it now is. What an inspiration it would be to read, spread out 

 upon the pages of such a book, as we have mentioned, the 

 chemical successes, big or little, of the past two years. It is 

 not likely that many of them will be known for a while because 

 of the fact that business caution forbids their publicity in many 

 cases, and the vigorous campaign of destruction of equipment 

 and diversion of supplies which stoops at nothing which will 

 hamper export from this country, makes silence a necessity in 

 self defence. 



The problems of the war are of tivo kinds, those due to changed 

 conditions and those arising from supplying munitions at high 

 speed. Among the former are changes in raw materials made 

 necessary by the failure of imports or by unusual consumption 

 of raw material in other channels such as for products not here- 

 tofore manufactured in this country to the extent made nec- 

 essary under present war conditions. These changed circum- 

 stances were also due in part to new demands for materials and 

 products, which have arisen in the complete rearrangement of 

 things that has come about in many circles since the war began. 

 The other line of war problems which have arisen, those directly 

 connected with munitions supply, are frequently of a difficult 

 nature. All these various problems, however, have been met in 

 practically every case with a degree of success which has 

 surprised even ourselves. 



Naturally one of the first serious effects of the war on 

 American industries was the stagnation produced by the 

 enforced cessation of exports in various lines. Such things as 

 rosin, turpentine, petroleum products, acetate of lime and 

 methyl alcohol were seriously affected for a varying length of 

 time. Then the demand for munitions became, for instance, 

 the wood distillation industry's salvation and with great 

 celerity, acetone plants were attached to many of the works of 

 this industry and the high prices which the products of the 

 industry demanded have brought unprecedented prosperity to 

 it and have correspondingly hampered progressive improvement. 



