82 The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVIII, No. 3, 



tion in less than a year. A large and well established dye 

 industry, therefore, is vital for defense, for it would produce a 

 bigger demand for coal tar products and toluol production in 

 peace times and its operations are quickly convertible into 

 ones for producing high explosives. It is to be hoped therefore 

 that the German alliance with our textile manufacturers may 

 be broken up during this war so that Congress will be less 

 helpless in fostering this dye industry as a matter of defense 

 than it has been in the past. The expense of storing within 

 the country nitrate of soda imported from Chile, adequate 

 for the nitric acid of munitions production in case of war, 

 w^ould tie up millions. The Government will establish a 

 plant to make nitric acid from the atmosphere. The Norwegian 

 process (electric arc) is stated to require five times as much 

 power, a vital factor, as is required in the making of nitric 

 acid from cyanamide. Germany has installed for making 

 cyanamide, during the war additional equipment costing 

 $100,000,000, utilizing over 600,000 horse power and producing 

 about 200,000 tons per year of nitric acid, requiring the most 

 feverish activity for a year and a half on the part of her chemical 

 engineers. We have som^e American suggestions which if 

 successful will take less power than the German method. Any 

 method for nitric acid producing ammonia also, is desirable as 

 an aid to agriculture. Prices asked for power are much higher 

 than abroad and as the cost of engineering is only about 10% of 

 the total charges in electric power installation, it becomes 

 evident that efficient national defense and economic agriculture 

 depend on more economic banking methods. So in every 

 instance we are confronted with the problems of peace when 

 working out national defense. It should be remembered that 

 our usual source of nitrogen derivatives, the ammonia of by- 

 product coke, brings with it the indispensable toluol, and no 

 electrical method does this. Before the Government nitrogen 

 plant is built, therefore, it should be a matter of serious inquiry 

 whether the Government's $20,000,000 might not bring the 

 same result and give a liberal supply of toluol besides, if invested 

 in by-product coke expansion, for much of our coke is still made 

 without saving by-products. 



It is an open secret that the acceptance of war orders in 

 this country strained to the breaking point our best organized 

 chemical industries. The mere request by the allied countries 



