510 Biochemical News, Notes and Comment [April-July 



ing potassium salts have been addressed to the U. S. Geol. Survey, 

 and the fertilizer Journals report that small quantities of spot mate- 

 rial are changing hands at sharp premiums. The Situation is un- 

 doubtedly more acute than it was a few years ago, when national 

 interest was first awakened to the fact that the U. S. is entirely 

 dependent on Gennany for this important class of fertilizer 

 materials. Potassium salts are employed in many industries 

 other than the fertilizer industry. A large amount is used in glass 

 and soap making, and in the manufacture of a number of ehem. 

 products. These include potassium hydroxid, and the carbonate and 

 bicarbonate, used principally in glass and soap making; potassium 

 alums; Cyanids, including potassium Cyanid, potassium ferrocyanid, 

 and potassium ferricyanid; various bleaching chemicals, dye stuffs, 

 explosives containing potassium nitrate, and a long list of general 

 chemicals. The imports of potassium salts, listed as such in the re- 

 ports of the Bur. of Foreign and Domestic Com., include the carbo- 

 nate, Cyanid, chlorid, nitrate and sulf ate, " caustic potash," and other 

 potassium Compounds. The importation of the above named salts, 

 in round numbers the last three years, has averaged 635,000,000 

 pounds in quantity and $11,000,000 in value. These figures repre- 

 sent, however, only a portion of the potassium salts entering the 

 U. S. ; they do not include the imports of kainite and manure salts 

 used in fertilizers. The quantity of this class of materials imported 

 for consumption in the U. S. during the last three years has averaged 

 annually about 700,000 tons, valued at $4,300,000. The annual im- 

 portations of potassium salts have exceeded the value of 

 $15,000,000. 



Miscellaneous. The war and the medical press. An evi- 

 dence of one efJect of the war is the small size of our British ex- 

 changes. This might be expected for no other reason than the lack 

 of material for publication. The British Med. Jour., however, in 

 its issue for Aug. 15, gives as another reason the shortage of paper, 

 v/hich it States has become a very serious difficulty for the periodical 

 press. The British Med. Jour. has omitted entirely its epitome of 

 current med. lit. because it has received no German, Austrian or 

 Russian exchanges for the previous two weeks, and very few from 

 France. In addition to the difficulty in securing paper, because of 



