342 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1936 



through the narrow opening in this new saltcellar, in contrast to 

 the greater readiness with which it may circulate through the more 

 numerous openings of the thin cap of an ordinary shaker. 



Whatever moisture might enter with the air through this small 

 opening is absorbed by the strong capillary suction of the minute 

 pores of the diatomite and is tenaciously held by the surface tension 

 of the very small spaces and enclosures so that it does not diffuse 

 into the saltcellar to moisten the salt. There is no tendency for salt to 

 adher to the dry surface of the cone, nor can the latter corrode. 

 Thus in the wettest weather the salt flows from the shaker in a dry 

 stream like sand through an hour glass, and its little cubical crystals 

 bound about upon one's plate with the resiliency of golf balls. 



Another application of this same principle is in the designing of 

 an "air-conditioned" bread box, in the top of which is inserted a 

 small plate or disk of porous diatomite. This keeps all dust and dirt 

 out of the box, at the same time conditioning the air in the box by 

 permitting the slow transfer of moisture in and out; this regulates 

 the humidity without allowing a sufficiently rapid circulation of air 

 to dry out the contents, and this degree of regulation seems sufficient 

 to keep the air in the box in a purer condition and prevent the bread 

 from spoiling or molding as rapidly as it is likely to do in the ordi- 

 nary bread box. Again the structure of the diatom provides the 

 qualities necessary for this purpose. 



Some time after the World War a very troublesome and baffling 

 condition developed in the alcohol industry, and executives of a large 

 alcohol corporation spent a great deal of money over a period of 

 several years seeking the mysterious cause of the condition. An 

 important raw material for the production of commercial alcohol 

 is molasses, the residuum of the sugar refineries of Cuba. This 

 molasses is shipped in large tank steamers to Wilmington, Del., for 

 example, where it is fermented and distilled to obtain tlie resulting 

 alcohol. Strong suspicion arose that a very nefarious practice was 

 growing up in this trade — a suspicion that some of the captains of 

 these molasses transports were adulterating the cargo en route with 

 sea water to increase the volume and hence the payment received for 

 it. The scheme was apparently this: A safe distance out from the 

 Cuban port, a hose would be put overboard and sea water pumped 

 into the tanks of molasses, increasing their content by as much as 

 one-fourth to one-fifth, which in such a large cargo involved a con- 

 siderable amount of money. With a heavy cargo and a slow-moving 

 tanker, the rolling and tossing of the vessel would give ample oppor- 

 tunity for the sea water and molasses to become thoroughly mixed 

 by the time of arrival at the port of delivery. 



A number of difficulties conspired against detection. Small crews of 

 low-paid and unscrupulous men were glad to take part in increasing 



