168 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1934 



being converted into ethylene dibromide at an efficiency somewhat 

 over 90 percent. 



The direct recovery of minerals for industrial use from sea water 

 has long held the attention of chemists, and it is believed that the 

 plant which has been described is the first to accomplish this achieve- 

 ment on a commercial scale of operation. The extraction of gold 

 from sea water, in which it is present to the extent of but a few parts 

 per billion, has always been the investigator's most fascinating goal, 

 but no success along this line has been reported thus far. Now that 

 the recovery of bromine, which is present to the extent of less than 

 70 parts per million, has been successfully executed, it does not seem 

 beyond reason to expect the chemist of the next decade to extract gold 

 from sea water commercially. 



LITERATURE CITED 



(1) Grebe. J. J., United States Patent 1891888 (Dec. 20, 1932). 



(2) Grebe, J. J., and Boundy, R. H., Ibid., 1885255 (Nov. 1, 1932). 



(3) Grebe, J. J., Boundy, R. H., and Chamberlain, L. C, Ihid., 1917762 (July 

 11, 1933) ; Grebe and Boundy, INd., 1944738 (Jan. 23, 1934). 



(4) Stine, C. M. A., Ind. Eng. Chem., vol. 21, pp. 434-42, 1929. 



