196 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 3 8 



lined with glass. The first all-glass building was recently constructed 

 in North Carolina, and others are under construction. Glass in 

 fibrous form will find its most widespread application as an insulating 

 material for use in construction. Textiles made from glass, because 

 of their resistance to acids, heat, and moisture, should find a variety 

 of applications in both homes and industry. It is interesting to 

 observe, however, that some of these new products are the ripening 

 fruit of seeds planted many years ago. New mechanical devices and 

 new application of basic scientific principles have made practicable 

 the evolution of these new products. A good illustration is tempered 

 glass, which was experimented with as early as 1875, and has only 

 recently become a commercial product. The mechanical ice box did 

 not come into its own until chemistry supplied the proper refrigerants. 

 The home-construction industry can hardly yet be said to have 

 started its real race. 



It is believed that through orderly and persistent research industry 

 will also be able to absorb much of the surplus crops of American 

 farms. Cellulose is "stored sunshine." The alchemists talked of 

 storing sunshine, the English speculators of the time of John Law 

 floated companies for the purpose, the chemical industry of the future 

 will harness sunshine in the form of agricultural byproducts and con- 

 vert them into useful materials. 



A striking aspect of the march of organized research is the emphasis 

 in recent years on staple commodities, particularly those of agricul- 

 tural origin, as industrial raw materials. New products have nat- 

 urally been forced to pave their way to public acceptance by technical 

 information obtained in the laboratory. The volumes involved in 

 each case were, of course, at first small, in fact so insignificant that 

 they were disregarded by the industries they were affecting. Change 

 is too often considered as a sudden movement, which is misleading, 

 as it is more often a gradual evolution. 



To state the situation another way, new products were continually 

 coming into prominence through the pressure of research, while the 

 materials they were in part displacing lacked the informative back- 

 ground necessary to meet this aggressive competition. 



As a tangible example, the case of cotton may be mentioned. All 

 the world is familiar with the giant strides of rayon, its "college- 

 trained" rival. On top of such competition comes the falling off of 

 export volume, as a result of increasing quantities of cotton grown 

 abroad. 



Forward-looking men with constructive ideas on means of improving 

 the economic condition of the South see here a great need for a vigorous 

 research program of the cotton industry. Many of our Southern 

 States are dependent on this one crop, and their people are trained, 

 their industries are geared to a one-crop economy. 



