﻿THE 
  NEW 
  COAL 
  AGE 
  — 
  SLOSSON 
  247 
  

  

  sprayed 
  or 
  laid 
  upon 
  a 
  surface; 
  that 
  is, 
  applied 
  either 
  with 
  the 
  air 
  

   brush 
  or 
  the 
  hair 
  brush. 
  

  

  The 
  water 
  gases 
  that 
  in 
  some 
  sections 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  are 
  still 
  

   allowed 
  to 
  escape 
  from 
  coke 
  ovens 
  unused 
  are 
  at 
  the 
  mines 
  of 
  

   Bethune, 
  France, 
  cooled 
  and 
  condensed 
  and 
  utilized 
  for 
  making 
  

   methane, 
  benzene, 
  ethyl 
  alcohol, 
  and 
  ammonia. 
  

  

  Owing 
  to 
  the 
  catalytic 
  process 
  for 
  synthetic 
  ammonia 
  invented 
  

   by 
  Fritz 
  Haber, 
  Germany 
  is 
  now 
  exporting 
  fertilizer 
  instead 
  of 
  

   importing 
  it, 
  as 
  before 
  the 
  war. 
  About 
  425,000 
  tons 
  of 
  free 
  nitrogen 
  

   from 
  the 
  air 
  is 
  now 
  fixed 
  for 
  fertilizers 
  by 
  catalysis 
  every 
  year, 
  and 
  

   this 
  takes 
  the 
  place 
  of 
  2,700,000 
  tons 
  of 
  Chilean 
  nitrate. 
  But 
  Muscle 
  

   Shoals 
  still 
  stands 
  idle. 
  

  

  Benzene, 
  which 
  can 
  be 
  be 
  made 
  from 
  coal 
  in 
  various 
  ways, 
  is 
  the 
  

   mother 
  substance 
  of 
  the 
  aromatic 
  family 
  of 
  chemical 
  compounds, 
  a 
  

   family 
  of 
  over 
  a 
  hundred 
  thousand 
  and 
  rapidly 
  growing. 
  Among 
  

   these 
  are 
  the 
  synthetic 
  dyes 
  and 
  drugs 
  that 
  have 
  made 
  the 
  world 
  

   brighter 
  and 
  safer 
  in 
  our 
  generation. 
  One 
  of 
  these 
  products, 
  car- 
  

   bolic 
  acid, 
  is 
  familiarly 
  used 
  as 
  an 
  antiseptic 
  and 
  is 
  nearly 
  as 
  useful, 
  

   though 
  much 
  less 
  familiar, 
  as 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  components 
  of 
  bakelite. 
  

   The 
  other 
  component, 
  formaldehyde, 
  is 
  also 
  an 
  antiseptic 
  and 
  also 
  

   made 
  artificially. 
  If 
  such 
  synthetic 
  resins 
  could 
  be 
  cheapened 
  as 
  

   much 
  as 
  General 
  Patart 
  foresees, 
  they 
  would 
  be 
  used 
  for 
  the 
  finish- 
  

   ing 
  and 
  furnishing 
  of 
  houses 
  and 
  find 
  innumerable 
  and 
  inconceivable 
  

   other 
  applications. 
  

  

  The 
  chief 
  stimulus 
  to 
  such 
  investigations 
  in 
  Europe 
  is 
  the 
  search 
  

   for 
  homemade 
  motor 
  fuel. 
  We 
  Americans 
  are 
  not 
  much 
  interested 
  

   in 
  this 
  question 
  now, 
  but 
  some 
  day 
  we 
  shall 
  be, 
  and 
  meantime 
  it 
  is 
  

   interesting 
  to 
  watch 
  their 
  chemists 
  trying 
  to 
  see 
  how 
  many 
  different 
  

   things 
  they 
  can 
  make 
  out 
  of 
  common 
  coal, 
  like 
  children 
  playing 
  

   with 
  the 
  Chinese 
  tangram. 
  

  

  When 
  kerosene 
  first 
  came 
  into 
  use 
  as 
  a 
  lamp 
  illuminant, 
  it 
  was 
  

   called 
  " 
  coal 
  oil," 
  for 
  it 
  used 
  to 
  be 
  supposed 
  that 
  petroleum 
  had 
  

   somehow 
  been 
  formed 
  from 
  coal. 
  Later 
  that 
  theory 
  was 
  called 
  in 
  

   question, 
  and 
  geologists 
  are 
  still 
  disputing 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  oil. 
  We 
  

   seem 
  likely 
  to 
  use 
  it 
  up 
  before 
  we 
  find 
  out 
  where 
  it 
  came 
  from. 
  But 
  

   even 
  if 
  coal 
  oil 
  turns 
  out 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  an 
  inappropriate 
  name 
  in 
  

   the 
  past, 
  it 
  may 
  prove 
  to 
  be 
  true 
  in 
  the 
  future, 
  for 
  petroleum 
  can 
  

   be 
  made 
  from 
  coal, 
  and 
  some 
  day 
  we 
  may 
  all 
  have 
  to 
  make 
  it 
  that 
  

   way. 
  

  

  For 
  the 
  less 
  oil 
  we 
  have 
  the 
  more 
  we 
  use. 
  The 
  lower 
  the 
  supply 
  

   in 
  the 
  ground 
  the 
  higher 
  the 
  output 
  of 
  our 
  refineries. 
  This 
  increase 
  

   in 
  consumption 
  can 
  not 
  keep 
  up 
  forever, 
  however 
  liberally 
  you 
  

   may 
  estimate 
  our 
  unseen 
  supply 
  underground. 
  

  

  