190 Miracles Ahead! 



binds cellulose fibers together and is expected to become more 

 important than coal tar as a chemical raw material.] 



American Advances in Wood Chemistry 



American wood chemists started late in this race to utilize 

 wood as a basic raw material and foodstuff. But already they 

 have topped the Nazis in certain fields. A process developed 

 by Dr. Donald F. Othmer and his associates at Brooklyn 

 (New York) Polytechnic Institute can produce raw sugar 

 from sawdust in minutes, while the Nazi process takes several 

 hours. Industrial alcohol, protein yeast, glycerin, and other 

 valuable products can be produced from the raw sugar. The 

 next step will be the production of synthetic fibers, lubricat- 

 ing oil, plastics, vanillin for synthetic vanilla flavoring, etc. 



Our plastic-bonded plywood and other structural materials 

 from wood are as good, if not better, than the Nazis' "wooden 

 iron." These materials are expected to compete strongly with 

 the light metals and stainless steel in the construction of auto- 

 mobiles, airplanes, and prefabricated homes in the postwar 

 period. 



Warm Clothes from the Bark of Trees 



Chemists now are busy trying to get full value from the 

 bark of trees. Roofing felts and boards can be made of it, and 

 the United States Department of Agriculture's Regional Re- 

 search Laboratories have found what they believe is an excel- 

 lent source of tanning material in the bark of the Western 

 hemlock tree. This work is important because we have im- 

 ported about half of the material needed in tanning leather 

 produced in this country, and supplies have been cut sharply 

 by the war. The bark of the giant redwood also has been 

 used to make a fabric for women's hats and suits, mattresses, 



