Industrial Research 



231 



preparations, as has the pancreas, used in the production 

 of insuUn. And stainless steel has reached a new 

 dignity in becoming the alloy for coinage in one of the 

 European countries. It is also used as the palate por- 

 tion of artificial dentures. 



New Products 



When we come to new products, the list could be 

 made most extensive. One great company, reviewing 

 the more important developmental lines over a 10-year 

 period, discussed 12 groups of products, none of which 

 had been in production at the beginning of the period. 

 These 12 lines accounted for about 40 percent of the 

 company's total sales volume for the year reported. 

 Other industries can show variants of this ratio. At the 

 moment we hear most of new fibers like nylon yarn, 

 which has a higher strength-elasticity factor than that of 

 any textile fiber now in common use, whether cotton, 

 linen, rayon, or silk, to offer new competition for natural 

 bristles used in various brushes, to become a coating 

 material, and which will doubtless find many appli- 

 cations in other directions. Vinyon is another of the 

 new fibers, resistant to dilute acids and alkalies, and 

 therefore gaining in popularity as a medium for filtra- 

 tion. Glass fiber with surprising properties when one 

 considers glass as it is ordinarily met is now available 



in colors and, as a nonflammable, enduring fabric, is 

 pushing its way in competition with Imen and cotton 

 for draperies, table covers, and in the electrical industry 

 as a competitor with asbestos. Kodachrome brings 

 pleasure and instruction to millions, being the most 

 successful of the ])liotogiai)hic films reproducing a scene 

 in natural colors. The vitamins, so mysterious 30 

 years ago, have been isolated in numbers as research 

 has gone on and, of the 15 now recognized, 8 have been 

 synthesized. Some of these are available at a price 

 lower than when derived from natural sources. Vita- 

 mine Bi, now known as thiamin chloride, is available 

 at such cost that it can be used profitably to aid the root 

 development of plants. It will be used to replace 

 vitamin Bj removed from wheat flour by milling. A 

 high Bi yeast now on the market when used in amounts 

 for leavening will restore the B, of white flour removed 

 by milling. Indole acetic acid and propionic acids also 

 function as synthetic auxins in promoting root develop- 

 ment in vegetative reproduction of plants from cuttings. 

 The new medicinals that have been born of reseai'ch 

 are of greatest importance and comprise a very long 

 list of their own. We hear much of sulfanilamide and 

 its derivatives and rightly so, as measured by the results 

 that have been accomplished. There is reason to believe 

 however, that the further development of these deriva- 



Figure 69. — Main Library, The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Micliigan 



