832 



NATURE 



[February 24, 192 1 



from Switzerland and converted into cyanamide by 

 the Soci6t6 des Produits azotes, nitrogen being 

 obtained by the Claude process at Martigny, 

 Notre-Dame de Brianfon, and especially Belle- 

 garde. From 2650 to 3500 tons of cyanamide per 

 month were delivered at Angouleme. The first 

 oxidation plants were operating in the autumn of 

 1916, and the whole were in operation in 1917. 

 The programme was much enlarged in 191 7 on 

 account of the submarine warfare, and it was then 

 decided to erect factories for making 500 tons of 

 nitric acid and 150 tons of ammonium nitrate per 

 day by the oxidation of ammonia. This pro- 

 gramme required 800 tons of calcium carbide per 

 day and 125,000 kw. Water-power from the 

 Pyrenees, Central France, and the Alps, and even 

 central steam-power plants at Nanterre and Car- 

 maux, were brought into requisition. The most 

 important works was at Lannemezan (50,000 kw.), 

 and new oxidation works were installed at Tou- 

 louse, Bassens, Sorgues, and Saint Chamas. 

 Toulouse and Bassens had begun to operate at 

 the armistice, and the others were nearly finished. 

 These works would have supplied all requirements 

 in nitric acid and ammonium nitrate. 



Alcohol was used, apart from minor require- 

 ments in the purification of trinitrotoluene and 

 xylite, for the manufacture of ether for the gela- 

 tinisation of gun-cotton. Great economy was 

 effected during the war in the latter process, the 

 quantity of alcohol per ton of Poudre B being re- 

 duced, by solvent recovery, from 20 hi. to 8 hi. A 

 sixty days' stock of alcohol had been accumulated 

 and arrangements made with distillers for the 

 regular supply of 550 hi. per day, sufficient for the 

 estimated need of 24 tons of Poudre B. As the 

 war proceeded, new supplies had to be obtained 

 from the distillation of beets, molasses and 

 cider, the saccharification of grain, horse- 

 chestnuts and sawdust, and by recovery 

 from stocks of confiscated absinthe and from 

 liqueurs. Before the war the production of 

 alcohol in France was 2,000,000 hi. per annum, 

 with 6000 hi. of brandy per day, and was princi- 

 pally obtained from beets cultivated in the Depart- 

 mente du Nord. The German occupation deprived 

 the nation of this source, and there were labour 

 difficulties. In August, 1915, the distilleries and 

 stocks were requisitioned, and forced production 

 was begun. From absinthe 40,000 hi. were ob- 

 tained, 10,000 hi. from apples mixed with beets, 

 and 500.000 hi. were imported from Canada and 

 the United States. Experiments were made on syn- 

 thetic alcohol from acetylene, with encouraging 

 results. The total consumption of alcohol to (and 

 including) 1918 was 4,713,607 hi. 



Ether was made at the rate of 74 tons per day in 

 1915, iig in 1916, and 166 in 1917, mostly in 

 Government factories. 



Aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, and 

 xylene) were used in large quantities, and their 

 provision was one of the most difficult problems 

 to be solved. The pre-war annual production of 

 crude benzol from coking plants did not exceed 

 16,000-18,000 tons, the rest being imported from 

 NO. 2678, VOL. 106] 



England and Germany. The yield from coking 

 plants in occupied territory was a considerable 

 loss during the war, and not more than 3-4 tons 

 per day could be expected from the remaining 

 plants, although 50 tons in 191 5, and later as 

 much as 250 tons, per day were required. 

 Needs were supplied by the requisition of 

 stocks, imports from England and (to a less 

 extent) from America, the re-starting and erection 

 of recovery ovens, extraction from town gas and 

 from Borneo petroleum. The use in private fac- 

 tories was restricted, and every available means 

 of ;rectification was brought into requisition. 

 I'Vom one-third to one-fourth of the weight of 

 crude benzol was recoverable as toluene, although 

 the English supplies had been detoluated previous 

 to export. Borneo petroleum was an important 

 source (35-40 tons per day). Three fractions 

 were obtained. The benzene fraction boiled at 

 80-81° C, the toluene fraction at no-ii2°, 

 and the xylene fraction at 130-132°. These frac- 

 tions were nitrated and the unattacked hydro- 

 carbons distilled off. The mononitrotoluene and 

 mononitroxylene were converted into trinitro- 

 toluene and xylite, the nitrobenzene being sent to 

 the aniline factories for conversion into diphenyl- 

 amine for use as a stabiliser. The production of 

 trinitrotoluene rose from 10 tons per day in 191 5 

 to 50 tons in igi6 and 60 tons in 1917. 



Phenol and metacresol were used for nitro- 

 explosives. Before the war all the phenol had 

 been imported from Germany, and a large amount 

 of work was necessary before the production from 

 benzene (by fusion of sodium benzenesulphonate 

 with caustic soda, and 2-3 tons per day from 

 aniline by diazotisation) was in operation. The 

 supplies of synthetic phenol (excluding relatively 

 unimportant American imports) rose from 200 tons 

 in 1914 to a maximum of 52,747 tons in 1917. 



After the explosion in the Liberie in 191 1, large 

 quantities of gun-cotton were thrown into the sea 

 outside Toulon. This was recovered in excellent 

 condition and utilised. The two State factories 

 of AngoulSme and Moulin- Blanc were developed 

 for the manufacture of propellants. New factories 

 were later erected at d'Empalot (Toulouse) and 

 Bergerac. The maximum productions of gun- 

 cotton per day reached 120 tons at Angoulfime, 

 38 tons at Moulin-Blanc, 140 tons at Tou- 

 louse, 100 tons at Bergerac, and 35 tons 

 from private firms. Cotton cellulose was ex- 

 clusively used. The preliminary washing and 

 extraction of grease were carried out mainly at 

 Angouleme, and to a less extent in paper- and dye- 

 works. More than thirty works supplied 240 tons 

 of cotton daily, sufficient for 360 tons of gun- 

 cotton, which was brought up to 433 tons in 1916 

 by American importation. Nitration, with a mix- 

 ture of nitric and sulphuric acids, was before the 

 war carried out in pots. This method required 

 much less apparatus than the new methods of 

 Selwig and Thomson, which were introduced only 

 when a crisis in the supply was feared. Pots were 

 used at Toulouse, AngoulSme, Bracqueville, and 

 Bergerac. Angouleme later installed a Selwig 



