A l)i:c"i:\NiAJ, Kkcoki) .>.) 



charcoal, and the process was worked out hy hd)()i-atorv chemists on 

 a seiiii-coinniercial scale at the Cleveland chemical laboratory of the 

 Chemical AVarf'are Service. 'JMie commercial production was just 

 about to be undertaken at the termination of hostilities. 



A number of other problems connected with defensive and offen- 

 sive chemical warfare were worked upon and definite conclusions 

 reached. Changing conditions, however, frequently made the results 

 of no value almost before thev were secured. Among these ])roblems 

 may be mentioned tear gases, gask mask filters, carbon monoxide 

 absorbent, sohent for arsene gas, and tlie I'ecovery of isoprene and 

 toluol from turpentine. 



It seemed, at first sight, that oin* entrance into the war would not 

 throw a very great burden upon the wood distillation industry since 

 the British munitions manufacturers were the onlv ones usiuir acetate 

 of lime in making smokeless })owder and it was not anticipated that 

 American manufactiu'ers would ])ro(luce this particular type of ])ow- 

 der. It soon developed, however, that the aircraft program woukl 

 demand twice the current production of acetate for the preparation of 

 the cellulose acetate "dope" used to shrink the wing fabric. 



The Signal Corps finally decided to construct several new distil- 

 lation plants, after the field had been carefully gone over and the 

 merits of various expedients determined. The laboratory acted in a 

 consulting capacity in all of this work and also assisted })lants already 

 in operation to secure greater yields through the use of a temperature 

 control method worked out by the laboratory before the war. 



Later, when the demand for acetic acid became so acute that the 

 price of production no longer was a controlling factor, a method of 

 increasing the yields of acetic acid by fusion of the wood with caustic 

 soda was perfected. This method pi-oduced three and one-half times 

 as much acetic acid ])er unit weight of wood as straight distillation. 



Wood CcUuloxc for Kj'pJos/vcs 



Among the many fancied and real shortages of raw material, 

 those having to do with munitions were perhaps the most spectacular, 

 because their immediate significance M'as most easily a})preciate(l by 

 the lay mind. Among these munition shortages none seemed to come 

 so unex])ectedly or dcveloj) so rapidly as that of cotton linters. the 



