November 21, 1918] 



NATURE 



chemistry, pure and applied, emanating from the 

 various societies and publishing agencies, and 



am a list of the more importanl books which 

 have appeared in 1917 18. Chap, ix. consists oi 

 notes and news of importanl developments which 

 have OCl mi. el since the first edition was published. 

 On the value of a work of this kind to all 

 engaged in the practical pursuit of chemistry, 

 whether as teacher or technologist, or even as 

 dealer or agent, we have already dwell in a notice 

 of the first edition, and we expressed a regret that 

 nothing exactly similar to it was to be found in 

 our own country. Under the changed conditions 

 due to the war, and owing to the quickened 



1 iation of the value of science, both purr and 

 applied, to the national welfare, and to the greati I 

 recognition of the importance of co-operation and 



dination of national effort, it can scarcely he 



ed that such a work would be of the greatest 

 service to those concerned in the chemical arts 

 in this country, and would become practically indis- 

 pensable. That such is the case in America with 

 the present work seems to be obvious from the 

 character of the new edition, in which apparently 

 no pains have been spared in order to render it 

 complete and comprehensive, and as convenient in 

 use as possible. 



From the last chapter, on "News and Notes," 

 we extract a few items which are of interest at 

 the present time as serving- to show with what 

 energy America is dealing- with the conditions 

 arising out of the war. She has largely developed 

 the svnthctic ammonia industry. Processes are 

 being worked by the War Department and the 

 Department of Agriculture, and the Air Nitrates 

 Corporation has been officially appointed by the 

 first-named Department to manufacture ammo- 

 nium nitrate. The New York City Department 

 of Health Laboratories are producing large quan- 

 tities of antitoxins, and arsphenamine is being 

 manufactured by the Dermatological Research 

 Laboratories in Philadelphia, the Takamine Labo- 

 ratory in New York, and what was formerly the 

 Farbwerke Hochst Co. of New York City. The 

 supply of hypnotics and anaesthetics of all kinds 

 is no longer under German control. 



In 1917 there were seventy concerns in the 

 United States with benzol-recovery plant. The 

 estimated production of benzol in 1917 was 



0,000 gallons. The Midland Chemical 

 . is producing large quantities "^ 

 bromine. Through the efforts of the United States 

 Bureau of Mines and the American Chemical 

 ■ ty a complete detailed census has been taken 

 of more than 15,000 American chemists. A 

 number of American manufacturers of dyes arc 

 employing from twenty-five to seventy-five 

 chemists in their research departments. The 

 American dye industry has now invaded the 

 market in European and Allied countries, South 

 America, Canada, Japan, and India. It is esti- 

 mated that in the early part of [918 there were 

 more than 150 firms actually producing "anilines " 

 in the United States. The drug and chemical 

 markets quote weekly nearly one hundred 

 NO. 2560, VOL. I02] 



"crudes" and "intermediates," and more than 

 two hundred dyestuffs are available in the United 

 Slates market. The capital invested in the 

 American dyestuff industry is estimated at 

 250,000,000 dollars, which is much above the 

 amount of the total capital of the seven leading 

 German companies in 1914. Up to the present, 

 American chemists and manufacturers have 

 d on the mar'kel 75 per cent, of the dye- 

 stuffs formerly imported, and it is claimed 

 that by the end of 1918 all necessary colours will 

 be manufactured in the country. 



When the war broke out in August, 1914, there 

 were only six factories, employing possibly 350 to 

 400 operatives, manufacturing coal-tar colours, 

 with an approximate production of 3000 tons. 

 American dyestuffs in 1914 depended almost 

 entirely upon the mere assembling of "intermedi- 

 ates " delivered from German sources. The total 

 annual consumption of synthetic colours in 1914 

 in the United States was about 27,000 tons. To- 

 day there are probably fifty responsible manufac- 

 turing establishments producing dyestuffs in 

 America, and the production is well above 35,000 

 tons, all made from American coal-tar. In the 

 classes of dyes which, if imported, would be duti- 

 able at 30 per cent, phts 5 cents a pound, Ameri- 

 can manufacturers have shown remarkable pro- 

 gress. The production is so far in excess of the 

 home needs that during the fiscal year 1917 

 American-made dyes were exported to the value 

 of 11,709,287 dollars. Thus the exports exceeded 

 the pre-war imports in total value, although not in 

 tonnage or in the variety of the dyes. With a 

 view to the protection of their interests in the 

 economic war which is bound to follow, the 

 American manufacturers have established a Dye- 

 stuff Manufacturers' Association. Other German 

 industries, such as scientific and laboratory glass- 

 ware and chemical and electrical porcelain, have 

 been assailed in like manner, and America is now 

 independent of imported supplies. 



In 1915 the National Exposition of Chemical 

 Industries was organised in order to foster the 

 growth of chemical industries in America. It has 

 now become an institution in the chemical indus- 

 trial affairs of the country. The expansion of the 

 Exposition is indicative in a measure of the growth 

 of the chemical industries. In 191 5 the number 

 of exhibits was eighty-three; in 1916, 188; and 

 in 1917, 323. In 1915 the visiting attendance 

 was 63,000; in 1916, 80,000 ; and in 1917, 111,514. 



Evidence of the astonishing influence of the war 

 in quickening American energy and enterprise is 

 seen in almost every department of chemical 

 activity. At the end of 1917 practically every 

 "intermediate " of importance was being produced 

 in the country; the production of phenol in 1917 

 was more than double that of 1916. More than 

 200 plants are making sulphuric acid in the States, 

 and the production of the present year will be 

 1,500,000 tons greater than in any previous year. 



Germany has already had a rude awakening, 

 but she has yet to realise the full measure of the 

 economic ruin which awaits her. 



