Decembek 31, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



645 



especially needed. In addition to the trainiag 

 which a man receives fitting him as a chemist, he 

 should also have a definite amount of experience 

 before he is considered a chemist to qualify as 

 such and should have a university training or its 

 equivalent in the fundamentals of chemistry, 

 physics and mathematics, and in addition, have 

 had at least five years experience in a research 

 laboratory connected either with the university or 

 an industry. This can best be accomplished by 

 appointing men who have just been graduated as 

 junior chemists to be advanced to assistant chem- 

 ist after two years of satisfactory work under the 

 direction of senior chemists. From the assistant 

 grade appointment should be made as a chemist 

 after satisfactory evidence has been given by as- 

 sistant chemist of his ability to understand and 

 appreciate the responsibility to his profession in 

 rendering efficient and accurate service. The title 

 of chemist should carry with it distinction and 

 should not be lightly given to men whose qualifi- 

 cations do not fit them for the kind of service 

 which the chemist should reader to his profession. 



Laboratory equipment: 0. V. Ogilvie, G. S. 

 Simpson, M. L. Ckossley. In order to secure 

 accuracy and efficient results in analysis in organic 

 research laboratories it is imperative that we use 

 standard equipment in which the factor of equip- 

 ment error is reduced to a minimum. We propose 

 two such pieces of standard equipment for labora- 

 tory purposes, first, a diazotization burette. This 

 is a jacketed burette which can be cooled to any 

 desired temperature by circulating brine and which 

 can be used for diazo solutions easily decom- 

 posed by light. The burette is similar to a con- 

 denser of the shellback type, having a blue line on 

 a white background. The lower end of this 

 burette should be made of capillary tubing so that 

 only a small volume of solution is held in this 

 portion of the burette. The burette is sealed in a 

 condenser tubing, care being taken to avoid an 

 exposure of much of the burette surface. The in- 

 let and outlet tubes for circulatiag the brine solu- 

 tion through the jacket are so placed as to allow 

 the water to surround the entire burette. It is 

 protected from the direct rays of the light by 

 standing the jacket leaving only sufficient exposed 

 surface of the jacket to enable the operator to 

 read the volume of the solution. The same thing 

 can be accomplished by using a colored solution 

 for cooling the jacket. Second, a standard stir- 

 ring equipment for use with volatile liquids. We 

 propose laboratory stirring equipment to be used 



for either the extraction or mixing of volatile 

 liquids consisting of a wide mouth flask fitted 

 with thermometer and glass stirrer driven by a 

 shaft which extends through a condenser. This 

 vertical shaft is driven from a 1" horizontal shaft 

 36" above the bench. The vertical shaft is sup- 

 ported from the wall by iron bearings and placed 

 7" from the horizontal shaft. By proper adjust- 

 ment of the driving pulleys, one can carry on 

 stirring at different heights from the operating 

 bench. The bearings are of glass and the pulleys 

 of wood. The pulleys have three speeds and are 

 driven by 1/8" leather belting. This type of 

 equipment does away with the necessity of mercury 

 seal which is usiually necessary in work of this 

 kind and which frequently contaminates the reac- 

 tion mass. 



Action of sulfuric add on nitro carbocylic com- 

 pounds: M. L. Crosslet. Certain nitro com- 

 pounds react with sulphuric acid under certain 

 conditions with explosive violence producing ami- 

 nophenol, sulfonic acids and complex compounds 

 of unknown composition. The reaction is exo- 

 thermic and is quite general. The temperature at 

 which the reaction takes place is just a few de- 

 grees above that at which the substances remain 

 in contact unchanged. It is the purpose of this 

 paper to emphasize the dangerous character of 

 this reaction, especially when the reaction mass is 

 large and is confined in a vessel with a closed top. 

 On a manufacturing scale it is extremely difficult 

 to control this reaction and it should be guarded 

 against in processes where it might be secondary 

 to some main reaction. A few months ago this re- 

 action was brought about by accident in a plant 

 in this country and it resulted in a bad explosion 

 in which several men were badly injured and one 

 man killed. It is hoped that other manufacturers 

 wiU profit by this experience and thus prevent loss 

 of life and property which would otherwise result. 



DIVISION OF INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING 

 CHEMISTRY 



H. D. Batehelor, chairman 



H. E. Howe, secretary 



Cellulose Symposium. G. J. Esselen, Jr., chairman 

 Begenerating iooTc-siocTc : Charles Baskerville 

 and Clarence M. Joyce. Attention is directed to 

 the enormous amounts of old magazines and books, 

 much of which now goes to waste, although much is 

 converted into box-board, roofing paper, etc. The 

 term "bookstock" is applied in this communica- 



