October 6, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



479 



have sought relief feverishly through the 

 kelp fields of the Pacific coast, the alunite 

 deposits of Utah, the feldspars, blast fur- 

 nace and cement works waste, and have as 

 yet obtained but slight relief. Something 

 noteworthy may yet result from these earn- 

 est efforts, especially through the aid of 

 the appropriation of $175,000 by congress 

 for further investigation of kelp, but at 

 present we seem to have adopted the gen- 

 eral policy of waiting until the war is 

 ended. 



Let me, in this connection, remind you of 

 the old problem, namely, the rendering 

 available in situ the potash now in the 

 fields in the form of silicates. The records 

 of the U. S. Bureau of Soils show that the 

 average weight of a foot acre of the sandy 

 soil of the cotton belt is 1,750 tons, and it 

 contains an average of .1 of 1 per cent, 

 potash, or If tons K,0 per acre, while the 

 clay soils average in weight 2,000 tons per 

 foot acre, and show an average potash con- 

 tent of 1.68 per cent, or 33.6 tons K„0 per 

 acre. Prom this material nature slowly 

 supplies available potash for plant food 

 through the action of the soil solution upon 

 the potash-bearing silicates, but the process 

 is too slow. Many lines of research are in 

 daily progress in our laboratories whose ob- 

 ject is the discovery of "accelerants" for 

 certain chemical reactions. Does not the 

 importance of this problem and its alto- 

 gether normal character demand of us 

 greater effort to find a suitable accelerant 

 for this world wide process. The problem 

 is easy to state, its solution has as yet 

 proved impracticable. May we not hope 

 that the activities of physical chemists 

 through studies of the soil solution and its 

 action upon the mineral constituents of the 

 soil will ultimately be successful? 



Coal Tar Dyestuffs. — It is unnecessary 

 for me to remind you at this time of the 

 great disturbance of our industrial life 



which resulted from the cessation of im- 

 ports of German dyestuffs, nor of the rapid 

 extension of the by-product coke oven 

 whereby we are now assured of a far more 

 than adequate supply of raw material for 

 an American dyestuff industry sufficient for 

 American needs. It is a pleasure to testify 

 to the energy and resourcefulness of our 

 dyestuff manufacturers who, in spite of 

 competition with the munitions industry 

 for coal tar crudes and for necessary acids 

 and with uncertainty as to the future con- 

 stantly dogging their steps, nevertheless, 

 have notably contributed to the relief of the 

 dyestuff famine. 



It is my purpose, however, to trace, for 

 the sake of the record, the efforts made 

 during the past two years to obtain legis- 

 lative assurance of a fair start in the up- 

 building of a well-rounded permanent in- 

 dustry, and to point out the character of 

 the legislation which on the last day of the 

 present session of congress became a law 

 of the land. It is a distressing story, 

 humiliating to all who wish for our coun- 

 try freedom in every possible form. Here 

 is the story. 



Immediately after the outbreak of the 

 war the New York Section of this society, 

 foreseeing economic distress from possible 

 shortage of dyestuffs, appointed a repre- 

 sentative and politically non-partisan com- 

 mittee to report on the prerequisites of an 

 adequate self-contained American dye- 

 stuff industry. The report, unanimously 

 adopted by this the largest of our local 

 sections, recommended congressional enact- 

 ment of protective duties amounting to 

 thirty per cent, ad valorem and 1\ cents 

 per pound specific on finished dyestuffs, 

 one half these amounts on intermediates 

 and an effective anti-dumping clause. 

 The protective rates of this report formed 

 the basis of the Hill bill, introduced in the 

 house on the opening day of Congress by 



