September 14, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



257 



cheapest and most available means for the pro- 

 duction of nitrates and other products for 

 munitions of war and useful in the manufac- 

 ture of fertilizers and other products." 



The general recommendations and report of 

 the Nitrate Supply Committee are announced 

 as follows: 



After a deliberate and careful consideration 

 of all the matter and information at the dis- 

 posal of the cormnittee, it submits the follow- 

 ing as its action: 



1. The committee, appreciating the offer of 

 the General Chemical Company, recommends 

 that the government enter into negotiations 

 to acquire the rights to use the synthetic am- 

 monia process of that company. 



2. That contingent upon satisfactory ar- 

 rangements with the General Chemical Com- 

 pany, out of the $20,000,000 nitrate supply ap- 

 propriation such sum as may be needed, now 

 estimated at $3,000,000, be placed at the dis- 

 posal of the War Department to be used in 

 building a synthetic ammonia plant, employ- 

 ing the said process of the General Chemical 

 Company, and of a capacity of 60,000 pounds 

 of ammonia per twenty-four-hour day, said 

 plant to be located in a region where land, 

 water, coal and sulphuric acid are cheaply 

 available, where good transportation facilities 

 exist, and where the proposed new powder plant 

 of the government can be properly located. In 

 the opinion of this committee all of these con- 

 ditions just enumerated are best fulfilled by a 

 location in southwest Virginia or contiguous 

 region. 



3. That out of the $20,000,000 nitrate sup- 

 ply appropriation an amount now estimated at 

 $600,000, or as much as may be needed, be 

 placed at the disposal of the War Department 

 to be used in building a plant for the oxidation 

 of ammonia to nitric acid and the concentra- 

 tion of nitric acid, of a capacity equivalent to 

 24,000 pounds of 100 per cent, nitric acid in a 

 twenty-four-hour day, said plant to be located 

 in the neighborhood of the aforesaid synthetic 

 ammonia plant and the proposed new powder 

 plant of the government. 



4. That the War Department proceed at the 

 earliest practical date with the construction of 



the oxidation plant and contingent upon a sat- 

 isfactory arrangement with the General Chem- 

 ical Company, also with the synthetic am- 

 monia plant, and that the government give 

 such priority orders as will secure from con- 

 tractors prompt delivery of the materials and 

 rapid construction of the structure and ma- 

 chinery needed for those plants. 



5. The committee, appreciating the offer of 

 the Nitrogen Products Company granting, in 

 this country, to the government, under certain 

 conditions, the right to use the so-called 

 Bucher process for the production of sodium 

 cyanide and ammonia, recommends that a 

 form of contract, drawn with the advice of 

 the legal authorities of the government, such 

 as to give that company no guaranty or ex- 

 clusive rights in the process, or in its future 

 development, beyond those which the com- 

 pany's own patents give to it, be entered into 

 with the Nitrogen Products Company, and 

 that experimentation looking toward the in- 

 dustrial development of the Bucher process for 

 the production of ammonia be at once pro- 

 ceeded with. And, further, that contingent 

 upon a satisfactory arrangement with the 

 Nitrogen Products Company, a sum not to 

 exceed $200,000 be allotted for this purpose 

 out of the $20,000,000 nitrate supply appro- 

 priation. 



6. That out of the $20,000,000 nitrate 

 supply appropriation $100,000 be made avail- 

 able for the active prosecution of investiga- 

 tions of processes for the industrial produc- 

 tion of nitrogen compounds useful in the 

 manufacture of explosives or of fertilizers, and 

 that these investigations be planned and super- 

 vised by the War Department. 



7. That in order to increase the production 

 of ammonia and toluol the government pro- 

 mote the installation of by-product coke ovens 

 by directing that priority be given in the pro- 

 duction, delivery, and transportation of the 

 materials and parts needed in their construc- 

 tion. 



8. That the decision as to more extensive 

 installation of nitrogen fixation processes and 

 water power development in connection with 

 them be postponed until the plants above rec- 



