74 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1071 



J. B. TUTTLE and A. Isaacs: A Study of Some 



Secent Methods for the Determination of Total 



Sulphur in Biibher. 



This investigation was undertaken to learn 

 whether or not the methods recently published for 

 the determination of sulphur in rubber were any 

 improvement over the Waters and Tuttle method, 

 the one now in use at the Bureau of Standards. 



The methods compared were divided into two 

 classes, viz., those for the determination of the 

 total sulphur and those for the determination of 

 sulphur other than that present in the insoluble 

 sulphates. It was found that the methods of the 

 second class could not be relied upon to give accu- 

 rate results. The Waters and Tuttle method was 

 found to give satisfactory results, and is recom- 

 mended for general use. 



The free sulphur was found to be the most 

 troublesome factor, and a new method is given 

 which eliminates this difficulty. 

 E. E. Weaver and J. D. Edwards : Gas-washing 



Apparatus with Enclosed Filter. 



Three forms of gas-washing apparatus are de- 

 scribed, which give thorough circulation of the 

 liquid, eflacient washing and which operate under 

 low inlet gas pressure. If a precipitate is formed 

 it may be filtered oflE and washed without coming 

 in contact with the air. 

 E. E. Weaver: A Simple Stone-frame Chemical 



Hood. 



Two chemical hoods are described, one with and 

 one without doors. The hoods are light, simple, 

 resistant to chemical action, and easily cleaned 

 and ventilated. 

 E. E. Weaver and J. T>. Edwards : Apparatus for 



Determination of Sulphur in Gas. 



A simple apparatus for determining sulphur in 

 gas is described. The gas is burned in a straight 

 glass tube, from which the products of combustion 

 are drawn through a suitable absorbent. The 

 burner consists of a porcelain tube, the gas being 

 ignited at the tip, by a spark between platinum 

 terminals sealed to the burner tube. The air neces- 

 sary for combustion is regulated by suitably placed 

 cocks on the inlet tubes. 

 E. W. BouGHTON: The Determination of Oil and 



Besin in Varnish. 



The proposed method includes saponification of 

 the varnish, separation of unsaponifiable matter, 

 and separation of fatty acids from resin acids by 

 the Twitchell or Wolff methods of esterification. 

 A correction is applied for resinous matter that is 

 weighed as fatty acids. Oil and resin can not be 



separated by treating varnish or oxidized varnish 

 with solvents such as petrolic ether or chloroform. 

 Besinous matter is only partially precipitated by 

 petrolic ether. Determination of glycerol yield 

 and calculation of oil content therefrom is not sat- 

 isfactory. Proposed method gives results for resin 

 content which are within 5 per cent, of the 

 amounts present. 



W. 0. MiTSCHERLiNG: TetrepJwsphorus Trisiilfide. 

 H. A. Huston: The German Potash Industry. 



The potash industry includes about 200 opera- 

 ting mines and about 50 in course of construction. 

 Only the more favorable locations have been de- 

 veloped. Enormous deposits below the 5,000-foot 

 level are untouched and the whole polyhalit region 

 which contains nearly as much soluble potash as 

 the carnallit region, and is reached by the exist- 

 ing shafts, is not worked at all for potash. 



The United States use about one fourth of the 

 total production of the potash mines, being the 

 main consumers of concentrated salts. The total 

 amount of material mined annually is about 11,- 

 000,000 tons. The United States use 280,000 tons 

 of actual potash contained in about 1,250,000 tons 

 of the various products which we purchase. Of 

 this about 95 per cent, is used in agriculture and 

 five per cent, in chemical industries other than fer- 

 tilizer factories. The potash used in American 

 agriculture increased 277 per cent, from 1900 to 

 1910. That used in chemical industries increased 

 about 20 per cent. Potash used in the chemical 

 industries in the United States for the years 1911, 

 1912 and 1913 averaged 38 per cent, more than 

 that used in 1910. 



The war has caused a great increase in the cost 

 of producing potash because of advances in cost 

 of labor, fuel and explosives. Freight to the ports 

 used was much higher than to the usual ports. 

 The $4 per ton increase in price delivered at 

 American ports by no means covers the additional 

 cost previous to putting on shipboard. The in- 

 crease in ocean freight is always at the expense of 

 the seller, never at the expense of the American 

 buyer. The buyer pays for special war insurance 

 if he elects to use it. Any increase in price in 

 excess of $5 per ton represents profit to the Amer- 

 ican potash importers. 



Potash stocks in the American warehouses of 

 the German Kali Works at the outbreak of the 

 war were turned over to American buyers at reg- 

 ular list prices. 



(To ie continued) 



Charles L. Parsons, 



Secretary 



