acids. The Laboratory's studies aim 

 at characterizing the less stable bodies 

 accurately and devising treatments that 

 will include them in useful products 

 along with the stable cellulose. Special 

 possibilities in cellulose conversion are 

 IprTered by hydrolysis and fermentation 

 with yeasts or bacteria, which the 

 Laboratory has already successfully 

 used in the production of industrial 

 alcohol, acetic acid, and lactic acid from 

 wood. 



Lignin 



Next to cellulose, the greatest bulk 

 constituent of wood is lignin, the 

 material that surrounds the cellulose 

 fibers and forms a continuous matrix 

 or honeycomb throughout the wood. 

 Lignin has always been considered a 

 waste in the pulping process and as such 

 is discarded. Its use is limited by the 

 fact that its chemical character and 

 relationships have never been clearly 

 determined. The attack on this chem- 

 ical problem is gradually overcoming 

 obstacles. Special treatments are pro- 

 ducing lignin apparently free from 

 degradation products of the cellulose 

 and showing a recognizable chemical 

 structure; characteristics of hardwood 

 and softwood lignins are being more 

 sharply differentiated; and increasing 

 knowledge of the material indicates 

 possibilities of its conversion into useful 

 products. 



the development of special pulp prod- 

 ucts and wood plastics. The fact that 

 the cell-wall substances of wood are 

 readily convertible into sugars has led 

 to the experimental processing of saw- 

 dust as an ingredient of cattle feed. As 

 a further example of the utilization of 

 waste wood, a molding powder of true 

 plastic properties is being developed from 

 sawdust, in which the condensing and 



Top, Wood fibers resolved into their compo- 

 nent fibrils; center, the fibril subdivided into 

 fusiform bodies; bottom, spherical units of 

 cellulose, the smallest components of the 

 fiber substance visible under the microscope. 



M-8617-F, M-9053-F. M-15639-F 



Conversion products 



A Vast increases of forest market values 

 await the greater development of useful 

 products from wood waste. The best 

 opportunities in this direction seem to 

 be offered by the hydrolysis, condensa- 

 tion, and fermentation processes and 



• f r€S:: 



