From "America's Munitions" THE PRODUCTION OP NEW AND STRONGER FORMS OF fciTEEL IS ONIfl OF THE GREATEST TRIUMPHS OF MODERN CHEMISTRY Midvale , «— jJst been drawn •eady for quenching [Frontispiece. CREATIVE CHEMISTRY DESCRIPTIVE OF RECENT ACHIEVE- MENTS IN THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES BY EDWIN E. SLOSSON, M.S., Ph.D. Literary Editor of "The Independent," Associate in Columbia School of Journalism WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PRESS, LTD. 18 WARWICK SQUARE, E.C.4 1921 HODDER AND STOUGHTONT, PUBLISHERS FOR THE UNIVERSITV OF LONDON PHE^S, QLTD. PREFACE This book originated in a series of articles prepared for The Independent in 1917-18 for the purpose of interesting the general reader in the recent achievements of industrial chem- istry and providing supplementary reading for studento of chemistry in colleges and high schools, I am indebted to Hamilton Holt, editor of The Independent, and to Karl V. 8. Howland, its publisher, for stimulus and opportunity to un- dertake the writing of these pages and for the privilega of reprinting them in this form. In gathering the material for this volume I have received the kindly aid of so many companies and individual** that it In impossible to thank them all but I mnnt at leant mention an those to whom I am especially grateful for information, ad* vice and criticism: Thomas H. Norton of the Department of Commerce; Dr. Bernhard 0. Hesse; IL S. Bailey of the De- partment of Agriculture; Professor Juliu* Rtleglita of tha University of Chicago; h. B, Edgar of the Du Pont da Nemours Company; Milton Whitney of the U, 8. Burr mi of Soils; Dr. H. N. McCoy; K. P. Kellerman of the Bureau of Plant Industry. K K, 8. TO MY FIRST TEACHER PROFESSOR B. H. S. BAILEY OP THE T72UY1B8ITY OP AND MY LAST TEACHER PROFESSOR JULIUS STIEGLITZ OP THX UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO THIS VOLUME IS GWATEPULLY DEDICATED CONTENTS I Tmm PHtiorm or Pancmw *J II NlTKOOKN . 14 III FxK&fNO tin SOIL 37 IV CCMI^TM COWW «0 V SYNTHETIC Pmrusin ANU Pt«Avoim . , . , d.1 VI CKU,i;t/jm 110 VII STNTitmo Pumnofi 13» VIII TIIK RACK nm Uvmm 145 IX THK KiVAt, SrfUMH 164 X WHAT CVmtsK nto* C!O«K , ,. 181 XI HfiwwnEii SumiiiNK 196 XII FtotiTiNf} WITH Fvmm ,,. 21M XIII P»ODUon or T»t Eijccnnuc FuMAoe . . . , 238 XIV IIWAM, OLD AMD Nmr 2fl:i 2tt7 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The production of new uttl nlmngfr form* of uteri in mm of the gwatettt triumphs of modern chemuitry *•-—'• The hand grtnada* mnl&in potential gy capable' of canning a v«nt *maunt tif dent met ton when rtkascci 10 Women in a munition plant engaged in tht wntmfnvtun* of tri*nitro-toluol • . , • . . . . . . IT A chemical reaction on a largt i&fak ^2 Burning air in a Btrkf!and»Kyde fwrnaet at fht* DnFoni plant 38 A battery of Birkfland-Byde ftirnaeta for thu flutitin of nitroRfiit at the DuPont plant 33 Fixing nitro^n by (»n!ritiin rarintk , ,. 40 A barrow full of prtfanh Halt« f»xtrai?t<Hl from nil Umn of fOtH«n k<*lp by thf ir«vi*rnini*nl rhrmtiitJi . - ,41 Nature *n ailent mtthod of nitrogen fixation * . , , .41 In order to nfcurt* a new mpply of potanh aalta fhf» ! f nit<*4 HtatcH Govcnimrut g#t up an #itptrimimtai iiiant ml Hutberland, Califonnia, for th<- ntilimtum m ki*(p , f/2 Overhead motion at tht San Di^n wharf pnmpint kt*l{t from tbi bai^i to tbt Aigmthn innk* . . , , , r»:j The kelp hirrtiftr gutheritifr th# m*twt^dl fmm tht» t'nrifln Ocean .*, , M A battery of Koppem by-product «?ok^ovrnK HI tlw phut of thu Bflhlrhfm HtiwI Company, ttftarraw* I'mnt, Maryland ., ,. >t 60 la these miiiiif vat# at tti«* Buffalo Worku, aniline dym art prtpartd .,., ,. , , , fil A paper mill in net-ton , . , CYHIW from wtml pulp h tmvt mmh iisto a Ur«r vanity of itaefitl artirtai of wbirh a frw tiattifilisi §rt turn picture .» •.,. # ILLUSTRATIONS Plantation rubber 160 Forest rubber .160 In making garden hum the rtiljiw*r is formal into n inh* by the machine on the right unit wilt*d **?* t!»*••* !«l*li* to the left . . 161 The rival sugars n$ Interior of a sugar mill showing th** ttiftf*)tmir>< f «r mill- ing cane to extract the juke . 17? Vacuum pans of the Amerkan Hiifmr Jtf flurry Vnmpmty . 17? Cotton seed oil as it i« nquwgrtl tmm thr wwl hy th<* presses .• , , *., so© Cotton seed oil aa it cvrnm front thr» t^>mprf*ft«t«iiNi flowing out of the faucets „,, *JOI Splitting coconuts on the inland of Tnhitt . . . . , ill The electric current paining thrwifh intl m^frr in tfceftft cells decompc»a$ thf pull intci r«tt«iif> noiiii i«ri chlorine ga* ,, , 217 Germans starting a gut attaek on tlii Riii^imii Hum Pilling the cannifltert of gsi mmtoi with from fruit pits—Long Iibnd City • The chlorpicrin plant at tht Bdgmaofi Anuiint 334 Repairing the broken item pott of tb« {/.#,& Xvrthtr* Pacific, the bi«seit marine weld in the worW . 235 Making aloxite in tht rhrtrk fnrtwcm hy fu«ifi^ mtk® and banxita . . . . §10 A blodk of carborundum eryittla ill Making carborundum io the tltetrk turtmm » > , 211 Types of gas mask xxm\ by America, th« AUi^i «ni many during the war ,, ,, Pumping melted white pho»phonw into bantl frrn«di« filled with watef^-Edpwood Ani««i«t , , . , . Ml PiUing shell with "mattard giyi tf •*.,.«. 957 Photomicrographs showing the ntnieturc of mmi madt by Profwor E. & M^te nf Forditi U»iftrtfiy . f 878 The miow^pie strata!* of m«*tal#. . . , t # # 878 INTRODUCTION BY *hiuvn Formerly Frwlfoml of ihtt Afti*ri«*»#t tiirmifftt fWiHjf # Ptntnmf *»f Chemtatry in Tfe«* VnltvtMy nf i J*kii$«» The recent war as never beton in tho history <»f th«* world brought to tho nation* of the earth a realization of the vital plaea which the wimteo of chomiiitry holdn In the devalopmeitt of the renourecM of a nation* Homo of the moit pietttresquc* foaturea of thii awakening reached the great publie through tho prtii. Thni, tha adventurous trips of tho DeuUchland with its eargoea of wneentratud aniline dyc» f valnod tit million* *tf dul- omphamsed m no oflntr tncidimt otir ftittrmf e! upon Oornmny far thtmci priidnrtH nf hftr chemical indtiBtries* The pnblto read f too, that hor ehtmiiti Kavedl Cli*r- many from an early dtsaatroua dtftit t tmth in tho fluid of militaiy operationa and in tho matttr of fitomtftia supplies: nnqiifitioiiably, without tho tromondbQii t 1 !* pannion of her plants for ttia prodiiation of fiitrntaii and ammonia from tho nir hy th«! prnemmn nf Ifatitr, Out- wald and others of her grntt chi*mintH f ttit* wnr wtitttd have ended in 1915, or early in l!H8 f from oxlmiiiiticin of Otrmatiy'i snppiien of nitrato c*iplin*ivt*i f If nut in* died from oxhauition of her food itifiplbs in a. mmm* qmnm of tho lack of ntirato itnil ammonia fortilixitr for her fields. Inventions of inhntitntea t®r notion, copper, rubW, wool and many other 1mm reported* INTRODUCTION These feats of chemistry, performed under this stress of dire necessity, have, no doubt, excited tbo wonder and interest of our public. It is far more important at this time, however, when both for war and for peaci? needs, the resources of our country are jitr;iin?d to thi* utmost, that the public should awaken to a cliwr realiza- tion of what this science of chemistry reidly mean* for mankind, to the realization that it* wizardry pvttmmim the whole life of the nation as a vitalising, protoctivo and constructive agent very mueli in the mmw way a§ our blood, coursing through our veins iiticl firtc*rtttt t carries the constructive, defensive and Ufa-bringing materials to every organ in the body* If the layman will but understand that ebemi*try in the fundamental science of ths transformation nf trial* ter, he ynH readily accept the validity of this sweeping assertion: he wiU realize, for instance, wlsy exaetly the same fundamental laws of the scianet apply to f tnci make possible scientific control of, guch widely diver* gent national industries as agriculture ant! «tai»l manu- facturing. It governs the troasforniAtion of thu salt*, minerals and humus of our fields and the oomponetits of the air into corn, wheat, cotton and the innmaenible other products of the soil; it governs no k§« tbo trann* formation of crude ores into steel and dfaf$ $ whieb 4 with the cunnii^ bom of ebtmical knowledg» t tmy be given practically any conetiimblt quality of birdntit, elasticity, toughness or strength. And euetiy the same thing may be said of the hundred* of national HO tivities that lie between the two iitrtmts of ugricul ture and steel manufacture! Moreover, the domain of the science of tb# [...]... discovered how to extract from thrni* thmr medicinal principle such as morphine, quinine* am! cocaine, and the creative chemist has dificov«»rt«l how to make innumerable drugs adapted to s p w i f k itimmmm and individual idiosyncrasies In the later or creative stages wa £*ttc?r the domain of chemistry, for it is the ehemiHt alone who pnmmm*n the power of reducing a substance to iU c o n n t i t w n... e s s e s this creative faculty to a more eminent degree t h a n t h e o t h e r sciences because it penetrates more profoundly a n d a t t a i n s even to the natural elements of existences* S i n c e R e r t i i e l o t ' s time, that is, within the last fifty yearn, c h e m i s t x y has won its chief triumphs in the field of s y n t h e s i s O r g a n i c chemistry, that is, the chemistry of the... a k e n a development far overshadowing i n o r g a n i c e h t e z n i s t r y , or the chemistry of mineral sub- 8 CEEATIVE CHEMISTRY stances Chemists have prepared or know how to prepare hundreds of thousands of such " o r g a n i c mnn» pounds," few of which occur in the natural world But this conception of chemistry is yet fur from having been accepted by the world at large Thin w a s brought forcibly... the groat r e m i t * of mmfcrn activity a s well a# l o m e of thi» big probl^mif whi«?h continue to engage the attention of our ebcmint* Jlr, INTRODUCTION Slosson has indeed the unique quality of combining an exact and intimate knowledge of chemistry with the* exquisite clarity and pointedness of express icm of a born writer We have here an exposition by a muster mintl t nn exposition shorn of the... aspect of chemistry, for he d e f i n e d , i t a s "the science of analysis and synthesis/9 o f t a k i n g apart and of putting together The motto o f c h e m i s t r y , as of all the empirical sciences, i s savotr c e&t %>o%ivoir} to know in order to do This i s the p r a g m a t i c t e s t of all useful knowledge Berthelot goes ou t o s a y : C h e m i s t r y c r e a t e s its object This creative. .. is the greatest t*pie this wurltl ban ever known, and like the great national «*pies of bynrunn ages, should quicken the life of the nation by n tvn\iz&* tion of its powers and a picture of its k CREATIVE CHEMISTRY La Chimia jmdde xm degrS plus iminmt que h% mtrm parce qu'elle p^nltr® phii pmfm$*m«ml *t atteint juaqu'aux elemcntM naturrb tJt^i Hnn, E A T I V E C H E M I S T R Y I H I K E R PKKIODH... a r Jinr* tl$i^ *itf|tii»nny in iti%*fi m a n piekn tip whiitf*wr hi? csan ftnd avail* tin nac H i i iw©wi*#r in th# nmi ntaffv of b i p e a a n d d t i r t k p i t h i i enidlf» ifnttrtnttitnt 4 CREATIVE CHEMISTRY until it becomes m o r e suitable for his p u r p o s e But in t h e course of time m a n often finds t h a t he can m a k e something n e w which is better t h a n a n y t h i n g in n... reason for f*xt*i*nc& Scitnee and Christianity nrn a t ottt in abhorring tlm natural man and calling upon fhn civilii#d mmm fn % h t and subdue him* T h t ^ a c p i t t of naturit, not tb« imi- 10 CREATIVE CHEMISTRY tation of n a t u r e , is the whole d u t y of man Metchnikoff and St P a u l unite in criticizing the body wo WITO b o m with St Augustine and Huxley a r e m a g r e e ment as to the eternal... lo unnihikti* lh« k boring classes by abolishing labor, Tlwm m n« lf»ngnf any mud for humnn labor in ttu» S0ni^ »f pf*r«*nml toil, for the physical e n e r g y n e ^ s i a r y U$ acmmptiiib «JI 12 CREATIVE CHEMISTRY kinds of work may be obtained from external and it can be directed and controlled without extreme* exertion Man's first effort in thin direction wan to throw part of his burden upon the... in the early y t a n cif tin* wnr t a r t tttiit r i n p n g in the hearts of m a n y of us N o wondor that our ttrniiil army of chemists is grirtily dutenniniH.1 not to g i v e u p the independence in chemistry which w a r t i n for u s ! Only a widely fniightened publie 9 can insure the permanenci* of what fanu&ittg mm ltav«» started to accompliHII in d e w l o p i n g the* p«w«*r of i?Jii*m i s t . OF MODERN CHEMISTRY Midvale , «— jJst been drawn •eady for quenching [Frontispiece. CREATIVE CHEMISTRY DESCRIPTIVE OF RECENT ACHIEVE- MENTS IN THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES BY EDWIN E. SLOSSON, M.S.,. of its k CREATIVE CHEMISTRY La Chimia jmdde xm degrS plus iminmt que h% mtrm parce qu'elle p^nltr® phii pmfm$*m«ml *t atteint juaqu'aux elemcntM naturrb tJt^i Hnn, EATIVE CHEMISTRY I HIKER. and the creative chemist has dificov«»rt«l how to make innumerable drugs adapted to spwifk itimmmm and individual idiosyncrasies. In the later or creative stages wa £*ttc?r the domain of chemistry,