FINE CHEMICALS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21562, 5 August 1933, Page 7 (Supplement)

FINE CHEMICALS

BRITISH MANUFACTURES By tho use of a new extractor recently developed at tho Chemical Research Laboratory of tho Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, co-operation between the laboratory and alchemical manufacturer has led to the production in Britain of resorcinol, for the first time on a commercial scale. Though this chemical is probably unknown by name to the general public, it is, nevertheless, an extremely important and versatile substance. It is used in tho production of dyes, including the rhodamine dyes which give, as the name implies, rose-like shades, and is finding an increasing 'Use in tho manufacture of gramophone records. It is also a constituent of many hair tonics, and is also used in tho manufacture of explosives. British manufacturers, for the first time since the war, are now producing phenacetine, the well-known drug for relieving headaches, and hydroquinone, also used in medicine, but better known as a photographic doveloper. These successes illustrate the possibilities opened by research to British firms for making fine chemicals. It is hoped that shortly many other substances for which Britain is at present entirely dependent, on foreign supplies, will be manufactured commercially within its own borders. BRITTLE PROPELLER PROBLEM Research in chemical laboratories and steel plants is credited with much of the success of ships that navigate polar waters in search of new and shorter trade routes. It was found that ships needed propellers made of special steel to navigate tho icefields, because tho low water temperatures cause tho steels to become brittle. There was 'considerable breakage. Steel containing 3J per cent nickel was found to preserve its toughness at very low temperatures, providing tho answer to tho propeller problem. ANCIENT IRRIGATION SYSTEM Constructed hundreds of years ago by Mayan engineers of the ancient Mayas, a storage and irrigation system in tho Yucutan area is to bo restored'and put back into service by the Mexican Government. The intricate network of underground canals is said to be superior to that of the ancient Egyptians. Reservoirs of the system were lined by the Mayan engineers with waterproofed stone and plaster, as were the aqueducts, branch canals and drainage channels. Thus enough water was stored during the rainy Beason for use during the rest of the year. MYSTERY OF RADIO WAVES Mysterious radio waves that appear to come from the centre of the Milky Way have been detected by Karl G. .Tansky, of Bell Telephone laboratories. Sensitive apparatus used in research work picked tip the waves, which are in the 14.6 metre band, at a frequency of 20,000,000 cycles per second. Unlike most forms of radio disturbances, states Popular Mechanics, these waves do not appear to be due to any terrestial phenomena, but rather to come from some point far off in space, perhaps far beyond our solar system. ACTION OF LEAD ARSENATE In order to determine just how insect pests are killed by the lead arsenate commonly used as an insecticidal spray on fruit trees, Dr. David E. Fink, of the United States Department of Agriculture, devised a clever scheme. He mixed some radium solution with the lead arsenate spray, and fed it, on leaves, to insects. After 24 hours he killed tho insects and sliced their bodies into very thin sections, which he then placed on photographic film. Wherever the lead arsenate had gone, in the insect's body, a little radium had also gone. Therefore, since radiuih radiations affect a photographic film, the sections of insect photographed themselves, showing just where the poison had gone. Dr. Fink found that every tissue in the bug's body received a share of tho poison. He also discovered that the insect retains only about 10 per cent of the poison it eats.