ORDINARY THINGS IMPORTANT

Timaru Herald, Volume CLI, Issue 22201, 19 February 1942, Page 8

ORDINARY THINGS IMPORTANT

Provision Of War Essentials Part Played By Science Coal, Salt And Sulphur Make Munitions ' Modem warfare could not be carried ton without the aid of science, says [Max Dunn, in the "Melbourne Argus." [indeed, victory depends not only upon .■what is done by every man and woman ttn uniform and overalls, but upon the Scientific worker in white smock, busy Bn the laboratory. Particularlv is this true about the industrial chemist. Without his services rhe newest tank, plane, ship and (weapon would be useless, for he produces the materials essential in making [munitions and other vital products. Yet Snost of the substances that he must [have for his work are ordinary things, (familiar to everybody. Their importance, however, to the war effort is not generally realised. Everyone knows what sulphur looks Dike. Some of us sprinkle it on our dogs fend plants, and some of us take it in tone form or another as a medicine. It Is so common that it can be bought at feny grocer’s by the pound. But we would be helpless without it. tour food supply would be seriously afIfected if we did not have it, for it is <>ne of the ingredients in fertilisers. Furthermore, the rubber industry [would not be able to turn out tyres for imotor-trucks and aeroplane landing (gear, gas masks <or respirators, if you prefer the official name), and all the 'other parts of equipment made of rubber. Most important of all. sulphur is an (essential base in chemistry. From it •the Industrial chemist produces sulphuric acid, the most versatile and ’indispensable chemical in modern industry. We would not be able to provide our armed forces with bullets, fehells. or bombs if we did not have this acid. It is absolutely necessary in making cordite, lyddite, nitro-glycerine, and other explosives. T.N.T., mqst Useful of the high explosives, requires Jonly 3 things: sulphuric acid, nitric fecid, and toluene, which is obtained ifrorn coal tar, pine resin, petroleum, or (natural gas. , , Amatol, which has greater explosive Properties than T.N.T., is a successful British mixture of T.N.T. and ammonium nitrate. Sulphuric acid is also (necessary to produce hydrogen peroxide, (which is not only the standby of hometmade blondes, but is also used largely fin bleaching woollen yarn and in ayegng. Sulphur also plays an important part Un the production of cellulose from timber, for carbon bisulphide, one of the secondary raw materials in the viscose process, has a sulphur base. Cellulose Bs not only a constituent of explosives, but it is the substance from which we get cellophane, photofilm, and artificial cilk. The old school tie and the common kitchen chair are therefore blood Relatives, for they have the same parent, an ordinary tree. Most of our supplies of sulphur come irom the United States. If shipping 'routes become endangered in the .Pacific, we can obtain all the sulphur twe need by extracting it from the ■wastage of gases which occurs in roasting sulphide ores. Hundreds of tons of -sulphur are volatised and lost at goldimines in Western Australia every year, while the losses at such places as Port Jpirie must be even greater. V The method of recovery is not com-

plicated, and there is one West Australian who has been trying for years to get mining and smelting companies to adopt his simple process. Perhaps this war will bring a change of attitude and lead us to self-sufficiency in more ways than one.

Saltpetre Indispensable Saltpetre, another commonplace substance, is also indispensable to our war effort. Chemically it is an unstable compound of potassium, nitrogen, and oxygen. In its natural form, it is used for pickling and fireworks, but from it the chemist, with the aid of the inevitable sulphuric acid, obtains nitric acid, the most essential chemical in making munitions. In fact, the production of explosives would stop immediately if we did not have this acid. Picric acid, whose compounds are also used in explosives, is obtained by the action of nitric acid on phenol, a byproduct in coal-gas manufacture. As we have already noted, nitric acid is used in producing T.N.T. Most explosives can be handled without danger, for It is necessary to have what is called a fulminate to detonate or explode them. Mercury fulminate has been the accepted primer in impact fuses since the end of the 18th century, when it was first discovered. It is a product of the action of alcohol on a solution of mercury in nitric acid. The world’s best mercury mines are in Spain, and it is generally accepted that Hitler’s interest in the Spanish Civil War was due to that fact. Fortunately, there are other metallic compounds, , notably lead azide, which are possible substitutes. Yet even these cannot be produced without nitric acid, for they are combinations of nitrogen and metals. ~ Our soldiers, sailors, and airmen could not be clothed without nitrous compounds, which, with sulphuric acid and coal-tar derivatives, are used in making dyes. Unlike sulphur, saltpetre is scarce. • Our supplies came from Chile, although I there are deposits in Australia, notably in the Lasseter region of Central Australia. All the other nations, however, do not bother about obtaining the essential substance, nitrogen, from mixed saltpetre. They get it directly from the air by means of the electric arc process. If we should have difficulties m getting saltpetre from Chile, and are unable to work the deposits in Australia, then we will have to obtain the necessary chemical by the indirect method, namely, by oxidising ammonia, which is also an agent in explosives. There are several ammonia-making plants in the Commonwealth, but whether they could cope with the demand is another matter. Many Uses of Coal Coal is another valuable sinew of war. It is not only the source of the electrical light and power for running our factories, but we need it to produce disinfectants and drugs for the relief of the wounded, dyes for clothing, and chemicals for explosives and other necessities. The number of vital products derived from coal runs into hundreds, and two or three books could easily be written on the subject. Such household pain-relievers as aspirin and A.P.C. are only two of the many offsprings of coal. The present nationwide restriction on lighting is more than an effort to get people accustomed to low illumination and prepare them for blackouts; it is also a wise move to conserve our coal reserves. We have plenty of coal resources, but the demand for war purposes is so great that it is practically impossible to keep the supply up to the demand without curtailing civilian lighting. Common salt is another substance we could not do without. Apart from its everyday use for seasoning and preserving food, it has great value in industry. By the action of sulphuric acid on it the chemist obtains hydrochloric acid. Spirits of salt, which is used for soldering, is not only obtained from this acid, but the chemist also gets chloric prid. cq]t.s of are used for powerful blasting mixtures. cniorme, tne oase of most poison

gases, is also a child of common salt, and was first isolated and named by Sir Humphry Davy over a century ago. Phosgene, one of the poison gases, is a combination of carbon monoxide and chlorine, and was discovered by John Davy more than 100 years ago. but was first employed in war by the Germans. “Mustard gas,” as its technical name of dichlor-diethylsulphide shows, is a combination of chlorine, alcohol, and sulphur. This comoound was also first discovered by an Englishman, Guthrie, in 1860. We shall not run short of salt, for it is obtained by evaporation of sea water. Man may wrest Nature’s secrets from her; he may apply his brains and skill to produce what she does not in order to overcome his fellows; but he still has to use the ordinary commonolace things.