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Radon, the gas-like emanation of radium, costs five million dollars an ounce to produce; loses half its potency in four days; but is 160,000 times as active as radium; is put up in tiny glass "seeds" the thickness of a human hair; and $25 to $50 worth of it does the same work as $2,000 to $4,000 worth of radium. Since radium gives off radon constantly, yet loses only half of its activity in 1,700 years, the supply of radon, however expensive, is virtually inexhaustible.—Dr. Charles H. Viol, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Undertakers. Modern embalmers are far in advance of the mummy-makers of Egypt. The latter salted, then swaddled their subjects from view; took three months to do it. Today, bodies are prepared lifelike, exposed to the view of mourners, in three hours' work. —Dr. Jerome Alexander, Manhattan.
Tires. Chemical research had found organic "accelerators" for the manufacture of automobile tires, permitting the rubber to be vulcanized three to four times as fast as before; had saved U. S. motorists 50 millions a year in tire bills, rubber merchants 40 millions a year in equipment.—William G. Geer, Akron, Ohio.
German Dyes. Secret formulae for German aniline dyes, seized at the U. S. Patent Office by the Alien Property Custodian in 1917, were found to be shams when U.S. chemists tried to use them.—Robert W. Neff, member of the Society.
Diabetes. An alleged specific for diabetes, "intarvin," was again brought forward. Unlike insulin, which stimulates the pancreas into assimilating fats as it should, intarvin is described by its inventors as itself a fat, a new kind of fat, with its carbon atoms arranged in such a fashion that even an ailing pancreas can assimilate them without assistance.—Drs. Max Kahn, Manhattan, and R. H. McKee, Columbia University.
Fish Pearls. At least four New England firms manufactured "pearls," indestructible, undetectable save by shrewd experts, by dipping glass beads in a solution of "guanadine," a compound worth $125 an ounce, made from the stomach scales of alewives*.—Gustavus J. Esselin Jr., Boston, Mass.
Prosperity and Research. Organic chemists have outlined a "vast program" of research in petroleum. A great increase in national wealth will result if financial leaders of the oil industry show interest. An oil shortage will soon follow if they do not. . . .The infant U. S. dye industry is threatened by "a monster dye monopoly" in Germany. . . . Research work in Organic Chemistry has, however, freed the U. S. from the danger of a sugar famine. From corn, a sugar free of dextrines and 99.85% pure has been obtained. Pure food laws should soon be modified to admit this new food.—Dr. C. H. Herty, President of the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association.
Shark Leather. A fit of temper had caused the throwing of a piece of sharkskin into hydrochloric acid. When the skin was lifted out, the shagreen or rough epidermis could be removed. Result: sharkskin shoes and other new leather goods.—Dr. Allen Rogers, Pratt Institute.