VOL. XXXVIII

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In the Pharmaceutical Eye is Frank Randall Eldred of Indianapolis, Ind. He has long been known as an eminent chemist and a useful official of the A. Ph. A. He has recently made fame as a dramatist. Dr. Eldred was largely responsible for the production of "A Tale of Two Drug Stores" (a prescription in two doses) which formed such a pleasant feature of the entertainment at the 1917 meeting of the A. Ph. A. and incidentally put one over on the editor of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST. (See page 319 of this journal for October.)

Frank R. Eldred, Ph. G.

Captain James W. Byrnes.

Captain James W. Byrnes, of the Quar Department, at St. Louis, was represen cover of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST f ber.

Are You Taking Advantage of Present ties? See page 312 of MEYER BROTHERS D October.

The War Tax as It Affects Druggists. 330 of MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for Oct Market Reveiw, Page 330. One on the Editor, Page 319. War Tax on Drugs, Page 330. Want Advertisements, Page 100. Index to Advertisements, Page 98. St. Louis Relief Clerks, Page 328. Pharmacists in the Service, Page 329. Patent and Proprietary Price Lists, Page 3. Board of Pharmacy Examination Questions, Page

Editorial

Nitrogen Is of Even Greater Importance During War Than When the World Is At Peace.-During our early days at high school, when Steele's Fourteen Weeks in Chemistry was the text-book, we were taught that it was the nitrogen in the atmosphere which was so lazy, indifferent and negative that the gas prevented the oxygen from burning us up or at least carrying us on at a rapid rate of living. Since then, we have learned that nitrogen enters into the composition of agricultural fertilizers necessary in order to produce good crops. The cultivation of the soil before the war reached such an extent that the natural supply of nitrogen in the form of nitrates was not equal to the demand. Artificial means of fixing nitrogen in compounds for use in fertilizing the soil were developed in a practical manner.

Three years ago the world war broke out and has progressively increased in its composition of nitrates for the manufacture of explosives. All of the countries at war are striving to produce high explosives in quantities that are inconceivably great. Natural supplies are of minor consideration. The ingenuity of man is making use of chemistry and physics and supplying nitrogen for this war. Some idea of the magnitude of the undertaking may be understood when we recall that as early as June 3, 1916, Congress appropriated the sum of $20,000.00 to enable the President to investigate the methods of producing nitrates for use in the manufacture of munitions of war. The appropriation was also to cover the expense of constructing, operating and maintaining plants and equipments necessary in the production of nitrates. The President appointed a special board of investigation which is at work. For military reasons, the public at large cannot follow the details of the work of this board. It is likely, however, that the initial appropriation will soon be exhausted and much more money needed for the work in hand. From the chemical point of view the pharmacist is interested in knowing how the manufacturer manages to harness up the reluctant element nitrogen and make the lazy fellow work. The nations in the war at the present time have narrowed the manufacture of nitrates down to three different methods.

These three processes differ in essentials. The arc is the simplest, as it involves direct oxidation by means of an electric arc to form nitric acid and nitrates, but requires a great amount of electric power. The Haber process forces gaseous nitrogen and hydrogen to combine under great pressure, a reaction being effected by a catalytic agent, and the resulting yield of ammonia can be converted into ammonium phosphate or sulphate. The cyanamid process involves the production of a compound of lime, nitrogen and carbon-calcium cyanamid-which

can be converted into ammonium salts and later into a nitric form. This process involves the use of electric furnaces, but does not require so much power as the arc process.

The War Has Brought Saccharin Into Its Own.Saccharin is one of the many coal tar products. It is fully five hundred times as sweet as sugar and suitable for use in giving a pleasing flavor to food and for disguising the taste of many medicines. Saccharin came into the market as a competitor of sugar and syrups for the above mentioned purposes. This awakened antagonism and led to many misguided expressions of opinion. Our own government has placed a great many restrictions on the use of saccharin in foods. However, about one-fourth of the saccharin produced in this country finds consumption here. The shortage of sugar throughout the world has increased the demand for saccharin as a flavoring agent and for use in disguising medicines which offend the taste. The demand at the present time is so great that the manufacturers in the United States are unable to fill orders promptly. This has created quite a difference between the price of saccharin on contract, which is now about $21.00 per pound, and saccharin sold in the open market where it has brought at least $46.00 per pound. Some idea of what has happened to the saccharin market can be gained by a comparison of figures. Just previous to the outbreak of the great war which began August 4, 1914, saccharin was selling up to $1.25 per pound. In 1915, it climbed up to $11.50 and in 1916, saccharin reached $21.50 per pound. Perhaps before this item is in print, saccharin will have reached the $50.00 mark.

Mankind began to appreciate sweet things long before the dawn of human history. The old story of a "sweet tooth" seems to have been born with the first human dentation. Sweets will continue to play an important role in human affairs and the war has brought saccharin into its own in spite of false and hypocritical statements which reflected on the character of this synthetic when it first entered the commercial world.

The World Has Its Eye on the War and on Chemistry. Never before in the history of mankind has chemistry attracted the attention which the subject is given at the present time. A knowledge of chemistry and skill in chemical work is a very important factor in warfare and equally prominent in the economic world. Some idea of the self-centered interest in chemistry is shown by the fact that the American Chemical Society has reached a membership of more than 10,000.

It is under such conditions that the third National Exposition of Chemical Industries took place in New York City, in September. It was brought about through the work of the American Chemical Society, the American Electro-Chemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. The manner in which chemistry is being amplified, almost from