ACS Washington News Bureau ^-Ç) By Ah LEGGIN, Associate Editor

(*hemicmM.l Information Center All oxrganic chemists should become

familiar "-with t h e newly established Chem­ical a n d Biological Center recently estab­lished fc>y t he National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council in W a s h i n g t o n . The purpose of this center i s to sponsor an active screening p rogram of all organic compounds, both new a n c l old, to determine toxicity, in-secticida^l and rodenticidal action, insect repellencsy, and action on cancer tissue. Additionnai screening tests will be made as soon as facilities become available.

Sampl«es of newly synthesized organic c o m p o u n d s are to be submitted to the center f o r cataloging and subsequent dis­t r i b u t i o n to selected federal, state, mu­nicipal, smd nonprofit test ing laboratories which haave facilities for carrying out s c r e e n i n g tests against a wide variety of plant a n - d animal life. The results of such s c r e e n i n g tests will be reported back to the c e n t o r where t he da ta will be recorded and filedu under the new chemical coding system ^recently developed.

T h e screening data will be reported back t o the investigator, who reported the samiples, so t h a t he may further de­velop army indicated leads. The informa­tion wi lL also be released to the chemical and biological profession through periodic reports. Should an investigator or indus­trial l a b o r a t o r y not desire the information be m a d e public, t he report will be held "in confiden ce" except to government agen­cies c o n c e r n e d with the tests.

A s i m i l a r system has been used in G e r m a n ^ · and was successful in deter­mining -fc-he relation of s t ructure to biologi­cal a c t i o n . I t is hoped that the informa­tion colLected at the center will produce similar xresults. With the cooperation of the r e sea rche r s , who discover new organic c o m p o u n d s , t he program may produce entirely unexpected uses for compounds and n e w research leads may be uncovered. A c c o r d i n g to W. R. Kirner, director of the center, Tthe discovery of D D T as an in­secticide- would not have been delayed 70 years af^ter Zeidlcr synthesized the com­pound i:f such a S3rstem were in effect. Also, c o m p o u n d s prepared for a specific purpose may be found t o have much more i m p o r t a n t uses for an entirely different p u r p o s e - Through such a method as this, 1080 w a s found to be an important roden-ticide a l t h o u g h a derivative of it was pre­pared a s a chemical warfare agent. Such discover-d es can be made b3r the screening of as m t s n y compounds as possible for as many ixises a s possible. T h e center is

planning to screen several hundred thou­sand new and old compounds.

Organic chemists can cooperate with this program by submitting samples to the Chemical and Biological Coordination Center, National "Research Council , Wash­ington, D . C.

HureaiL of Standards

Tentative plans are now unde r way at the National Bureau of S tandards for an expanded program of research in nuclear physics?. The bureau, long ac t ive in this field particularly in radioactivity measure­ment and instrumentation, played a key role in the atomic bomb project when President Roosevelt turned to t h e former director for initiation of the project.

One of the peacetime projects envisages a cooperative program with the ^National Inst i tute of Health. E. U. Condon, di­rector of the bureau, and Surgeon General Parran announced that a federal research institution located in the Washington area is contemplated and tha t when the plan is approved by the Administration, the Bureau of Standards and the na t iona l Inst i tute of Health will seek a jo in t special appropriation from Congress. T h i s nu­clear research project, will have two as­pects, one for physical research for the Bureau of Standards and one for medical and biological research for the Inst i tu te of Health; however, a single uranium pile would b e used by both groups. Any such program will be integrated with the ac­tivities created by the Atomic Energy Commission, recently established by Con­gress.

In addition, the Bureau of Standards is continuing i ts usual investigations of the properties of radioactive substances, meas­urement of radioactivity, and instrumen­tation. Related projects include the con­struction of a 50,000,000-volt beta t ron, now unde rway ; the design of a 100,000,-000-volt betatron; and construction and operation of a 1,500,000-volt x-ray tube.

The development of measurement in­struments and techniques and standardi­zation of measurements, two fields in which the bureau is already very ac t ive , are in­dispensable for future progress in nuclear physics.

TTID

OTS Technical Industrial Intelligence Division document screeners in Germany recently discovered a new cache of Krupp files, said to contain some of the firm's most valuable papers on metallurgy. Also recently reported were 10,000 pages of

unpublished medical papers in the Munich area, 83 doctors' dissertations, and addi­tional pa tent applications.

Microfilms are being made of approxi­mately 3,500,000 of the 3,500,000,000 pages of documents containing informa­tion of value to American industry Eventually all microfilms will be cata­loged and copies sold to the public throng)) the OTS.

Five reports now un sale by the OTS give a complete equipment inventory of Japan 's largest thermal power plants, in­cluding da ta on production capacity, specification for turbines and other equip­ment. Japanese thermal plants represent about two fifths of Japan's capacity to produce electric energy, according to tin-general report, also available a t OTS.

Civil Service Commission

The 'U. S. Civil Service Commission has announced the examinations for proba-tional appointment to the positions of engineering aid, scientific aid, and biologi­cal aid. Applications for these examina­tions will be received until October 10, 1946.

Positions as chemists are now open at the Depar tment of Agriculture, Bureau of Standards, and the U. S. Public Health Service. For information concerning these positions contact t he personnel division of the various departments.

The commission recently approved the establishment of t h e U. S. Civil Service Committee of Expert Examiners for the Federal Works Agency. Under the super­vision of the commission, the committee will conduct examinations for certain scientific, professional, and technical posi­tions in the Federal Works Agency.

Synthetic Organic Chemical Production

Production figures on synthetic rubber and surface-active agonis included in the Tariff Commission's current preliminary report of 194c show the great change in the chemical industry of the United States brought ahout by the ν -ir.

This report, the 20th of the series, also includes crude organic chemicals derived from petroleum. T h e magnitude of this production offers another striking ex­ample of American chemical development.

In addition to these fields the repori covers 1945 production and sales of coal-tar crudes, intermediates, dyes, toners, medicals, flavors and perfume materials, rubber chemicals, plasticizers, and plastic-mat eria Is.

V O L U M E 2 ^ N O . 1 8 - S E P T E M B E R 2 5 , 1 9 4 0 2449

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