The name is absent

Chemistry in the Industries 299
industrial enterprises which supply us with prepared foods,
drugs, dyes, flavors, essential oils, photographic materials,
and myriads of other necessary products.

Farm chemurgy is defined as putting chemistry to work
for the farm. Great gains in national wealth have come
largely from new inventions, new scientific discoveries, and
the utilization of neglected materials. Grains are being con-
verted into alcohols. Oathulls yield furfural. Soybean oil is
used in paints, while tung and linseed oils are used in var-
nishes. Cornstalks and sugar-cane bagasse make insulating
board. Cotton furnishes cellulose for nitro-cellulose. The
cottonseed meal is used for stock feed and fertilizer. The
cottonseed oil becomes a valuable feed in the form of salad
oils and lard substitute. By the addition of hydrogen, it is
possible to transform the oil into solid shortening. Fluffing
with nitrogen inhibits oxidation and makes it stable for
longer periods of time. Dextrin, made from sweet-potato
starch, is used as an adhesive on postage stamps. Agripol
and Noropol are synthetic rubbers made from the fatty acids
of vegetable oils. Ethylene is used for the purpose of rapidly
ripening fruits. The speed of growth of potatoes has been in-
creased nearly ɪoo per cent when the seedlings have been
treated with ethylene. Insecticides, fungicides, and disin-
fectants have been developed to protect the crops.

When the nation entered the first World War in 1917,
there existed no organization in the Army devoted to the
pursuit of chemical warfare or to protection against it. This
handicap, however, was largely overcome thanks to the
feverish researches of many American chemists. This new
and revolutionary form of warfare became so important that
it was necessary to establish a separate organization within
the Army devoted to the study of chemical warfare.

The Allies did not believe that the Hague rules of warfare,

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