Christmas Gift Suggestions

Inner tubes that won't blow out, tables aren't rickety, windows that don't have to be washed, golf balls that go further. . .

. . .Water-repellent clothing that isn't hurt by dry-cleaning, airplane oil that won't freeze, blood-transfusion tubing in which blood can't coagulate.

Some of these items have been developed recently; the rest and many other inventions will be ready in the near future.

Professor Rochow is the Man Behind it All

Eugene G. Rochow, associate professor of Chemistry who came to Cambridge last year from the General Electric Research Laboratories, and his Mallinckrodt assistants are key figures in the development of such useful oddities.

Certain silence compounds, the principle subject of Rochow's experiments, have an organic behavior, while retaining their original properties. Silicated substances may be developed that have the resilency of rubber, but are unaffected by the highest temperatures, because of the rock-compounds from which they are formed. Others may comprise a near perfect water-repellent.

In Mallinckrodt, Rochow is working on the intermediate stages of development, trying to produce silicones inexpensively and commercially. purpose where heat deteriorates the rubber now used. Certain "theoretical obstructions" would probably prevent its use in the outer tire, where more wear and resistance is required.

The Mallinckrodt crew is also trying to cut the price of silicone oils. At present the oils are used only in aircraft. They are manufactured by means of complicated chemical reactions with high cost reagents.

Sight-Savers

On immediate concern to Rochow is the improvement of water-repellent compounds. Tried on airplane windshields, they virtually eliminate the need for windshield wipers. "Sight-savar" tissues, sold commercially for the cleaning of eyeglasses, are coated with this compound. Coated tubing greatly facilitates the movement of blood in transfusions.

"Bouncing putty," developed while Rochow was at General Electric, is an off-spring of silicone experiments. It is now used in golf ball centers and in table leg casters that find their own level in half an hour.

If silicone production can be made simple and cheap, according to Rochow, there is no end to the number of ingenious and useful applications that may result.