Monday, Nov. 30, 1942

Ersatz Ersatz

Germany invented ersatz during World War I, staked her economic survival in World War II on a big program of synthetic substitutes for gasoline, rubber, leather, textiles and even foods. In spite of this advance preparation there is now a serious ersatz shortage in Germany. Substitutes for substitutes are the topic of most of the German scientific news reaching the American Chemical Society, mostly from refugees in England.

Typical is the situation with ersatz motor fuel. Most of the synthetic gasoline made from coal, plus the conquered Rumanian oil, has been invested in the Caucasus campaign for more oil. Meanwhile wartime traffic limps on carbon monoxide made in portable charcoal burners (TIME, Sept. 7). Last week a new ersatz fuel appeared in the news: liquefied methane gas in pressure tanks. This fuel is obtained by "bottling" natural gas in Italy, Hungary and Denmark, and also as a byproduct in the production of gasoline from coal. Recently Berlin Gasworks Co. prepared to extract methane from the city gas supply, hopes to convert 10% into motor fuel.

Some 700 filling stations throughout Germany now supply liquid methane to some 100,000 cars. Because methane is h'gh in antiknock value, special high-compression engines which save 15% in fuel consumption are now available for this fuel. Even diesel engines can be converted to methane, although when this is done they still must be started with regular diesel fuel oil.

Other symptoms of shortages:

> Tincture of iodine has been replaced by an alcoholic solution of complex phenols that penetrate deeply into the skin but that do not corrode metal or stain linen.

> Pork sausages contain mostly soybean meal.

> Leather substitutes are made from waste leather fibers bonded with synthetic plastics such as polyvinyl acetate.

>Pancreas glands are being gathered from the slaughterhouses of the Baltic States and the Ukraine to make up a shortage of insulin for diabetics.

> Cultivation of rubber-yielding plants has been set up in the Ukraine to supplement synthetic-rubber production.

> The use of cellulose for fodder has increased to 500,000 tons per year so that an increase of 40% in wood-pulp production is needed to supply the paper and rayon industries.

> A Danish factory which has made blood albumin for use as adhesive in plywood is now turning to the manufacture of dried-blood powder and plasma for use in the food industry.

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