HARDWOOD FTOORING

OAK - TVIAPLE - BEECH - PECAN

Out of Srock or Direcf Mill Shipmenf

I. E. HIGGINS TUMBER (0.

99 Boy Shore Boulevcrrd SAN FRANCISCO 24

VAlencio 4-8744

ORBATI I.UMBTR GOMPATIY

Officc, MiIl cmd Yard

77 So. Pcrsadenc Ave., Pasadena 3, Cclif. . Paecrdcncr, $|6mrei6 6-{373 lerePnonc Ioe Angeler, RYcrn l-699?

WHOr-FSALE qnd BETAIL

Specialiring in truck anil ttailar lotl.

TIANBOR YAND AT LONG BEACH

Successors to the First Vheeler Lumber Operations

Establisheil in 1795

WHEELER PINE CO.

Monufocturcrr ond Wholcsslcrr of WEST COASI LUMBER, PRODUCTS

Frcrnk Du Pont Art frlilhcuPt llgr. Plnc Dcpt. filgr. Flr DcPl.

Tclcphonc EXbrook 2-3918-fchtypc St 6tO

Ililb qr Klomoth Follr, Orrgon sAlEs oFFlcE-Russ BIDG.,sAN TnANCISCO + CAllt.

Lignin

(From Dr. Egon Gleisinger's book "The Coming Age of Wood")

Much of America's favourite ice-cream flavour comes not from the essence of a tropical bean, but from the lignin of Wisconsin spruce and fir, converted into synthetic vanilla. Given this diverting piece of information, the consumer has every right to ask: What is lignin? With that, he joins the company o{ some of the world's most distinguished scientists, who have been plagued for years by this same question. They know that lignin constitutes from 20 to 30 per cent of all wood, but have yet to determine its exact chemical structure and properties. Most rvood chemists agree that lignin is a particularly rich substance and expect to find in it a major source for plastics and even synthetic gasoline. Yet, today, lignin is still nearly 100 per cent waste, and a nuisance besides.

Derived from lignum, the Latin word for wood, "lignin" means literally "wood substance." This designation might be challenged on the ground that there is about twice as much cellulose in n'ood as lignin. The name is justified, however, because it is lignin that differentiates trees from other cellulose plants, u'hich have very little lignin in their structural make-up.

Without lignin, trees could never grow several hundred feet tall, stand up against storms, and support heavy loads of snow. Binding together parallel bundles of cellulose fibres, lignin acts as nature's plastic and gives wood its stiffness, impact strength and resilience. Its action might be compared to that of the cement that surrounds and binds the iron rods in reinforced concrete. Nature itself thus suggests that we take lignin and use it as a binder for making cellulose plastics. IJnfortunately, this is more easily said than done. For the lignin commercially available today refuses to duplicate its performance in nature.

Lignin is believed to have another, more fascinating assignment in nature. When trees die, they are attacked by various microbes. These microbes attack and destroy only the cellulose fibres of wood, leaving the lignin. If this was as true in prehistoric times as it is today, then coal is not just wood, as is generally believed, but lignin fossilised by the action of heat, pressure and time. Chemical analysis tends to confirm this theory. Lignin's carbon content of 70 per cent is closer to that of coal than of whole wood. Again, nature suggests that we look into lignin for the riches we have extracted from coal, starting with aspirin and running to xylol. But, again, the genie of lignin is confined to the test tube.

Our trouble comes not only from our ignorance about lignin, but also from the methods by which we extract it from wood. Unlike cellulose, which grows free and pure in the cotton boll, there is no such thing as free lignin in nature. Lignin is found only in close bond u'ith cellulose. Chemists have never separated it from cellulose with its natural qualities intact. Just what these qualities are, they are not sure either, although they have made some careful deductions. It is pretty clear that natural lignin is colour-

NLMA lssues New Guide to lndustry Research

Washington, D. C.-A new and enlarged edition of the Forest Products Research Guide is now available, C' A. Rishell. Director of Research, National Lumber Manufac' turers Association announced.

The Guide, sponsored by the Committee on Products and Research of NLMA, has proved a valuable aid in the past to those interested in technical developments in wood and wood products. This Third Edition is twice as large as previous issues, containing over 8000 forest products research projects classified and referenced under more than 1000 types of research woik. Projects of 1400 domestic and 7N foreign agencies are included.

Of particular interest to many wood technologists will be the inclusion of many projects which were under military security classifications at the time that previous editions were issue'd. Reporting these wartime, confidential investigations has added materially to both the value and volume of the Guide.

An innovation is the addition of an index to agencies which provides a means for easily locating all of the investigations being undertaken by any one organization.

Price of the Third Edition of the Forest Products Research Guide is $5.0O per copy, including postage, anywhere in the United States and Canada. It is now available from National Lumber Manufacturers Association, 1319 18th Street, N.W., Washington 6, D. C.

Winners ol Dubs, Ltd., GoU

The following were the winners of the prizes at the golf tournament held by Dubs, Ltd. at the Peninsula Golf & Country Club, San Mateo, Calif., May 2l:

Low Gross, Sonny Clark; Low Net, "Dal" Dalbey, Harbor Plywood Corp. of California, San Francisco; Znd Low Net, Lloyd Swiger, Cheim Lumber Co., San Jose; 3rd Low Net, Fred Ziese, Gamerston & Green Lumber Co., San Francisco; 4th Low Net, Dick La Franchi, Pacific Forest Products, Inc., Oakland; High Gross, tie between Fran Fleron, Western Pine Supply Co., San Francisco, and John Frey, A. R. Reid & Co,, San Francisco.

John Frey was chairman of the day. Dave Davis presided at the business meeting and dinner.

Celotex Appointments

' Leonard A. Hdrman has been appointed General Auditor of The Celotex Corporation, succeeding William D. Becker, who has been elected Controller bv the executive committee of the board of directors.

Scrn Diego Hoo-Hoo Meeting lune 25 less, possibly transparent. Its action in holding wood together indicates that it is stable, unaffected by moisture and normal temperatures, and elastic. Unhappily, lignin is very much degraded by the industrial pulping and woodsugar processes.

Tlre San Diego Hoo-Hoo Club will hold a 49'er Party Friday evening, June 25. Announcements tvill be in the mail soon giving further details of the party.

Speciollzlng ln Serving fhe

Refoil Lumber Yard

HONDUR,AS MAHOGANY

SPANISH CEDAR-

POCHOTE NICONGO

Gofl Us For Quototions

, on lmported Hordwoods

CRAIG.WOOD TUTBER CO.

TER}IINAL 4.I577

84O Reclry 5r. Wilmington

rr0uctAs Hn DlilEllsloll

AllD BoIRDS

Direct Mirl Shipmenfs

Doors - Ocrk Flooring - Plywood

Truitt-taruen lurnbel Co.

Second qnd Heqrst -- Berkeley 2, Co,lii. Phone BErkeley 7-051| iltlRTHERiI REDWtlllD LUMBER CtI. ledwood and lloughs Fir n tt Solcs Oficc

Korbel, Humboldf Gounty 24O8-lO Russ Bldg. Collfornlo Ssn Froncisco 4

Brush Industrial Lumber Co.

Wholesale Distributors

Hardwoods and Softwoods

5354 hrt Slauson Ave.

Lor Angeles 99, Calif.

ANgelur 1-1155