For Colloids

An institute devoted solely to tracking down and getting acquainted with the elusive colloid, with a building and endowment costing $1,000,000, is the avowed aim of the American Chemical Society, disclosed at the end of its annual meeting last week (TIME, May 5). The project is supported by the National Research Council and the National Academy of Sciences. The institute will be established at some American university where colloid research is stressed, such as the University of Wisconsin.

Colloids are jelly-like substances, solutions of which pass through an animal membrane with difficulty, as opposed to other types of solutions known as crystalloids. Glue, gelatin, starch and albumen are typical colloids. Their importance has come to be recognized only in the last few years. Wilhelm Ostwald, the great Leipzig chemist, was a pioneer in the investigation of colloids, and many scientists are daily adding to the store of knowledge about them.

Colloid chemistry plays a leading role in biology, agriculture and hundreds of industries, and the possibilities of progress in the field are unlimited if proper facilities are provided.