AbstractsChemistry

Fatty oils which, on exposure to air, dry to insoluble, infusible films, have been used as protective and decorative coatings for over two thousand years. Today their manufacture for use in paints, varnishes, linoleums, printing inks, and allied materials constitutes a major industry. In the intervening years great advances have been made in their technology but the mechanism by which they are transformed from the liquid to the solid state is still very incompletely understood. This unsatisfactory condition is by no means due to a lack of research into the problem.