How the orange crop of Palestine is making a major contribution to the British war effort in the Near East was explained last night at the University of Chicago by Dr. Walter J. Fischel, professor of Oriental studies at the Hebrew University at Jerusalem.
Dr. Fischel, who came to the United States three months ago as a delegate to the University of Chicago’s Fiftieth Anniversary celebration, addressed the Graduate Anthropology Club. By a process which must remain a military secret, he said, scientists at the Hebrew University are aiding the British in extracting acetone, used in the manufacture of explosives, from the peel of oranges grown in Palestine.
In addition to the process of producing acetone, scientists at the University also developed a method of extracting vitamin C from oranges, of great importance in wartime nutrition, and also a highly nutritive type of bread manufactured from a mixture of flour and orange peel, he reported. Other orange surplus uses, developed by University scientists, include the extraction of alcohol for medical purposes, the use of the dried fruit for cattle fodder, and the extraction of sugar, eliminating the danger of a sugar shortage, he disclosed.
Dr. Fischel also cited other activities of the University which have made it a first line of defense for Palestine and the entire Near and Middle East.
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