General view of technician Mary Moffit using an infrared spectrophotometer to analyze a sample of the insect repellent Metadelphene in a laboratory at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Brunswick, Georgia. Per notations accompanying the photograph, Moffit is seen using a slide rule to calculate the percentage content of diethyltoluamide (the chemical name for the repellent) based on the absorption bands charted by the spectrophotometer

Formed in 1912 as part of an anti-trust settlement with DuPont, the Hercules Powder Company (later Hercules Inc.) initially specialized in the manufacture of explosives and smokeless powders and subsequently diversified its business to encompass a variety of industrial products, including pine and paper chemicals, synthetics, pigments, polymers, and cellulose.