is a field of tobacco a commodity whose sweet smelling enjoyable tasting small has contributed to man's pleasure for centuries one of the major sources of well to the early american colonies and now the basis of an industry that ranks with cotton in monetary value until recent years the cultivation processing and manufacture of tobacco were almost entirely an art and the artist home and skilled in the growing of tobacco and the earlier simpler techniques of processing and manufacturing a man whose father and his father before him had spent their lives learning how to make tobac produce a better small that is all that a man's five senses could teach him as the industry grew larger crops larger markets modern transportation all the complexities of a rapidly growing industry taxed his ingenuity and solving new problems this great change in perspective had been brought about by the introduction of the new american blended cigarette combining varying amounts of blue cured burley maryland and turkish to back up this change came a more discriminating smoker demanding a milder product of greater uniformity thus the tobacco man felt the need of a sixth sense which would enable him to control quality from seed to cigarette the sense of science this was the situation when the american tobacco compan program beginning with a survey of the literature such as existed at that time the program grew steadily until and nineteen thirty nine this modern research building was constructed to accommodate it expanding activities today this building housing america's finest cigarette laboratories is staffed with some sixty trained specialists here extensive studies are made of the four main types cigarette tobacco each differing in physical and chemical characteristics and each produce sing smoke of different composition for example flue cured high and carbohydrates low in nitrogen yields more acid in the smoke burley by contrast more basses factors which influence aroma taste than palatability but cause irritation if not  within these four types is an enormous number of variations resulting from differences in variety soil cultural practices climatic conditions and stock position to formulate a balance blend these differences must be evaluated for every crop and each locality out of this group the american tobacco system of pre purchase analysis experience to survey of firearms in all tobacco growing areas selecting representative samples of tobacco which they forward to the laboratory here the samples are received and recorded with tobacco prepared for analysis these samples are evaluated and within a matter of hours reports are on their way back to buying supervisors by wire phone and mail the tobacco buyer i'm with this confidential information and his own ingrained experience and judgment goes to options like this better equipped to procure tobacco of the required characteristics at the laboratory the job has just begun or even with scientific selection wide variations from crop to crop dictate constant inventory and analysis of stock on hand for example here you see tobacco being analyzed for nicotine and other volatile bases after steam distillation the total volatile bases are determined by titration the nicotine and a fractional part of the distillate is precipitate filtered and ignited the residue of silicone tongue stick oxide cooled and weighed the result is indicative of the total amount of nicotine in the sample other criteria of quality for which tobacco samples are analyzed include sugar content proportion of ash total and protean nitrogen and many others in addition to the selection and blending of tobacco rigid standards must be set on all materials used in manufacture this for instance is a photo electric device for measuring the opacity and quite nose of cigarette paper here you see a test of the bursting strength of the paper cigarette paper is a very special paper composed of purified flax fiber and pure precipitated chalk wrapping materials undergo rigid tests for per me ability and numerous other characteristics this one stiffness test for for oil assures sturdy packages the control exercised by the laboratory is extends to all branches of manufacture regulation of humidity and temperature in addition to contributing to the sanitary conditions in factories like this is essential due to the nature of tobacco the nerve center for this more strict control is again the laboratory which is in constant touch with all factories conducting moister tests like this which are run on samples of tobacco from every stage of manufacture and also checking the instruments used in all factories for proper calibration scientifically supervised manufacture of this nature helps produce a fine or a finished product and from every production line in every factory all over the country representative samples are sent to the lucky strike laboratories where pre determined standards must be met physical as well as chemical and with respect to physical standards the laboratory found itself frequently in uncharted waters its engineers were called on to design and build testing devices not available from regular instrument makers that's one cylinder which tosses the cigarettes back and forth determines tightness and stability insuring against loose end here on micro film projector is adapted for measuring with the cut of tobacco this instrument was designed to measure resistance to airflow making sure your cigarette props freely and easily and that's one similar in principle as well as appearance tests the morse your tight seal of the cellophane jacket all these tests are based on criteria developed in experimental research and new standards of quality are constantly being added because this experimental research never ends this is a mechanical smoking machine which closely reproduces conditions of human smoking careful quantitative studies of the composition of smoke collected by this device led to the establishment of standards of quality and indications are that continuing research will reveal new criteria and suggest even better methods for quality control here for example our experiments on the isolation and identification of the ingredients in smoke and tobacco contribute toward obama and here you see  apparatus which is being used to investigate the changes which occurred during the aging of tobacco recognizing the need for basic research on the physiological aspects of smoking with emphasis on irritation the american tobacco company and nineteen thirty five established a research grant at the medical college of virginia enrichment facilities such as this biological laboratory were provided for collaborative investigations today in the factories at the options and on the farms you all find the tobacco man practicing his art as in the past but with one big difference backing up and guiding his every move is a sex offense is father never had the sense of science