The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-08-15
THE FOOD OF FUTURE FOLK.
WHAT POsTERITY WILL FEED UPON
GENERATIONS HENCE.
Prof. BertheIot Declares That Milk,
Eggs and Flour VIII BE Made In
Factories Glass Cows and Brass
Beefsteak Machines.

All the ingenious phophets. from Bel
lamy 10 Aston. VINO have foretold the ex-
traordinary conditions of the year 1000
A. u. have omitted TO deal with one
highly important and deeply interesting
question, namely, What is the man of
the future going to eat?" This particu-
lar prophecy has now been undertaken,
not by an imaginative writer but one Of
the greatest living men of science, Prof.
Berthelot of Paris. and it may be said
at once that but for his scientific emil
hence and the undeniable facts upon
which he bases his forecast his predic-
lions would pass the limits OF human be-
lief writes II. J. w. Dam from Paris to
the New York Sun.
Marvellous as IL may seem, the people
Of the future, in countless millions, will
be fed by means OF air. water and car
bon. Four simple elements. carbon, by
drogen, oxygen and nitrogen, universally
distributed over the earth are TO furnish.
in chemical combination. all foods now
known, other foods not yet known and
all the favors and essences which make
eating a luxury. The epicure Of the fu-
ture is to dine upon chemical meat,
chemical bread and chemical vegetables,
drink chemical wines and liquors and
round off his repast with a chemical to-
bacco beside which the natural tobacco
Of the present will make a very poor
showing. Wheat fields and corn fields
are to disappear from the face OF the
earth, because -four and meal Will no
longer be grown but made. Herds of
cattle. focks Of sheep and droves of
swine will cease to be bred. because beef
and mutton and pork will be manufact-
ured direct from their elements. Fruits
and flowers will doubtless continue to be
grown as cheap decorative luXuries, but
no longer as necessities in food or orna-
ment. There viii be no grain or cattle or
coal cars in the great air trains OF the
future. because the fundamental food
elements viii exist everywhere, and Will
not require transportation. Coal will no
longer be dug, except, perhaps, with the
object Of transforming it into bread or
meat. All the big engines Of the great
food factories Of the future viii be driven,
not by combustion, but by the underlying
heat Of the globe. All the wonderful and
magical changes which have been prom
ised and prophesied concerning the con-
ditions Of human life in the centuries be-
fore us, pale into insignifcance before the
strange alterations which are destined to
transform our kitchens and our dinner
tables. and these are foretold and de-
scribed. as will be read below, in the dry,
exact language Of science and based upon
undeniable facts,
Foods of the Present.
The articles of diet now in common use
consist almost entirely-the PERCENTAGE of
other elements being minute-of carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen. and nitrogen. These
four elements, universally existing. are
destined, the theory is, to furnish all the
foods now grown by nature, through the
rapid and steady advance of synthetic
chemistry. Synthetic chemistry IS the
special science which takes the elements
Of a given compound and induces them
10 combine and form that compound. It
is the reverse OF analytical chemistry,
which takes a given compound and disso-
ciates and isolates its elements. Analyti-
cal chemistry would separate water into
oxygen and hydrogen, and synthetic
chemistry would take oxygen and hydro
gen, mix them, put match to the mix
ture and thus form water. Synthetic
chemistry has already progressed so far
that several great agricultural industries
have been destroyed by its advancement,
compounds which were once obtained by
plant growth In the fields being now fur
nished entirely by chemical laboratories
and direct manufacture. In fact, the clear
evidence Of the present leaves no room
for doubt that at some more or less dis
tant period in the future synthetic chem
istry will destroy all the great agricul-
tural industries. including the grain fields
and cattle ranges OF today.
No man is more entitled TO act as
prophet in this field than Prof Berthelot
If not the father he Is certainly the fos-
ter father Of synthetic chemistry as a spe-
cial science. and for nearly fifty years
has hean Of the leaders ~ "a
tifc army In the invasion Of an unknown
territory, from which astonishing results
have every now and then been reported.
In every way open TO grateful nation,
France has loaded him with honors He
Is member and permanent secretary Of
the Academy of sciences, member Of
the institute, and grand officer Of the
Legion Of Honor. He is director general
of the higher educat ton, president OF the
committee on explosives, and in 1870 was
president Of the committee on the defense
of Paris As cabinet minister he has
had an excellent chance to study the peo-
pie, while as a lifelong chemist he has en-
joyed the best opportunities of considering
the Industrial changes which affect their
condition, many of the great manufactur-
ing advances which have enriched latter
day France having been due, directly or
indirectly, to his own chemical researches.
Predictions Important and Practical.
Consequently his predictions in this
new field have a very important and
practical value. and an interview upon
the subject. which he was good enough
TO accord to the writer, proved 10 be
unique and fascinating of its kind To
romance and rhapsodize concerning the
future is not very difficult but to ac-
curately forsee and foretell its condi-
tions is an accomplishment only to be
found among the followers of those
sciences which are held to be exact
Prof. Berthelot by virtue of one of
his many scientific positions, occupies a
residential suite of apartments in the
stretch of old brownstone front build
ings on the Quai Malaquais, it's bare
and barren courtyards being paved with
many square feet of gray stone blocks
The GOODNESS of the environment after
you have traversed two of these court
yards to the last doorway on the right,
is dssipated by the CHEEKY smile of q
stout Breton sewing woman, who ushers
you without delay through a long, dark
corridor TO a small dark study at the
end Here, surrounded by books, which
cover the walls on all four sides, sits
at his desk the professor. His slender
figure. clad i'm professional black, is
somewhat bent by the deep study which
has made his fame. But otherwise his
sixty-seven years sit lightly upon HIM.
His greeting is grave, but entirely
courteous and sympathetic, an inteIli-
gent curiosity concerning the field of
research to which he has devoted his
life being all that is required to arouse
his interest and unlock his store of
strange and interesting facts The inter-