The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-12-27
synthetic Chemistry to Produce
All Kinds of Food. a.
sson INORGANIC FOOD. 100.
~.-<&rzn Has Superseded Madden. VAN
Ai'" l. nisplacing Vanilla, aud
ArSsficisl Tobacco + Easy.
New York Tribune

va NIAttes l. AoloS, OF Columbia. re-
tsFAed % the Tribune reporter. Paris
as the center Of France ant1i i ,ba 800
son there 10 elevate men Of scIea! t+ic ar
ssfnments TO pt2hiic Office ia some }.ar4s-
80 generally the senate So thAftbis
- not a mark of peculiar distinction ~,
mat country. Public position gives a man
an hcoiIle. and therefore added opnorfun-
- - prosecute his work under, Fl any
IAinS. more favora BILE auspices than be-
fOrr. Especially is this true il, as Is often
she ease. he be blessed with more intel
isct than cash ri
NJ BeFthelot at the time of life when the
AsaJoEity OF men in active business con-
.emplate retirement IS called forth from
as laboratory INTO Che glare OF pubic
cr.ticism ana IS mazda minister OF foreign
Anars lie VIII have TO deal with the
syhthesis Of nations. The synthesized pro-
anct Viii be awaited with interest. canf by
we bi-product produced will his success
" IA 1ufe as a political quantity be meas
ored. His laboratory has been ENLARGED.
LaAe hO-ko. he has worked his Way M
~ ougn not the animal but vegetable
nnedom, until he has come 10 man.
what viii he do with him? That Is tie
eGesuon men in politics Will ask. What
mas ne done for scfenCe2 is the QuarS of
scnoiars. What Will come 10 the CONNER
tl3l world from his discoveries i th6
4aeStion business men are asking when
~ look about them and note the pos
~. mites underlying has theory OF syn
theuc relationship.
What the Minds Eve sees.
.his is the great question to be an-
81 cred. and in tho laboratories OF Gser-o
many and OF France and of-thYs c0untrx,
me- OF great fertility of thought and re-
source are seeking the answer. Some en-
~ uslasts are looking 70 synthetic chemis-
tra 10 produce a sort OF commercial mill
lennium, doing away With vegetable gar
deus, chicken yards, SugaT-cane rlelds sto-
hacco Plantations, indigo beds and things
81 that sort. EveFybody Is to bs f6d on
ssnthetic food. made SO cheaely that even
ne anarchist viii have no cause TO covet
nts neighbor's goods or IL envy his neigh
bor superior station in life. Fine Is it
aatt But 1t has not been accomplished
f~i. 1t is a venerable saying however,
th4t wonders never cease. ana enough has
b~-n accomplished in the field of organic
chemistry to warrant the exercise ofo an
almost unlimited optimism in predicting
Tor the future. Yet there are few chem
kts who viii go as FAR in this direction
n NJ. Berthelot appears 70 have gone. In
deed. Prof. Colby. seated in theiabosatory
OF the school of mines Of Columbia coll
bege uttered 10 the Tribune reporter his
conclusion that recent dispatches regard
ang the French scientists uttera Ices
might be somewhat tangled with journal
xtic fancy. He has met NJ Berthelot
more than once, and spoke with the quiet
and Discriminate enthusiasm Of solid
thinker and chemical expert eS the won
ierfm achievements OF the present
French minister Of foreign affairs He
sould have II, too, that n. Berthel0ts re-
searches into the secrets OF thermo-chom-
stry have been equally as wide and The
results obtained OF as decided import
alce As anything he has brought out Of
che held of chemical synthesis. Yet this
asld Is constantly widening, and Prof.
Colby was not prepared 10 draw any line.
a familiar instance of advancement
along synthetic lines is that sof the dis
uvery of alizarin. which is the essential
commercial element OF the madden root
Ased in dyeing the world over. II was
ate in the sixties that the discovery OF
his in Germany gave new tendency to
n dyeing industry. 1t was perfected with
- much success that the growing of the
Tadder root, which was a tremendous
Agricultural pursuit i'm Persia, India and
the I.eVant. and followed in less degree
b. Holland, Spain and some of the Rhine
provinces, was wiped Out, throwing many
thousands OF acres OF. titlable land into
dsuse- The importa lions into England
alone OF the root reached the enormous
value Of more than s6e1o0 900 annually. to
say nothing Of the vast quantities brought
20 this country The synthetic product
Nas superior a dyeing medium to the
natural. giving better color TO the fabric
treated with IL.
Indigo Made i'm the Laboratory.
Then. again. the by-product proved 10
10 valuable in another direction, SO that
he whole problem was solved on its econ
mic side Therein lies the single secret
n success for synthetic production. the
me item of economy over the natural
a a
PRODUCED synthetically He said the stu
tents IN Columhia's chemical department
reduced indigo every year IN their class
york But It's synthetic manufacture on
a large scale has never been made profit
BILE al II has not Yet been made cheaply
nough 20 enable the producer to COM
ere ia the open market with the natural
roduct The difficulty appears 10 lie in
he excess OF bv-product for which no
So has been found. The ratio of pure
Fl vn hesiZed indigo IS about one TO
il aree when this difficulty has been over
mo the dream Of the synthesist viii be
eaflzed and indigo growing "a an agri- .
4 ultural pursuit Will 90 the way % the
+. 1adfer industry. Prof Colby turned 70
!. ae discovery Of theohromine witch S
H 20 essential principle Of cocoa. which IN
1-1 IS a modification % chocolate from
he chocolate bean Chocolate ne pro-
II ouuced an iHviEorating dish for invstds.
II ften prescribed ny physicians because
the large proportion OF fatty substance
obtained in ~ Cocoa was its miider sub
II .itute for extreme cases Of illness. where
DE- pure chocolate would tend 20 over
4 ,aI the stomach ~ the patient
Vow the proportion OF elements In 4
horoIate bean was a. % fat. II st"aVine
ggI. ~ sugar 10 Is. and Of Jheobro-
1t0e ~.
4 Tn. favor ~ tho chocolate IS producihlo.
90 rr.of f.eIf,s. -rtsre M IL ARMED that such
svnthatlc product was not chocolate
~f The reuroduction % the sustaining
.s1irv II the bean. its fatty subsian0e.
.s further 20 seek. IN other words. the
M cannot be REPRODUCED hv the synthe-
s riu- process, any more than from ne
E horatnry synthetic COW can be made
-aTvrl~ chemistry can tear that bean
AIT AMI reduce it 10 SIS elements and
81 Ra~theI0t has long since succeeded N
sEi-e far direct from its elements The
me iS vet 10 come when the discovery
FL 1I no commercially available. That *
. N como rhe F~euchman does not doubt
81 her men equally earnest and eager may
q .-,ht without injury 10 that Unborn op-
r-sm which carries 70 every h-sh
II Movement
synthetic Tobacco
81 take another instance Of u f}erthelof's
81 rth4ti- studs. He has produces nico-
o which IS the essential prinela4e or me
g. .,.,.--, LEAF Of commerce. b. treating sal
s. tr-. "a natural E.1eost3s, with hydro
The chemical process is an open
I -. in che laboratory. The assertion.
..,e~ that tobacco VIII ultimately Doc
a. ~ tr1nrexnating any desired or A.
able leaf with synthetic Nicotine ara
E - rhs+ into a cigar - rather a dis
-aVf-z prospect 20 lovers q the weed.
Il - hardly true that the leas IS merely
----% ,7rfaa v@uar4fta matter. IL has