The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-03-19
MUSK AND VIOLET PERFUMES.

Reproduced by German Chemists-A
 Triumph of Science.
 In no field of science are the Germans doing more than in chemistry. They have long been making colors and dyes in their laboratories synthetically, driving out of the market the old dyes which we earlier had to go to the tropics after. The woods and the saps and the insects which yielded up their store of colors to dye our hosiery and our neckerchiefs are things of past utility. We get colors to-day of more beautiful and more seryiceable kinds at a cheaper price from the chemists S pot. The work still goes on. "The Lon don Times" each year gives review of the scientific achievements of the twelve months, in 1897 we are told that one of the leading German chemical manufacturers put upon the mark ct an artifical indigo. This is a, firm, of which there are several in Germany, employing from fifty to a hundred university graduates, who are con- stantly engaged in the work of trying to turn science into the channels of profitable industry. We are told, too, that during the year just passed many scents, heretofore thought to be pro- curable only from nature, have been produced artificially.
 For instance, musk, one of the most highly prized and most costly of per- fumes, has been initiated by the Ger man chemists. It, however, Is not an imitation. If the scientist can resolve a substance occurring in nature into it's parts, and can then synthetically build up the substance by other means so as to produce precisely the same result, why should we call it an imita- ton? If eggs can be manufactured, why should we pSoIong the existence of the hen? And if butter and milk and cheese can be made by the chemist, why should we not manufacture them in factories, and gradually retire the COW from active service? This may be regarded as another assault upon the agriculturists and the agrarians, who are always complaining because civili- zation is setting in against them. The truth Is that the man or the class of men who try to stem such a tide as this are fighting a poor fight. They are out of joint with the times, and the way to succeed is to deserve to succeed which, in Shakespearian phrase, is even better than success.
 We are told, too that during the year the Germans have produced an artifi- cial essence of violets, and indeed, a | whole series of scents, which, appeal ing to the olfactory nerves as the colors appeal to the eye, are now receiving the attention of the patient scientists | of Germany. Although man cannot directly enjoy these delicious odors except in a reflex way as pleasure reaches him through the other sex, il is to be remembered that commercial- ism knows none of these barriers. The | industrial scientist and the manu | facturer produce; they do not inquire as to who may consume, or how. Tc sell an article after having made 1t and to collect enough money for it tC yield profit on the investment, is thu pressing if somewhat materialistic tasl
 which confronts the manufacturer. Th' I truest thing about it all, quoting Tn
 London Times" is this, that "thes'
 profitable discoveries-musk is proba
 bly, worth $500 per pound ($2,5O0
 are not dropped upon by accident l On the contrary, they are the reward
 of patient, continuous and systemati, research, directed by the highest skill
 and knowledge"
 | The lesson to be drawn out of it fO