Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-09-06

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foods. and success has not come az ye
IN this. The actual achievements OF
science In chemical synthesis have, never
theiess, been many.
| IL Is along coal-tar lines that the most
| mas been done Drugs and colors that
| formerly were only to be extracted from
| pant lue at great cost are now In great
part compounded from the products OF
coai tar, and the ARTIFICIAL completes sue
cesAIuily an open market with the ma
tufal Great fortunes have already been
accumulated by the lucky investors and
capitalists. This has encouraged others
TO enter the field. Wideawake, modern
chemists find large sums at their beck
and call for this sort Of work, and visions
OF big royalties are dangled before
them. Thus Fischer, the German profess
sor and chemist, Is said to have made
over 10000 in a single year on one coal
tar patent, and others have gained reve-
nues scarcely less. That indigo has for
a long time been made successfully by
artificial means is an old story. There is
hardly another color, however, that can
not be built up by chemical means. A
Iast, dead black is the single tint that
mas evaded the chemist thus far. All
these modern colors are the products Of
coal tar. The earliest was alizarin,
which originally replaced the madden
root as a red, and now, used as a base,
can be combined chemically to get any
color. There is now before the Board
Of General Appraisers a tariff case which
will eventually be carried to the Supreme
Court, and on which literally millions of
dollars hang-all on a technical question
about this alizarin.
The essences, too, have yielded 10
chemical sciences. These are still ex-
tracted in the old-time way. but ;he
most of them are made" The artif-
cial, meeting every analytical test. drives
the natural out Of the market. because
Of its lower price. This has come TO be
a well-known fact in the trade. But
chemical science in its building up" I'm
its laboratories with tubes and retorts,
its liquids. crystals, powders, and strange
paraphernalia, has done even more mar
vellous things. 1t has very nearly solved
the problem of making artificial NOR
phine-an achievement Of enormous i'm
portance when it does come. 1t has
actually made artificial caffeine-the es
sential principle Of coffee and tea. This
has hitherto been extracted from tea
sweepings. The precise details of the
new caffeine synthess are yet hidden.
but it is known that il is built up from
xanthine, and those who are experts in
the science Of chemistry as it is to-day
say that without doubt it is derived di-
rectly from guano.
SECRETS LAID BARE.
It would seem as II the secrets OF
chemistry were being more and more laid
bare. The scientists have not stopped
at these inventions. The new coal-tar
drugs-some with such names as alinit, |
ferro-somatoso, protargol, salo-
phen and tannopine-have come largely
into use and actively compete with the
old-time vegetable and plant products /.
The alkaloids, formerly extracted, are
now furnished drugstores in their pure
state. made in the laboratories. OIL or /
is likewise made, and car |
bolic acid Is artifcally produced. Science /
has, as a matter Of fact, surpassed nature /
at one point-the making of bitter almond |
)il. The artificial is concededly better |
than the natural-it has no poison |
prussic acid in it.
Artificial sugar is an actuaity-not /
saccharine, but genuine sugar. This re-
spends to every test, and no difference /
in taste can be detected Science makes
artificial alcohol as well, and excellent
alcohol. Neither of these products is yet
a commercial success. though there il
every reason to believe that both soon
will be.
What the future OF chemical synthesis
holds out before ii is an uncertainty Es-
'ecially is this the case as regards the
,rtifcial making Of albumen. One curious
idelight on this remains to be told. A
'hcago scientist has discovered a means
f utilizing the spent yeast" OF breweries
" making this yeast into an albuminold,
n the line of meat extract substitute.
lie IS said to have been most successful
n this, and IL is said that patents are
ow pending, and the new food" will
Don be manufactured on a most extern
i've scale.
In regard to DR.. Lilienfelds discovery.
further opinion upon IL is that the cost
f the materials he uses would probably
e practically prohibitive. The chemicals
e mentions are expensive, and natural
lbumen is cheap. Blood albumen may be
ad at something like % cents a
ound, egg albumen (he .purest form
[ about 30 cents. These figures.
would be difficult to get below. AS
New York chemist puts ii, you can
urn a diamond to make carbonic acid
as, but it is an expensive way Of
citing IT," There is no question, how
ver that there would be great demand
or cheaper and artificial albumen. AL
umen is used for a variety of technical
urposes-in calico-printing, in the Sxtile
ldustry, in the making Of Photographic
pharmaceutical and tonic
II has a very large sale in
MS way.
DIR. Lilienfeld's theory relates to the dis
)very of a new food product, however,
} the production Of "pepton," one Of the
Ibuminoids. The London papers argue
lat artificial albumen" may soon come
} take the place of meat American
lemists do not agree with this view
ven If a genuine albumen can be pro-
lced chemically, IL does not follow that
will make an acceptable substitute for
eat. Compressed meats and meat ex- '