The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1898-05-21
Number II
MUSK AND VIOLET PERFUMES.
Reproduced by German Ckemists-A
Triumph of Science.


In no field OF science are the Ger
mans 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 trop-
les 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 pasD
utility. We get colors to-day of more
beautiful and more serviceable kinds,
at cheaper price, from the chemists
pot. The work still goes on. The Lon
don Times each year gives a review
of the scientific achievements of the
IL months. In 1897 we are told that
one of the leading German chemical
manufacturers has put upon the market
an artificial indigo. This is firm, of
which there are several in Germany,
employing from SO to 100 university
graduates, who are constantly engaged
in the work of trying 70 turn science
into the channels of profitable industry.
We are told, too, that during the year
just passed many scents, heretofore
thought to be procurable only from
nature, have been produced artificialiy.
For instance, musk, one of the most
highly priced and most costly of per
fumes, has been initiated by the Ger
man chemists. It, however. Is p5f 1n
imitation. If the scientist eaE resolve
a substance occurring ip>s1ature into
its parts, and can th<n syntheticany
build up the a15stance by other means
so as to prodAce precisely the same re.
suit, why s1ould we call it an imita-
taonf n-<Rgs can be manufactured,
why sho'ild we prolong the existence of
the hen2 And II 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
agriculturist and the agrarians, who
are always complaining because civ
ilization 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 Shakespearean
phrase, is even better than success
We are told, too, that during the
year the Germans have produced an
artificial essence Of violets, and. In
deed, a whole series of scents, which,
appealing to the olfaotory nerves as
the colors appeal to the eyes, 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 pleas
ure reaches him through the other sex,
it is to be remembered that CONNER
cialism knows none of these barriers.
The industrial scientist and the man
ufacturer produce; they do not In
Quire as to who may consume or how.
To sell an article after having made
it, and to collect enough money for II
to yield a profit on the investment, is
the pressing II somewhat materialistic
task which confronts the manufacturer.
The truest thing about it all, quoting
the London Times, is this, that "these
profitable discoveries-musk is prob
ably worth e 500 per pound ($2, ,50o)-
are not dropped upon by accident. On
the contrary, they are the reward of
patient, continuous and systematic re-
search, directed by the highest skill and
knowledge"
The lesson to be drawn out of IL for
us ia to establish scientific schools of
the highest standard, in which we can
train Investigators, not mere copyists
and mechanics who work along by rule Of
thumb, but men who will put their minds
to deep and patient research. When
we have such men, manufacturers will
soon come to know their worth, and
will employ them and reward them as
they ought to be rewarded.-Manu-
factIIrer