The Washington herald., 1907-08-25

his fortunes afe'd when by lucky hazard
he found it unGer foot, or, more aceu-
/ rately, by the product Of the black
diamonds. which the British Islanders
dig from out Of thefr coal mines.
This man is Sir William Henry Per-
kin, a man who in his early youth had
| burned the midnight oil over problems
in chemistry. who one day in a fit Of
disgust over the failure Of an expert
ment, made hot resolution to be quit
/ of the science and seek other fields,
but who thought better of it the next
| day and lived To create more industries
| than most any who had ever gone be
| fore him; TO take place as a wizard
| whose touch would transmute liquid dross
TO gold. 10 win for himself a knight
hood, and to open avenues for the en-
ployment Of an army Of workers in the
arts OF peace which numerically exceeds
the standing army Of Great Britain.
This was the now distinguished scientist
who first discovered the magic that lay
hidden In coal tar, and who with a skill
which looked like the exercise of some
black art, extracted from this somber
substance whole rainbows OF enchanting
colors. constructed from the ebon ooze the
most ravishing OF perfumes. blazed tho
way TO the manufacture from this neg
lected product Of the high explosives with
which the shells of the warlike are now
charged, sent into the world a more vast
number OF healing medicines than it had
ever known before. and conspicuously ad-
vanced numerous other arts and sciences.
Coal Tar Worthless.
Previous TO his advent into the field
Of applied chemistry. coal tar was re-
garded as an almost worthless thing.
liquid dross. of no virtue, and of but
little use. But since this master of ap-
piled chemistry turned his attention TO
the subject no less than 1000 dyes alone
have been developed from this former
refuse of gas houses. and the medicinal
agents. antiseptics. and perfumes which
have been manufactured from coal tar
are almost innumerable. His discoveries
further revolutionized industries 10 the
end that artificial productions OF madder
and indigo colorings could be manufae-
tured so cheaply that thousands Of acres
of land which had formerly been devoted
TO the growing Of these plants have now
been turned back for the cultivation Of
foodstuffs
Born in London. in March. 1S3S young
Perkin received his early education In a
city school. But all Of his tastes lay
in the direction of science, and his sew
enteenth year found him installed as as
sistant 70 DR.. A W. Hoffman. a distin-
guished German chemist, whose labora-
tory was then in London. The young
chemist was constantly trying expert
ments, and was so absorbed IN his work
that he rarely quilted IT, except for
meals. One Of his many ideas was that
II was possible to produce quinine arti-
ficially. and it was while experimenting
on the line of this theory that he oxi-
diced aniline, and knew instantly that he
had made a great discovery. and. realiz-
ing its commercial value, began immedi-
ately TO organize a company for the man
ufacture OF dyes.
The vast importance of the new dis
covery was quickly appreciated, and
within a few years the world was being
supplied with new coiors. such as dyers
had hitherto seen only in their dreams.
SILK, wool. cotton-all were tinted with
the new pigments Fashion invented and
wore new combinations and contrasts.
The artificial dyes even challenged the
tints of nature, alizarin, the coloring
matter of madder, being reduced from
coal tar, while artificial indigo was made
in larger quantities than the marshes Of
India could produce. So vast were the
new industries which the young chemist
had opened to the world that It Is now
estimated that the coal tar products OF
Germany alone exceed S50000. 900 annually.
Artificial Perfumes.
Perkin also laid the foundations of the
artificial perfume industry by the dis
covery Of a method for preparing cou-
marin. the odoriferous \principle Of the
tonka bean, and which forms an impOr-
tant ingredient in many scents. This still
further extended the industries which
were born in his discoveries, and within
few years the viscOus black gum which
had been used for mixing with sand and
gravel for sidewalks was transmitted into
dainty perfumes and went forth in cut
glass bottles. Besides dyestuffs and per-
fumes, there have been developed from !
the coal tar products many kinds of !
artificial sweeteners. preservatiyes, ex-
veiopers. Chemists have found that the |
number of products which can be OBJ |
tanned from coal tar are practically un- I
limited. and that combined with mate /
rails now known, more than 100000 /
chemical bodies may be produced.
Mathematicians exhibit a formidable to- /
tai of the different possible arrangements. |
according to which the units may be /
grouped by twos and threes. As the sew
en- notes of the musical scale are ar /
ranged in infinite variations, so chemistry 1
dispOses of the bodies occurring in organic /
matter in a Similar endless diversity Of /
combinations.
Few. If any, of the dyes and drugs OBJ /
tanned from coal tar exist in the tar as /
such, though there are in the tar many
substances closely related to the same /
dyes and drugs. Indeed" as a writer
recently described for this paper. eff we /
could provide ourselves with one Of Sam /
Weller's potent double million magnify
ing microscopes of hextra power we /
might see, not only black. tarry sub /
stance. But a marvellous mixture Of /
things. No glaSs-bottomed boat of the
California coast, no museum or curiosity |
shop could show greater marvels. We
would see-if the molecules would stand /
still in their vibratory swing-such a maze
as was never before revealed. The coal
tar would appear TO be a medley of white
and colered crystalline things, enmeshed
witty each other, = few dark colored and
some black enough to discolor the entire
mass, as seen with the naked eye"
Anfline Dyes.
When Sir William discovered the mauve
dyes in 1856 he was oxidizing some aniline
substances-that is, he was acting on
them in a way that amounted to moist