The Washington herald., 1912-12-08


feared that the obtainable supply would
fall behind the growing demand. causing
/ great increase in price. But this dan
ger Is happily removed by the discovery
OF means whereby the stun can be
| cheaply manufactured in unlimited
| quantities.
, Here we have, in the case Of rubber,
one OF those marvellous achievements OF
modern chemistry, whereby substances
previously known only as products Of
vital processes in plants have been
evolved in the laboratory. Natural rub
Der. as you know, Is derived from the
milky sap Of several different species Of
trees. In like manner guHta percha (of
which famine seriously threatensl is
obtained from the sap OF a tree. There
is good reason to hope that chemistry
will relieve the situation by manufactur-
ing 1t artihcially.
Il spoke a moment ago OF turpentfne.
II is from this source that the chemists
have learned how to make camphor-an-
other kind Of tree gum. In 1868 a tub OF
camphOr Weighing % pounds cost $3.50
Since then the price has arisen TO about
ten times that much. This is why moth
balls made Of naphthaline derived from
coal tarD have been adopted by the house
wife as utilzabie, though inferior, sub
stitute. Such money inducement spurred
the efforts OF Industrial chemists, and
making camphor. all Of them depending
upon the discovery that 'pinene.' sub
stance in the volatile oil of turpentine.
could be converted into exactly the same
stun that is got from the camphor tree.
From the bark Of the pine tree has
been obtained vanillin, the odorous ingre-
dent OF the vanilla bean. 1t is not a
counterfeit or imitation. but the thing
itself-a crystalline. pure white, and with
the delicious fragrance that We know so
well. The substance in the bean appears
on the surface of the latter in snowy
crystals. But recently IL has been found
to be easier to get vaniIlin from oil of
cloves. The only difference between nat
ural Vanillin and the artificial is that
the former always contains impurities.
while the latter IS pure absolutely.
'.New Mown Hay"
Speaking Of perfumes, colognes nova
days are largely laboratory products.
They smell just as good as II they were
made from flowers in the old-fashioned
way. From coumarInic acid we get the
delightful scent known commercially as
'new-mOwn hay. Artificial heliotrope
was first successfully derived from pen
per. but at the present time it is obtain
ed from saffron. Anise-seed oil. subjected
To the proper chemical manipulation.
yields may-blOssOm, or hawthorn, per-
fume Lilac and hyacinth are both de-
rived from turpentine, and violet from
lemon oil
Indigo, as pure as the plant can fur
nlsh. is now manufactured from naph-
thalene- 1t is. as you are aware. indis-
pensable a dye-stuf. Madder, which
is the basis Of nearly all dyes. was for
merry OF enormous importance CONNER
Cially. and was grown on a vast scale in
Asia and Europe. But its coloring prfn-
ciple. altzarin. has been obtained from
cual-tar. and the artificial product has
driven the natural article out Of the
market.
Many Kinds of Sugars
"Sa!icyIic acid. which is 50 largely used
as preservative. as well as in the treat
ment OF gout and rheumatism was for
merly derived from the wintergreen plant
and from certain varieties Of willows.
II was very costly. But now it is pro
duced by the tOn-the real stuff. I mean
from carboHc acid. and is cheap.
There are many kinds of sugars, and
some of them. like glucose and grape
sugar. have already been made in the
laboratory. II seems altogether likely
that some day the chemists will produce
cane sugar by artifce. II they can do it
cheaplE enough, the sugar care and the
sugar beet will be driven ont. CONNER
cially speaking
Attempts have been made 10 produce
qulnine by artitiCe. but without sue
cess thus far. Similar experiments have
had for their object the synthesis of other
valuable alkaloids Of plants. such as
morphine and atropin-the latter being an
active principle of the deadly night
shade. Success in these efforts is OF no
value practically so long as the alksIoids
cannot be made more cheaply than they
can be got from the plants themselves.
Coal-tar. by-product Of illuminating
gas-making. contains a large number of
peculiar compounds called hydrocarbons
which setve in the laboratory as conve-
nient organic substances for the appli-
cation Of chemical processes. Many of
them are transparent white fluids
Among them may be mentioned benzene
and naphthalene The latter. as I have
said. is the sole ingredient of moth
balls. From benzol is made aniline.
which yields many of the most gorgeous
colors used in the arts and industries
Being so complex an organic COM
pound, coal-tar furnishes an admirable
base for the application Of chemical pro-
'esses. Its hydrocarbons by various
monkeyinEs' Of the laboratory. are trans
formed in all sorts of ways. From them
are manufactured many valuable medi-
clnes. particularly antipyretics-that is
10 say. anti-fever remedies.
''Saccharin-a substance reckoned tn b.
900 times as sweet as SUGARS derived
from coal tar. The story of its discovery
s rather interesting.
FnhIberE's Invention.
Just about thirty years ago Il young
German student named Fahlberg was
working at Johns Hopkins University. in
Baltimore. for the degree Of doctor Of
philosophy. The branch of research in
which he was engaged being chemistry.
he head of that department set for him
1 special task. which consisted in the
studying out of certain problems con-
lected with coal tar products. The par
ocular products concerned were sup
'osed to be OF purely scientific interest.
''Fahlberg was living at the time in a
modest clearinghouse. But trouble
presently arose between himself and the
andlady because he constantly declared
hat the food served on her table was
'weetened to an unbearable extent.
Everything ne ate seemed to have sugar
n it. even the mashed potatoes and the
neat. But when ne began to assert that
he boiled eggs tasted sweet likewise
lie was put down as a harmless lunatic.
specially as nobody else had any such
ault to find.
The upshOt of the matter was the dis
overy by FahIberg that the sweetening
anne from something he was handling
tins. This finally proved to be a new
,roduct which he had accidentally isO-
ated from coal tar. Very minute guam