Evening star., 1912-09-06
THE FUTURE OF CHEMISTRY.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

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| The meeting of the eighth international
| congress of applied chemistry. which IS
now in session in this city, affords an
| interesting opportunity to consider what
applied chemistry has done for humanity
! and to speculate upon what the future
will bring forth. The most impressive
fact concerning chemical knowledge Is
the same that characterizes most scien-
tiflc knowledge-the discovery OF race
| beneflung processes and methods IS far
ahead OF their adoption by the people OF
even the most civilized nations. If the
farmer, for instance, could adopt into his
work all Of the chemical knowledge OF
soils and crops that has been gathered
for him the high cost Of living might be-
| come a forgotten issue. Farm life then
would become SO attractive that the drift
| Of humanity would be away from the city
instead OF toward 1t. The mere matter
| of intelligent fertilization would result
in doubling the American yield OF farm
crops of every description. Comparing
the results obtained on the average
American farm with those secured on the
progressive farmers fields. the average
American farmer wastes far more than
half his opportunities, simply by his fall
ure to mix chemistry and allied sciences
| with the Drawn he uses.
But the farmer Is not the only man
who wastes more than half of his ener-
gies. The coal operator mines coal by
expensive processes. lifts 1t hundreds OF
feet to the surface. loads 1t on cars and
hauls 1t away, so that the value OF the
coal when the consumer gets it is a dozen
times or more greater than It's value be-
fore loosened by the miners pick.
sssn sns m Of s ssee ose of be
propositions is TO grind the coal into
minute particles in the mine. mix 1t with
water and then pump 1t out as they
tions of the Panama canal with suction
dredges: big pipe lines would then be laid
from the mine to the contiguous cities
and the liquid coal carried as petroleum
is carried now
Another suggestion for the utilization
of coal without mining 1t and transport
ing II by rail comes from Sir William
Ramsey, the noted English chemist, who
now Is attending the chemists congress
| in this country. He says that 1t Is
feasible to bore holes down to the coal
stratum and through them fire the coal
by electricity. Air would be sent down
| only IN sufficient quantities to provide a
regulated fire, which would transform
| the coal directly into producer gas. Great
gas tanks would be located at the mouth
Of the we'll, and they would be connected
with gas engines. which. in turn, would
drive great dynamos for the making Of
current could be delivered several hun
dred miles with much less loss of energy
than characterizes the present wasteful
methods of coal mining.
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The savings that would thus be ef-
fected in the delivery Of power from the
n m n d
Saving Will Be Made coal to the
in Delivery of Power SHAFTS Of b,s
factories find a counterpart in those ef-
fected already in metal mining opera
tions through smelters and the like.
With these millions OF tons of ores are
secured that would otherwise be un-
available because the amount Of metal in
a given quantity of ore would not be
sufficient to justify separation under old
methods. In these days Of brass and
copper and steel prices would be pro-
hibitive but for the arts Of chemical and
electro-chemical extraction devised by
the modern chemical engineer.
The modern chemist is going to the ant
and considering his ways in many fields.
Every one realizes that our lighting bills
are too heavy, and that we use vastly
more energy than we should in generat-
Ing our illuminants. II we could make
our light with as little expenditure of
| energy as does the common firefy a gas
bill that now Is $ would be Is cents. In
a large number Of chemical laboratories
scientists are trying to master the mys-
teries of the f1refiy's lighting establish
ment. While there is not much hope
that they will be able to tell us at any
early date how to reduce our gas bills to
so great an extent, they do hold out
hope that we Will soon get our illumina-
| tion at infinitely less expenditure Of en-
Only recently a French chemist an
nounced that he has succeeded in produc-
/ Ing cold electric light, which gives Off
! light with the expenditure OF the two
hundredth part of the electrical current
| required for producing light with the
ordinary filament lamp. This would be
| even more economical than the flrehy,
| but whether 1t can be used outside of the
| laboratory or not remains to be seen.
| The inventor claims that with this light
a boy or girl could carry around any
where a battery powerful enough to light
an ordinary dwelling.
| While the matter of talking by wire has
been in use so long that people consider
1t nothing unusual now. sending pictures
by wire still excites great interest The
newspapers of Paris now arc doing that
right along. however. thanks to the genius
Of the chemist who has made 1t possible
to transmit half-tones. The doings at
Monte Carlo are being illustrated in this
way, although the intervening distance is
some 500 miles. A copper film is prepared
| by Photographic means. so as to give 1t
the little dots Of half-tone. Gelatin re-
mains on the film where the shadows ap-
pear. and the copper is bare where the
lights arc encountered. An electric needle
passes over the plate, making a contact
and sending electrical impulses which
correspond to tho lights and shadows OF
the picture. At the receiving end there
is a similar copper Aim untreated A
ray Of light shines through a pin hole,
and a shutter cuts 1t of. and makes It
weak or strong, according to the contact
of the needle at the sending end When
the whole film has thus received its i'm
pressions of light and shadow 1t is de-
| veloped and turned over to the photo
engraving room for reproduction.
Will we ever be able to see by wire? This
i Is q question often asked. and usually an
I swefed In thenega-
May Some Day See tive BY tho layman
by Use Of Wire. . su. no VINO na'
telegraph. the telephone and the wireless
apparatus. and has considered how all oi
these were regarded as impossible in their
turn, will scarcely deny the possibility
of such an invention. All Of these things