Omaha daily bee., 1919-03-31
Juicy Beefsteaks From AR
Brooklyn Eagle.


down the cost of living for mankind.
With their aid, i. may be possible one OF
these days to get something very much like
beefsteak from the air, just as now with the as
sistance OF these true friends of the race, ex-
cellent butter substitutes are made from OILS
To explore the atmosphere for such products
as the lowly kline have given US, is one of the
achievements of modern industrial chemistry
which may yet make useful to US even The
Cow That Jumped Over the Moon
chemical parson to use the lingo OF the
laboratory, is a substance which brings about
radical changes without being in the least
changed itself One of the best known of them
is the metal nickel, which is now largely en-
poyed in producing valuable substitutes for but
ter.
Paul Escher, member of tho American
Chemical society and chemist connected with
one of the large Chicago packing houses, says
that few realize the extent to which hardened
oils are now taking the place of solid fats and
butter.
The ever increasing population and the con-
tinuous decreasing ratio OF mich cows in the
world have made it necessary to supplement the
supply of natural butter by vegetable oils and
fats so blended as to resemble butter. The lit
tie country of Holland, where this industry has
reacheda very high stage OF perfection, has for
years been supplying Europe with margarine,
the better grades of which are difficult to dis
tingush from the natural product. The oleo
oil used in this industry is derived from beet tat
semi solid vegetable fats Ike cocoanut oil and
shea nut oil have been drawn into use In order
to make them resemble butter the more, they
are put through hardening process, techni-
cally known as INCORPORATION.
This is done by heating the oil and bubbling
through it pure hydrogen gas in the presence
of chemical parson" or catalyzer. The parson
employed in this case is finely divided metallic
nickel. AS the hydrogen passes through under
pressure. the oil takes up some OF the gas and
in so doing. it changes its internal structure and
becomes II cooling solid hard produce cocoa
nut oil butter or shea nut butter which can
be made into prints under ordinary tempera-
lures. Lard may also be made SO solid that it
can be sold in pound packs without the need Of
a container. Highly refined cottonseed oil,
oil and cheap grades OF vegetable oil can all be
converted into more or less solid fat by this
magic process, the degree of hardness depend
ing on the length OF the process. These pre-
parations are sold under. very appetizing and
often fancifu names and seem popular with
the public especially as they cost little more
than half as much as butter.
The metallic nickel which is required is
carefully prepared by special processes and it
is so fine that it canhot be seen by the naked
eye, when it is mixed with the hot oil. If
very active catalyzer chemical parson is re-
CURED one pound of the metal is present in
1000 pounds of oil The nickel is all removed
from the oil before it is sent to the market,
but usually a minute quantity one part to
million, is left. 1t is only by detecting this
slight trace that the chemist can recognize for
a certainty that the product which is submitted
to him for analysis is really hardened oil.
AS the metallic nickel is absolutely inert it can
have no effect upon the human system and the
actual amount absorbed would be about equiva-
lent to Scent piece distributed through eight
tons of artificial butter.
1t is process of using nitrogen in place of
hydrogen through oil and other liquids
perfected for that is within the dream of chem
istry new source of food would become avail
able. By treating glucose, Gil or soluble starch
in the presence of catalyzer which would
combine them with nitrogen, it may be possible
to produce peptones which so plentiful in
meat extract used in the making of soups 1t
might be feasible to coagulate these substances
into casein and thus have synthetic milk or
cheese. They might also be converted into al
bumen, the equivalent of the white of the egg,
or into other proteins, which figure so largely
in food
Thus, the chemist awaiting himself of the
peculiar properties of catayzers or chemical
parsons. may be able to work an endless chain
of wonders by wedding dissimilar elements and
at some future day may be feeding the human
race with provender gathered from ethereal