The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1920-11-25
GERMAN Grip ON
RARE SUGAR CONE.
America Now Producing Costly
Sweets Used in the Detection
of Disease Germs.
RESULT OF WAR NECESSITY
Prompt Work Of Chemists of Great
Assistance in Fighting Typhoid
in A. e. F.-Elaborate Care
Necessary.

t~S~SSoo'ys
New York-Germany's grip on the
rare sugar, industry has been broken
ut last by several American manufac
turers who are now able to produce
those costly sweets used in the de-
lection of disease germs.
The most expensive. Of these quoted
ut several hundred dollars pound
is far beyond the reach Of the average
housewife, and yet it plays an i'm
Dortant part in scientific research and
must be obtained.
At the outbreak of the European
war the group of rare sugars used in
our laboratories was manufactured in
Germany. The TeutOns had such a
hold on the processes that they were
sble at any time to destroy cOlnpeti-
don
One Of these sugars is of exceptional
value in the detection of typhoid, as
the organisms OF that disease are so
fond Of it that they naturally select
1t and so multiply upon it that their
presence can readily be detected. The
military hospitals of the United
States called upon members of the
American Chemical Society to coop.
crate in the making Of rare hacteri-
illogical sugars for typhoid work, and,
according to a bulletin issued by that
society these efforts soon proved sue
cessful. The fact that the health of
the American expeditionary force in
France was so good was largely due
to the quest for typhoid germs which
was made possible by the preparation
of these unusual saccharine substances
In laboratories of the United States.
The Investigations which developed
from the employment of these agents
did much to forestall outbreaks of
typhoid fever and to indicate the need
OF special vigilance in vaccination
against that dread disease, which in
the Spanish American war caused
more deaths than did the bullets of
the enemy.
Guides in Selecting Germs.
Other rare sugars are used as guides
in the detection of cholera germs and
are therefore invaluable a: weapons
against the pestiIence which walks in
darkness.
archaeological or rare sugars re-
auire tie utmost care in handling, for
the presence OF any impurities or OF
another kind of sugar renders them
unfit for the precise purposes for
which they are intended. 1t requires
the utmost patience and scientific
skill to put them through the various
steps of publication. Often through
Scrle slight slip or mishap days Of
work may be lost, and it is necessary
TO 60 back and repeat the processes
in order to obtain the required stand
sr9.
This elaborate care is responsible
for the seemingly enormous prices at
which the rare sugars are listed. High
as these costs may appear they are
S~dlu ~ NiCl' oliit u
the manufacturers.
The most expensive rare sugar
quoted in the catalogue is dulcitol, for
which 1915 Il pound is asked.
Nannose is worth Sl4O pound The
ivory nut better known as vegetable
IVORY is imported in large quantities
from Ecuador. and is used for the
manufacture of buttons for coats and
gowns. The chemist makes mannose
from the scraps OF the button fac
tories. but The high cost of the result
ing product is due to the many ac-
eur3te processes through which he
must put it in order to obtain abso-
lutte purity.
Sugar From Mamma.
another sugar is mannite, derived
from mama, that nutritive gum with
which the Bible tells US the children
Of Israel were miraculously fed during
their wanderings in the Wilderness.
Mamma is secreted from tree and
forms in thin scales. which at certain
times and under unusual weather con-
ditions may be blown high into the
air by the wind and then deposited
upon the ground. The Biblical nara
tive receunts that the Hebrews found
the bread from heaven lying upon
the earth IN the early hours of the
DerD. AS mamma has delicate and
delicious taste which resembles that
Of a sweet wafer. it is not so good
when hong exposed to the air-as is
also told IN Holy Writ.
Xylose, held at $3.50 a pound, is
made from the lowly corn cob.
inuIin is derived from the bulbs of
me dahIia, but can be obtained at only
certain seasons of the year.
Other rare sugars are: Aribinose, for
which 800 a pound is asked; levu-
lose, an $50 pound product; and raj
tinOse, for which the manufacturing
chemist receives S75 pound.
Only small quantities of these su-
CARS are employed at time in the