Evening star., 1928-12-16

If any one present can suggest use
for xylose, the United States Bureau
of Standards would be glad to have
him step forward XyloSe? Don't
know what xylose is? Well, neither did
any one else until quite recently.
The Bureau of Standards constantly
is looking around in search of wayward
by-products. Nothing, to the scientific
side of Uncle Sans mind. is useless.
Not even peanut shells. Figuratively
speaking Uncle Sam reached down one
day while sitting in the bleachers at a
ball game-or was it under the big top
at circus?-and picked up peanut
shell. He hated to see the peanut shell
being trampled into the dust and deter
mined to find some useful work for it
to beguile its declining years. He found
Xylose.
Patient laboratory work had resulted
in the recovery of this hitherto un-
known chemical 1t is a sort of sugar,
but different from any other heretofore
discovered The ose family is a chemi-
cal family of sugars. CelluloSe. sucrose,
levulose and various other oses have
been discovered and put to use, but the
arrival of the little stranger who has
been named xylose has raised-as much
of problem as the arrival of little
stranger in any household. Just what
little xyl will be when he grows VI is a
matter of conjecture.
But already the Bureau of Standards
is looking around for a job for him.
1t is an interesting fact that scientists
stance and then have to search just
as hard to find something to do with it.
XyloSe today is described by the
scientists of the bureau as merely a
museum specimen. The time and money
expended upon discovering the sub
stance might. from mere surface ex-
animation, appear of no avail. But
there is good precedent to contradict
that. It is to be remembered that
aniline remained in precisely the same
category for quite some time. Aniline
was discovered as one of approximately
thousand by-products of coal tar, but
no one knew what to do with it. There
was not a soul on earth. who felt an
Unsuitable longing for bit of anilinc
There was no market. Aniline, too, was
merely museum specimen. But today
aniline Is the principal basis of dyes
and of coloring for food products. It
is made and sold in vast quantities and
has returned millions in profits to it's
exploiters.
Aluminium once was In the same
position. Discovered more or less by
chance, it remained sort of scientific
founding. Today the Aluminium Co.
of America is one of the country's
greatest and most prosperous corpora
tionS and every housewife has alum
inumware In her kitchen.
A Use Will Be Found.
So the scientists who found xylose in
peanut shells are not bit downheart-
ed. Xylose may revolutionize some
thing or other sooner or later. An odd
thing about the substance is that it has
a price although no one has any use
for it. Xylose is quoted at S101 a
pound. The business is a rather re-
stricted one, with less activity than in
probably any other business in the
world just at present. The only pur-
chasers are experimenterS who want it
for laboratory researches into its poten-
tial usefulness. They buy 1t from other
laboratories which have recovered it
from the peanut shells.
However, the bureau IS not working
entirely in the dark in looking for a
use for XyloSe. 1t knows that xylose is
sweet to the taste and therefore has a
potential use as a sugar substitute. They
also know that it can be nitrated and
used as an ingredient of explosives
Further. it appears to have an opening
in paint manufacture and in tanning
and dyeing.