Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-20

A CHEMIST has provided a new test
~ for the use Of the modern Solomon
who must decide the banning cases
parentage.
The Judge may now give each OF
the parents and children in the dispute grain
OF innocent-looking white powder to lay on
their tongues, and the chances are that their
actions afterward viii clearly show which are
related and which are not
The chemical is not 'le detector." 1t is
q substance which to some persons has taste
as bitter ss quinine, bitter as gain or worm
wood-so intensely bitter that q solution OF
only one teaspoonful in 200 gallons Of water
will leave q nasty taste in the mouth for hours.
Yet to other persons tbs remarkable sub
stance has more taste than sand.
Give it to one person. and he win make WY
face, stick his tongue out and run for water to
wash his mouth. Give it to another, and he
may merely gaze at you in surprise and won
der what all the fuss is about.
But here is its value to those who wish to
determine parentage. The ability or lack Of
ability to taste the substance Is inherited, Just
rs is eye color.
II neither parent can taste the chemical
then none Of their children can taste 1t. If
one parent Is unable to taste 1t. and the child
can taste it. then the other parent must be .
person who tastes
THE accidental discovery or this material.
(which is hitter to about 90 per cent Of che
persons who have tasted It. and which i prac.
tlcaIIy tasteless to the rest has st scientist m
al nelds to specuiating Here Is anew prob
lem to solve! " 80 '.4s's' 1~'-c-s ssas-
II the taste of substance Is dependent upon
its chemical makeup, - has been supposed,
why should the same identical chemical COM
pound have great deal Of effect on one per-
son, and no effect at all on another9
Is this taste blindness related to color
blindEess?
Does it apply to other substances than the
one chemical?
Are there perhaps '9Dlindnesses" of other
senses?
Perhaps every one has his own particular
blindness to certain forms. colors. tastes odors,
or sounds
The chemical substance which is or is not
bitter, and so aroused much interesting dis
c1ssion and research on the part Of scientists.
was made by DIR. Arthur Ia Fox q chemist Of
Wilmington, Del. 1t was he who discovered
its paradoxicaT taste and tastelessness.
Dr. Fox was preparing a quantity Of the
chemical and putting it into bottles when an
associate in the laboratory, Dr. c. r. Noller
complained bitterly Of the taste Of dust flying
about In the air. DR.. Fox thought that pecu-
liar. for he was much nearer the dust than
was DR.. Noller. Both agreed to settle the mat
ter BY tasting the compound directly, bat the
taste only made the difference greater
DR.. Fox could distinguish no taste whatever
Dr. Noller found Il IS bitter as quinine and
assured Dr.. Fox that something is wrong WITH
your tasCer This accidental discovery was
the starting point Of the investigation
A MOTHER curious fact about this substance
Is that it Is a very close relative of the
substance known as "duIcfn," which Is very
sweet-several hundred times as sweet as sugar,
for instance.
Para-ethoxy- phenyl -carban1ide is the long
chemical name of duicin. It Is a close kin 10
n common substance which Is constantly being
made I'm the human body and the bodies of
other animals as one Of the end products Of the
chemical process necessary to life.
DR.. Fox tried his very complex organic COM
pound, para-ethoxy- pheny1- thio--carbamide, ON
everybody who would volunteer to taste it, and
found that approximately three-nfths OF his
victims declared 1t intensely bitter, while the
rest Say that 1t has no more taste than sand"
When two persons, one taste, blind ana
the other not. try It at the same. time . lively
Argument usually ensues. FOR the one is as