Evening star., 1939-06-10
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas r. Henru.

~ 1HOmGS II. henry.
Science this week came to the aid of
ambitious drinkers of questionable ca
pacity with n-intoxicating whisky.
A patent for Intoxicating beverages Of
reduced inebriating capacity" was grant,
ed to Leon Lilienfeld, Viennese chemist
by the United States Patent ONCE.
The result is obtained, he claims, by
mixing with whisky, brandy, gin or
vodka, the Hungarian starka or any one
OF long list of hydrocarbon "esters"-
which preparations can be made from
cellulose, starch and various kinds of
sugars.
1t is only necessary, Lilienfeld says in
his patent application, that something
be selected which will dissolve forming a
clear solution in mixture Of water and
between 3 and 60 per cent alcohol, which
approximately covers the range of all
intoxicating beverages sold.
The amount, he explains can be regu-
lated both by the alcoholic content and
| by the capacity of the drinker. 1t varies
from about one-fifth as much as the al
cohol used to as high as go per cent. 1t
makes no appreciable difference, he
stresses, in the taste or odor of the bev-
erage, but one can simply keep on i'm
blblng 1t without getting tight. At the
same time all the alcohol is there and
the craving for the taste is satisfied
Llllenfeld does not attempt to explain
the physiology of the alleged effect
In making either beer or wine, he ex-
plains, the carbohydrate ester may be
added to the mash, but with any distilled
liquor it must be added in solution either
to the finished product or at any stage
during the manufacturing process. 1t
can also, he says, be added to soda water,
SO that whisky and soda prepared with
the most potent liquor obtainable will
produce no effect, to the amazement of
drinkers unsuspecting the trick being
| played on them.
Anybody taking advantage of the in
! ventlon, the applica ton points out, must
bear in mind that there is a great range
| boozerS, not greatly affected by alcohol.
can be protected against inebriation by
| very minute amounts of the carbonhy-
| drate ester.
The Invention harks back to the drink
ing bouts of the Middle Ages, when
championship contests were held to see
who would first be laid under the table
and il has lNnC
some OF the most conSummate boozers
were in possession of a secret formula,
furnished by the alchemists This might
De anything with an opposite physiolog-
lcal action TO alcohol-that is, any stim-
uiator OF the nervous system balancing
the Oppressive effects of alcohol on the
normally repressing pre-frontal lobes of
the brain.
Man might draw many social, political
and economic lessons from the 500 OOO.-
600 or more domestic animals in the
United States
Such is the contention of DR.. D. S.
Burch, Washington scientist, advanced
IN the current issue of the Scientific
Monthly
Some OF the greatest advances in
medlclne in the past he points out, have
been made possible by physiological ex-
/ Fermentation based on the essential
similarity OF man and the domestic crea-
lures but thus far there has been little
realization that animals are governed
by much the same broad social laws.
For example. says DR.. Burch among
animal workers compensation is in terms
Oh 1eed, housing and care. The better
bred and more productive receive prefer
entlal treatment. Applied to human af-
1alTs, the deduction is that efficiency and
volume OF production are the proper
| oaSes Tor wages. And since even an in
| 1erlor specimen that Is good enough tn
keep merits at least a maintenance ra-
tlon, and commonly receives more. the
principle OF minimum wage is sound. In
the production of most animal products
| the curve of efficiency roughly approxi-
| mates that OF an arch, rising to its great
est height in the prime of life and then
declining. On the basis of this analogy
'he correct principle of wages for human
physical work is advancement from. the
perlod OF youthful effort to that of
greatest output followed by some curtaiI-
ment IN the workers declining years
Inc human custom of retaining aged
persons in positions that make too heavy
drains on their constitutions is contrary
TO sound biological practice The princi-
pie OF adequate vacations, with paw, is
supported by analogies in the animal
world, ample rest periods being essential
Tor the best productive effort.
There is practically no unemplov-
ment IN our animal economy owing to
foresight in regulating the number Of
workers. Once in three years the Burea,,
OF Animal Industry surveys the horse
and mule situation and points out the
prospective needs several years hence,
Ihls service has been useful in adjusting
the supply to the probable requirements
Ihere is virtual taboo in livestock cir
cles on the use Of immature animals for
steady work. That would be injurious
! to the animals and unsound from a
practical standpoint, regardless of the
humanitarian SIDE On this basis child
labor is unsound and measures for pre-
venting such labor have ample support
from the livestock world.
Adequate and sanitary hous;no hoe =.
close parallel in both human and live