Evening star., 1942-02-19
OF Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.

By Thomas r. Henry.
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 1s.-wasted-
about 10000 tons Of tobacco . year.
From it is extracted about 1,50o. 900
pounds Of nicotine to kill garden insects
and make the vital vitAmin NICOTINE
acid, which is essential to life and sanity.
The rest Is used as fertilizer. It il
nearly . dead loss to the farmer. Yet,
Department Of Agriculture specialists be-
lieve. 1t contains q lot Of things which
may be valuable for national defense.
So. at the Eastern Regional Research
Laboratory here, they are tearing tobacco
to pieces to flnd out what Is in It.
The chemists know already that 1t
has q lot Of citric and malic acid, two
raw materials which are used In . wide
variety Of common things. The former
now Is made from sugar, Of which .
great shortage allegedly Is developing.
Its chief use Is in soft drinks and there
have been fears that production may be
curtailed seriously In the next year. 1t
also is essential in the production Of
cheese and in gelatin. Much malic
acid Is needed for the new essential
plastics. Oxalic acid, another constit-
uent Of tobacco, is necessary for various
dyes and pigments. There may be a
score of other things which will help
the present war effort, and the work Of
the Federal chemists here Is being con-
Quoted purely as . defense project.
But the greatest value, they believe,
will come after the war. Tobacco Is one
Of the most temperamental Of living
things. The numerous constituents OF
the plant vary greatly In amount from
place to place and even from year to
year In the same field with different
conditions Of rainfall. This makes the
tobacco industry something Of f1ne art.
Buyers and blenders have relied in the
past largely on an instructive judgment
Of quality. based on long experience
and many intangible factors. They often
have been wrong.
BY finding everything in tobacco, the
Government chemists say. they may be
able to place the whole tobacco business
on scientific basis where errors will be
reduced to 4 minimum and manufac-
turers, farmers and public get . better
deal.
This is especially true Of the so-called
"15-cent blend" from which almost 90
per cent Of American cigarettes are made.
It consists Of about 20 per cent Kentucky
hurley, 10 per cent flue-cured tobacco
from the Carolinas, 5 to Is per cent OF
the slow-brning tobacco Of Southern
Maryland. The rest Is made up OF
Turkish tobacco. Imports now are
completely shut off. but there Is ap-
proximately a two-year supply in the
warehouses. The formula differs slightly
from brand to brand, but the most
essential differences are in the fiavoring
materials. The formulae for these are
nearly all trade secrets.
Now, the Department Of Agriculture
chemists claim, the American public has
become so conditioned to the "15-cent
blend" that even such . slight variation
from the standard as might be due to .
small excess Of rainfall . certain year
would be certain to be noticed and to
cause complaints. Having educated folks
to It, the makers Of the nearly 200 ,000,-
000, 900 cigarettes smoked In the United
States every year must keep 1t up, re-
gardless Of the costs. 1t means Q lot Of
wasted tobacco. Some OF the most es-
sential differences may depend on chem
Ical factors still unknown.
One Of these for which a determined
search has been carried on without
success as yet-is that element which is
responsible for the aroma, the taste
and odor of burning tobacco. 1t is quite
different from the odor Of cold tobacco,
the Government chemists have found.
But the true aromatic principle just
eludes them.
They already have gotten out OF to-
bacco leaves a soft yellow wool dye which
promises to be Of considerable signifl-
canoe In the industry.
Perhaps the most essential goal at
present, they say, Is to develop . cheap
way Of extracting the nicotine and then
extracting from it the pellasra-prevent-
Ing NICOTINE acid. This now 10 synthe-
sized from coal tars at cost Of about 81
q pound. The materials are badly
needed for other uses and may be cut
down 80 as to supply less than half the
demand. The rest must come, IN one
IL