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Show ! MAGIC WAND OF ! THE CHEMIST 1 Sir William Ramsey, the English chemist for sereral months has been Tlsltlng la tho United States and hao tnado many obserratlonB of the prob-ablo prob-ablo needs of tho people here with- liv the noxt row yearn. "Ho boUovcs that the food of a na- tldn Is Its grcatcat asset, and thero- , Xoro ho considers that tho work of tho synthetic chemist In aiding agriculture ag-riculture Is most Important. While tho soil of tho different states at present is very! fertllo, th0 time vrlll , come, ho says, when It must look to tho chemists for aid, as has been I found In European countries Keynote of Modern Chemleti-y "Tho work of tho modern syntho- ' tic chemist now Involves tho saving of untold millions and millions of ' dollars to tho present and future ' generations," said Sir William. "Not only is it surprisingly aiding agriculture, but wonderful progress has been mado quietly in industrial lines and many synthetic products 1 of enormous commercial valuo and usefulness In reducing tho cost of the safe are already on tho market, while others are to bo placed thoro Boon. "Synthcticlsm is tho koytioto of modorn chemistry. In tho paBt chemistry chem-istry was analytical; today It is synthetical, syn-thetical, meaning tho production of natural products by chemical means "At tho dawn of the twentieth century cen-tury tho world was facing a Berious problem that threatened tho existence exis-tence of mankind in tho years to come. Tho nltrato beds, from which camo tho world's supply of that fertilizer fer-tilizer so necessary to plant life, were steadily becoming exhausted. Scientists calculated that tho natural natur-al supply would last only a few years. When that supply was gone I tho world would bo without food un- ' less means wore found for obtaining 1 an unlimited supply of nltrato. , Supply of Nitrogen Inexhaustible "Scientists havj long known Unit four-fifths of tho air Is composed of nitrogen. Every square yard of land wo find is covered with seven tons of nitrogen. "Tho nitrogen In the air over a equaro mile, if convorted Into nitrate would bo worth 125 million dollars and would supply tho world with fer tilizer for years to come. "Tho production of nltrato from 4fe tho air has mado tremendous strides FJ ' in tho last five years. This work at present is carried on almost exclu- H Blvely In Norway, Blrkeland and H Eyde, the chemists who evolved tho process, have mado tho production H Of synthetical nltrato tho most mar-H mar-H vclous new Industry In Norway In H! 10 years. H "Tho main process consists of bur s' nlng tho nlr, for which purpose great ; flaming electric arcs are used. Tho I nitrous gases aro then chemically I, treated until two products are given I' nltrato of lime and nltrato of soda. I "Tho Norwegian factories aro able I at present to produco annually, ac-Hi ac-Hi cording to Dr. Eydo's estimate, 80,- ' 000 tons of nltrato of lime and 10,-I 10,-I 000 tons of nitrate of soda. Itecont-I Itecont-I ly tho factories have been producing I nltrato or ammonia at the rato of I 10,000 tonB a year. Thirty million I dollars of French capital is Invested I in the industry. Tho factories slnco I their first operation havo Increased their numbor of workmen from 2 to 1,340 and tho horso power from 25 I to 200,000. Ammonia Produced by Synthesis Ij "Until about three years ago the ' chemists woro In dospalr at tho pros- poet of producing ammonia from its natural olomonts by synthesis, and tho announcement that this has been successfully accomplished haa been made only rccontly by Dr. H. A. Uernthsen of Germany, "Ths credit for tho achlovemcat of this dream of the chomlsts Is given to Prof , Haber of Berlin, who worked work-ed Incessantly at tho problem for years. Ho finally discolored that ammonia could bo formed from nitrogen ni-trogen and hydrogen it tho mixture wcro kept under constant prcssuro during tho wholo of tho operation and was subjectoi alternately to the catalytic formation of ammonia at a high temperature, and then treed from ammonia by absorption or condensation con-densation at a low temperature "Ag to tho future of tho synthetically syntheti-cally prepared ammonia and othor nitrogenous substances Dr. Bornth-son Bornth-son and his fellow chemists In Germany Ger-many boliovo It to bo wonderfully bright. Tho soil of the world Is bo-lng bo-lng worn out by constant usago for centuries. America has not felt this change so much as Europe, but in tlmo tho soil of tho eastern states will need notrogenous manuro for tho growth of tho crops. A Triumph For Synthetic Rubber "A scientific marathan, a great nnd fast race, in which two groups of scientists working in the'lr laboratories labor-atories on tho sanio Bccret of nature resulted In tho synthetic production of rubber, nn event which In tlmo to como is expected to have a wide effect on the uses of tho natural product. pro-duct. "England nnd Germany both claim tho honor of this great discovery. England seems to havo been tho first to produco trio synthetic rubber, but cd first that Its product Is of valuo Germany apparently has demonstrated demonstra-ted commercially. "Dr. Carl Dulsberg of Oermany recently re-cently exhibited In the United States two excellent specimens of synthetically synthet-ically prepared rubber motor car tires, which, ho explained, had run more than 4,000 miles, considered a healthy guarantee for any tiro on tho present market and yet they appeared ap-peared to bo Just as good as new, and this notwithstanding the fact that they had been driven on heavy motor cars. Tho original tread had not worn ofT, and tho only evidence of wear, In fact, was tho seasoning of tho original rubber color to a light brown." Its Wonders Unlimited According to Sir William who In his laboratory In England has mado many valuable contributions to science sci-ence along tho lines which ho has discussed with no mention of tho great part which ho himself has played, synthetic chemistry has been applied to tho artificial production of many other natural products. In fact, thoro appears to bo no limit to the wonders which may bo performed perform-ed as time goes on by the magic wand of cuemlstry. Precious stones rubles, sapphires emeralds nna turquoises havo been manufactured by tho synthetic process pro-cess and tho artificial product, ho says, Is In every sense Identical with the natural stono. Tho perfume Industry In-dustry of tho world has been revolutionized revolu-tionized by the discovery that tho odor of the rose, tho Illy of tho valley, val-ley, tho violet, etc., could bo produced prod-uced through tho same marvelous agency. Similarly, sclonco has finally fin-ally dispensed with tho Bilk worm; the production o. synthetical Bilk of' beautiful texture 1b another feat of the chemist and tho process is being perfected every yoar. The manufacture manufac-ture of drugs Invaluable to tho medical med-ical world Is now engrossing tho synthetic syn-thetic chomlst.1 There la no limit to tho possibilities. |