4^6  The  Chemical  Industry  of  Germany.   { ^sfcfsT*' 
The  large  portion  of  pyroligneous  acid  is  indebted  to  the  very  important  extension 
of  the  industries  connected  with  the  distillation  of  wood.  The  large  consumption 
of  methyl-alcohol  by  the  anilin-color  works,  and  the  constantly  increasing 
demands  for  acetic  acid  and  its  salts  by  the  technical  industries  have  occasioned  the 
utilization  of  the  relatively  large  forests  of  Germany  to  appear  all  at  once  so  very 
profitable  in  this  respect  that  such  works  have  sprung  up  like  mushrooms.  On 
account  of  the  decrease  in  anilin-color  production,  the  demand  causing  an  excessive 
production  has  weakened,  so  that  this  branch  of  industry  at  the  present  moment 
suffers  severely.  This  is  shown  especially  in  the  case  of  acetic  acid  by  its  unpre- 
cedented fall  in  price.  "  -    -  '  J  •••    ;   '  ... 
We  may  calculate  the  production  of  iod  per  cent,  rnethyl-alcohol  in  the  years 
1872  and  1873  as  at  least  1,320,000  to  1,540,000  lbs.  per  year  corresponding  to 
about  5,280,000  lbs.  of  100  per  cent,  pyroligneous  acid;  certainly  a  large  quantity, 
and  which,  in  conjunction  with  the  acetic  acid  produced  from  alcohol,  far  exceeds 
the  demands  of  Germany. 
Apart  from  the  productions  of  the  proper  chemical  major-industry,  lies  the 
manufacture  of  a  great  number  of  pharmaceutical-technological '  and  scientific  chemical 
substances,  which  we  cannot  properly  pass  by  in  silence,  since  it  is  especially  this 
manufacture  which  has  been  brought  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection  in  Germany. 
This  agrees  particularly  with  the  considerations  already  introduced  at  the  beginning, 
that  the  high  perfection  which  the  study  of  chemistry  in  general  has  attained  in 
Germany  has  made  this  branch  of  industry,  demanding  relatively  the  largest 
amount  of  chemical  knowledge,  capable  of  competing  with  any  of  the  foreign 
manufactures. 
Concerning  the  extent  of  their  production,  the  amount  is  far  outweighed  by  the 
value  of  the  products,  so  that  a  not  inconsiderable  number  of  them,  as  respects 
their  sale,  may  be  classed  among  the  products  of  the  chemical  major-industry. 
From  the  field  of  inorganic  chemistry,  we  shall  only  refer  to  those  of  the  great  num- 
iber  of  acids  and  salts  which  are  used  in  pharmacy. 
The  dyeing,  printing,  galvano-plastic,  and  pyrotechnical  establishments,  in  short 
a  large  number  of  technological  industries,  make  the  discoveries  of  science  useful 
to  their  purposes,  and  even  of  the  rare  metals  but  few  can  be  named  which  as  such, 
or  as  some  of  their  compounds,  find  no  application  in  technology.  To  see  their 
Way  in  this  enormous  labyrinth,  to  have  a  knowledge  of  the  wants  of  the  day,  to 
keep  an  open  eye  and  ear  for  every  novelty,  is  the  task  of  these  establishments. 
Owing  to  the  daily  increasing  material,  divisions  have  taken  place  within  the  chem- 
iical  minor-industry.  The  organic  has  not  only  separated  itself  from  the  inorganic, 
ibut  is  itself  split  asunder  in  all  directions. 
In  regard  to  the  field  of  organic  chemistry,  the  front  place  is  held  by  manufac- 
tories producing  alkaloids.  The  difficulty  of  overlooking  the  drug-market,  com- 
bined with  the  extraordinary  variations  in  price,  according  to  the  results  of  the 
harvest  of  many  drugs,  as  opium,  cinchona,  etc.,  make  a  careful  observance  of  the 
market  a  necessary  condition,  and  hence  it  was  in  this  department  that  a  division 
of  labor  was  first  perfected. 
We  find  in  Germany  a  whole  series  of  manufactories  occupied  exclusively  with 
the  production  of  alkaloids.    Unfortunately  the  statistical  material  at  our  disposal 
