Yet for several thousand years mankind took to the first and
let the second for the most part escape into the air. But when the
chemist appeared on the scene he discovered a way of separating the two
and bottling the harmless one for those who prefer it. An increasing
number of people were found to prefer it, so the American soda-water
fountain is gradually driving Demon Rum out of the civilized world. The
brewer nowadays caters to two classes of customers. He bottles up the
beer with the alcohol and a little carbonic acid in it for the saloon
and he catches the rest of the carbonic acid that he used to waste and
sells it to the drug stores for soda-water or uses it to charge some
non-alcoholic beer of his own.
This catering to rival trades is not an uncommon thing with the chemist.
As we have seen, the synthetic perfumes are used to improve the natural
perfumes. Cottonseed is separated into oil and meal; the oil going to
make margarin and the meal going to feed the cows that produce butter.
Some people have been drinking coffee, although they do not like the
taste of it, because they want the stimulating effect of its alkaloid,
caffein.
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