chloroform did much to alleviate suffering particularly during the early period of anesthetic use. I t was especially useful in battlefield conditions hecause it requires a lower dosage and is less volatile than ether. Indeed, during the American Civil. War over one and a half million pounds of chloroform were used in treating sick and wounded soldiers (24). Thus, this simple chemical which most chemists think of only as a solvent played a very important role in the development of the medical field of anesthetics. Literature Cited
sentiallv eitahlished the grw~ndworkforrhem~calrllucation island and on Nuvemtwr 8, I848 he founded the Cuhan Institute of Chemical Research. The latter was quite a fete for Cuba, considering the fact that the traditional centers for higher education in Spanish America were concentrated mainly in Mexico and Colombia. Casaseca played an important role in the industrial and economic development of Cuha. In addition to his original research in sugar cane cultivation and sugar chemistry he translated many useful essays and books and wrote numerous articles in Deriodicak like La Cioilizacdn. Analm d~ in J u n m 011 the
(1) Simpson. J.Y.."ArraullnfaNevAnaestheticA~enta.aSubstitut.for SulphurieEther in Surgery and Midwifery," 2nd Amer. Ed.. Rushton. Clark & Co.. New York.
1848. 121 Parlington, .J. R.;A ' History of Chemistry."Vol. IV. MacMillan & Co. Ud. London, 1964, p. 358.
13) Bcttmann. Oflo I... "A Pietarial History of Medicine:' Charlw C Thomas Co.. Sprinsfield. Illinois. 1356. p. 257. 141 Clondening, lagan. ''Source Bmk on Medical History," Dover Publications. be., New
16) Guthrie.Ssmuel.Am. J. &i. 21.64 118321. 171 1.iebig.J. van. Ann. Chem., 1.189 118321. 181 Soubeiran. Eugene.Ann Chim. lPsrisl.48,131 118311. I91 Pawlin& JR.. "Dr. Samuel Guthria, Discoverer of Chloroform." Rrewster Preaa.
Watertown. N.Y.. 1947.o.42. (10) Duma%.J.P., Ann. ~him.'i~aris),Sfi. 11311PA41, (111 Reference 191.o. 44.
1161 B u r g e r . ~ l f r e d : ~ h r mEw. . NPUIS.53 138),87 119751. 117) Reference (l41.p.M. 118) Gordon. H. I,.."Sir Jmes Ywng Simpaon and Chlomfom," T. &her UnMn, Landon,
1897.p. Ilfi.
(241 Reference 19).p. 49.
Jose Luis Casaseca: Founder of the Cuban Institute of Chemical Research Lavinel G. Ioneseu University of Detroit Detroit, Michigan 48221 Joseph A. Sehufle New Mexico Highlands Iiniuersity Las Vegas, 87701 Jose Luis Casaseca was born in Salamanca, Spain about 1790. He was one of the outstanding Spanish chemists of the nineteenth century, and he contributed significantly to the development of chemistry. chemical education, and the sugar industry in Cuba. Casaseca studied chemistry in Madrid and in Paris and established himself as an energetic and successful researcher early in his career. For example, he discovered sulfates in the soda ash deposits in the outskirts of Madrid and studied their properties and uses and was the first to extract suberone, a ketone found in the hark of the cork tree. He came to Cuba in 1825 with the specific m~ssiouto improve the sugar industry and to train sugar chemists. He remained in Cuha for prolonged periods of time, the longest one being from 1825 to 1841, hut his stays were interrwted by many trips back to Europe. It appears that he made a t least four voyages back and forth across the Atlantic. Casaseca es-
member of the Economic Society of F:iends of the Land (Sociedad Econornica de Amigos del Pars), an organization dedicated to the propagation of science and to economic progress in Spain and mans Darts of S ~ a n i s hAmerica. I t is interesting to look at>& Luis C&aseca's mission from an economic viewpoint. Cuba, the Pearl of the Antilles. was m e o f the richest i&wincetiofthc Span~shEmpireat the iimt*, and sugar was 11smost important i)ndurt. T h r cultivation of sugar cane was a matter-that had long been considered of primary significance by the Spanish House of Trade (Casa d e Contrataci6n). In fact, the formal beginning of the Cuban sugar industry was marked by the Crown Loan of Philip I1 in 1590. The 1800's, on the other hand, witnessed the development of full-fledged sugar industry with large refining centers in the large ports of Western Europe and in New Orleans and Havana. suenr Casaseca ~ u b l i s h e dnumerous books and reoorts on ~ - -- ~ cane cultivation, sugar chemistry, and technology. Some of the more important ones are the following: "On the Need to Improve Sugar Processing in the Island of Cuha," Paris, 1842; "Research on the Com~ositionof Suear Cane Cultivated in the Island of Cuba," paris, 1844; "On ihe Processing of Sugar in the Colonies and the New Instruments Designed to Improve It," 1844; "On the Varieties of Sugar Cane Cultivated in Cuba," Havana, 1849; "Report on the Study for Substituting New Reagents for Calcium Oxide in Sugar Processing," Havana, 1850, and "Report on Current Processing Techniques and the Yield of Sugar Cane and Sugar in the Cuban Sugar Industry," Havana, 18.51. One of Casaseca's best known disciples was Alvaro Reynoso, father of Cuhan sugar technology. Early in his formal education, Reynoso was a student of Jose Luis Casaseca in the Colegio Carraguao in Havana. Later, he continued his studies in France and obtained a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Paris in 1854. Reynoso was widely respected in the scientific centers of Europe, especially for his w&k on the physical and chemical properties of chloroform and the extraction of iodine, Upon his return to Cuba in 1857, Alvaro Reynoso was h ~~ ~~ ~toi ~l ~i ~t ~dof~the ~ named to the chair of ~ University of Havana. He dedicated himself mainly to the advancement of chemical education, the introduction of new methods in the cultivation of sugar cane, the modernization of the production of sugar, the chemistry and technology of sugar, and the improvement of the lot of the Cuban farmer, 1, addition to writing many hooks and articles on the above subjects, Reynoso also invented a device for the extraction of sugar,
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Condensed in part from a paper presented by LGI at the First Chemical Congress of the North ~~~~i~~~ Continent, symposium on "1,atin Am~rieanChemistrv." Mexico City, November 30-Decemher 6.1975.
Volume 55. Number 9. September 1978 / 583
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