The quantitative applications of the new science of chemistry had important significance for the state economy. The exploitation of beet sugar, for example, was developed with the boycott of English trade in mind. From the publication of
Franz Achard's letter on beet sugar in
Annales de chimie et de physique (Bruxelles:Van Mons, 1799) and the first presentation of a sample to Napoleon during a session of the First Class of the Institute (June 25, 1800) till the first viable production by
Jules Paul Benjamin Delessert in 1812, the subject was one of the scientific priorities in France (see also:
Joseph Proust on grape sugar). The industrial fabrication of
dye from home grown
indigo plant (distinct from
woad) at
Toulouse was a direct heritage from the "Institut d'Egypte." Mathematical instruments were a special favourite with Napoleon, and were often awarded medals at the industrial fairs held at the instigation of
Chaptal. Members of the Society of Arcueil were frequently invited to judge on such occasions. In 1806, at the third exhibition in the series, some 1.400 participants attended; up from 220 in 1801. Special attention was given to
textile printing adapted by Christophe Oberkampf and his nephew Samuel Widmer with the introduction of
roller instead of
block printing. This particular industrial process integrated the
bleaching by
chlorine (eau de javel) invented by Berthollet, as well as the application of new dyeing methods (Samuel Widmers invention of a solid green dye). In 1806 Oberkampf's factory printed fabrics at the rate of 7,5 metres a minute, a viable alternative to English import. Laplace and Monge were also instructed to supervise
Robert Fulton's experiments with the
Nautilus (1800),subsidized in France. Following
Volta's visit to Paris in 1801 important work on the
Voltaic pile, involving the Arcueil circle, was carried out under Bonaparte's auspices rewarding
Paul Erman,
Humphry Davy,
Gay-Lussac and
Louis Jacques Thenard in the process. The scientific work in general was of first importance to the education at the
Ecole Polytechnique, the home base of many Arcueil scientists. The enhancing of the quality of
iron and
steel, with Collet-Descotils -the precursor in the discovery of
iridium- in charge as chief engineer at the "
Ecole des Mines", and above all the development of
gunpowder were of prime military significance. The French expertise in
explosives was well judged by the Allies when later they dispatched
Jöns Jacob Berzelius to Paris to update general knowledge. In 1819 he spent two full months as a guest of Berthollet in the laboratory at Arcueil experimenting, but above all sounding
Pierre Dulong whose memoir on a new detonating substance (
nitrogen trichloride) had appeared in the 1817 volume of'' "Mémoires de Physique et de Chimie de la Société d'Arcueil"'' (
André-Marie Ampère had already briefed
Humphry Davy on prior stages (1811-1813) of Dulong's invention). =="
Memoires..."==