Loius Enricht

October 5th, 2006

Louis Enricht (b. ?1844) was a US chemist who announced in 1916 that he had invented a substitute for gasoline using a secret substance mixed with ordinary tap water. Holding a press conference in Farmingdale, Long Island, he poured a green fluid into a bucket of water and filled the car with this solution. When started, the car emitted a strong odour of almonds. Enricht explained the smell was due to cyanide but would reveal no more about the formula.Enricht attracted millions of dollars of investment, Henry Ford allegedly offered to buy the formula. One investor, a banker named Yoakum, paid $100,000 for a sealed envelope supposedly containing the formula. Upon hearing a rumour that Enricht was a German spy, he broke the contract by opening the envelope, revealing only a few dollars worth of Liberty bonds. Yoakum tried, and failed, to have Enricht charged with treason.

Four years after his original announcement, Enricht proclaimed he was now able to distil gasoline from peat, and sought more investors. This time, the Nassau County district attorney decided to investigate Enricht. An examination of Enricht’s bank records showed that he had gambled away all of his investors’ money. Enricht was sentenced to seven years for grand larceny, dying a few years later on parole.

The exact composition of Enricht’s Solution are unknown, but it is likely that it was primarily nail polish remover and liquid acetylene, a mixture that could run an engine temporarily but was far more expensive than gasoline. The cyanide was used to mask the tell-tale smell of the acetone.

Entry Filed under: Bad Scientists

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