Hedin's travels in Central Asia, which have had such important results
and made his works so widely read--all these were undertaken as
the result of such aid. The latest case in point, Alfred Nobel's
foundation of annual prizes for the reward of scientific discovery, of
literary merit, and humanitarian endeavor, deserves special notice.
The annual distribution of these prizes, each of which represents a
small fortune ($41,500), has of late years fixed the attention of the
learned world on the Swedish literary and scientific bodies, and the
Norwegian Parliamentary Committee, who were entrusted by him with the
difficult and invidious task of awarding them.

Alfred Nobel, the dynamite king, as he was styled, belonged to a
family of inventors and industrial magnates. His father, Emmanuel
Nobel, was the inventor of nitroglycerine, and of fixed submarine
torpedoes or mines. His two brothers, Robert and Louis Nobel, founded
the naptha and petroleum works at Bacou, one of the largest industrial
enterprises of Russia. Alfred himself invented dynamite and dynamite
gum, and a smokeless powder, ballistite, which he patented in 1867,
1876, and 1889. It is mainly due to the works of the Nobel family that
Sweden has attained the reputation of Master Producer of Explosives.
Chemical research has always been a specialty among Swedish men of
science, and a large number of the known chemical elements were
discovered and made known by Swedish scientists.

In 1876, Alfred Nobel had perfected his invention of dynamite gum. He
went to Paris with his patented invention, and there formed a company
with a capital of ten million francs for the manufacture of dynamite.
It proved to be an article of the greatest industrial importance, and
one destined to revolutionize mining and engineering. Erelong he had
established extensive works in France, Scotland, Germany, Belgium,