John W. Langley

“ It is known that all vegetable matter is derived primarily from carbonic acid, water, and ammonia, under the influence of the sun's rays, but the method by which this is done is still a mystery; a mystery, though, which may be cleared away, for very recently most interesting experiments have been made on the chemical action of light. All we know about vegetable chemistry with certainty is, that, whatever are the processes occurring in living tissue, most of them, in their earlier stages, are radically different from those of art. ”

“ CHEMISTRY has been called the analytical science, and undoubtedly with justice in the past, since the most exact processes with which it deals are still those which go technically by the name of analysis; but, of recent years, the arts have been enriched by many perfumes, colors, and drugs, which are the results of careful and laborious construction on the part of the manufacturer, operating under chemical laws. Gradually there has arisen a new branch of the science, whose aim is to produce artificially new compounds out of old material ”

“ To raise a weight from the ground, to make water run up-hill, or to generate heat by friction, are all processes which require the expenditure of effort and material substance, if we would perform them ourselves. So in Nature, this form of synthesis is never accomplished without the expenditure of energy from some source. In the vegetable, the power comes directly from the sun, and the world in summer is colder and less brilliant (by an infinitesimal amount, it is true) , because of that growth of leaves and wood which in the winter we reconvert into heat and light in our stoves ”

“ In the laboratory, synthesis starts with the elements, and from them, by exceedingly wasteful means, builds laboriously, from platform to platform, up to the desired height. On the other hand, the smallest speck of green vegetable tissue, if living, elaborates its substance, not from elementary bodies, but from compound ones, and those too which are among the most stable and most highly-oxidized known; each new step, then, in the artificial method, tends to carry us away, rather than to approximate us to the natural agent. ”

“ So far as the evidence of experience goes, there seems no limit to the possible production of organic bodies which possess a definite chemical structure, at least of those which have the power of crystallizing, for the number, even now beyond the powers of an ordinary memory, is constantly increasing in an accelerating ratio, and already, as has been referred to, in some instances exceeds the range of Nature herself. ”

“ Now, in the world there are vast numbers of distinct compounds, some of which have a simple and others a complex structure; it is found, by long experience, that there is a general disposition on the part of these substances to pass from the state of feebly-united units to that of great fixity; thus, wood, which is composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen principally, burns in the air into two stable and incombustible bodies, carbonic acid and water; and, in so doing, evolves a large amount of heat. ”

“ A new set of forces apparently comes into play, and whether we say this new agent is vital force, or prefer to hold fast to scientific accumulations of facts and methods of thought, and regard the new mystery as but the result of new or changed conditions, it is equally evident that the province of pure chemistry ceases, for this limit was long ago self-assigned by the science, and indeed exists in a latent form in all its definitions. ”

“ The chemist starts from the ground, and completes the edifice by piling up one by one, the elementary bricks, and binding them together by the natural cement of atomic attraction. The living organism begins its labors at the top, and chiefly from the three firmly-knit compounds, water, carbonic acid, and ammonia, builds, by infinite gradation, down to an elementary foundation ”

“ Most cases of synthesis take place with great facility, automatically in fact, for, when coal is burned, we start the fire, and after that the oxygen and carbon unite to form carbonic acid, without any further effort on our part. ”

“ To raise a body into a state so that it contains within itself force in a potential form, and so as to be able to liberate this force spontaneously, when certain conditions are fulfilled, is an operation opposed to the general tendencies of the material world, and directly contrary to what may be called the habits of non-vitalized matter. ”

“ In this sense the artificial processes may be said to surpass the natural ones; for man is able to add many individuals to a series of which Nature presents us with only scattered terms; and, in addition, in this particular group, he is able to form some of the natural members, such as wine alcohol and glycerine, by a direct process of construction, starting with the free elements, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The method is briefly as follows: Carbon, in the form of black-lead, and therefore strictly a mineral substance, is heated intensely between the poles of a galvanic battery ”

“ It is not the object of this paper to take sides on a question which is still a matter of debate; and, in regard to vital force, it has only to chronicle here some of the steps by which bodies, hitherto solely evolved by the action of living matter, may now, under the guidance of the human intellect, and by the instrumentality of physical forces, be formed artificially at will. ”

“ It is a sort of debatable land, for, though it is yet unknown, there is not the slightest proof that we shall not cross it some day, and possibly soon; and already the space is inhabited by speculations and embryonic theories, those shadowy precursors of substantial knowledge. ”

“ To do this, carbon, say a bit of charcoal or coke, is heated in a limited supply of air, and the result is carbonic oxide; this gas, if exposed for a long time over caustic potash, combines with it, and this product, if distilled with oil of vitriol, yields formic acid. Thus the body has been formed without any thing having been used which is the product of life. ”

“ Neither of these final products, so formed, can in any way be caused to evolve a further amount of energy, without bringing in the aid of external matter; dynamically, they are dead, as physiologically an animal is, when no longer capable of movement. ”