PROGRESS IN NINETEENTH CENTURY 225 



perhaps also the physical regularities pointed out by Kopp, turned 

 the current of research into a new channel. Substances that could be 

 arranged in series, with progressive differences in composition and 

 properties, were evidently worth examining; a compound radicle 

 was, in its way, as fascinating an object of study as a new element; 

 the possibilities of substitution and the marvelous chemical plasticity 

 of organic matter were noted, and all of these considerations worked 

 together in effecting a transformation of chemical thought. Organic 

 chemistry became the fashion, and for nearly fifty years it was the 

 central subject of research. 



Before entering upon this new period, let us go back and examine 

 the conditions under which progress had previously been made. 

 How was the work done, and what impulses urged it forward? What 

 purposes, what demands, what encouragement, led chemists to pursue 

 their labors? At first, chemistry was a branch of the older natural 

 philosophy, and the discovery of natural laws, the reaching after 

 truth for its own sake, was the chief aim of investigators. These, as 

 a rule, were individuals, working independently, each on his own 

 resources, and without thought of practical results. Science and 

 industry were as yet unallied; chemistry had but a small part in 

 schemes of education; institutions for the aid of research were few, 

 and those which did exist were scantily endowed. Davy, to be sure, 

 had the Royal Institution behind him, and. in it he discovered 

 Faraday; Berzelius was secretary of the Academy at Stockholm; 

 but these were exceptional cases, and not by any means the rule. 

 Personal initiative and voluntary effort were almost the sole agencies 

 at work. The great discoveries were made by amateurs, by men who 

 among other labors found some leisure in which to study; and only 

 the occasional man like Cavendish, with ample means, could give his 

 whole time to research. Priestley was a clergyman; Scheele an 

 apothecary; Lavoisier a public official, and these are typical examples. 

 The impulse to investigate came from within, uninfluenced by thought 

 of profit or by any manner of external compulsion. An inspiration, 

 not the pressure of a duty, drove our predecessors forward. 



By degrees, however, chemistry was found to be useful, and the 

 commercial demand for chemical services began. Manufacturers 

 discovered that processes and products could be improved, and that 

 waste material had value; metallurgy developed along chemical 

 lines, medicine gained new remedies, and agriculture was turned from 

 its traditional empiricism into scientific courses. A new set of im- 

 pulses was given to chemistry, and many of its practitioners became 

 professional in expectation of material profit and reward. The field 

 of research was widened, and civilization was thereby advanced. 

 Chemistry was not merely a philosophical amusement, but an agent for 

 "the betterment of man's estate;" and so a double motive existed 



