ARTIFICIAL PREPARATION OF ORGANIC BODIES. 731 



out reference to the liistorical order, a few of the achievements of 

 chemists, which have from time to time astonished and delighted the 

 svorld, may here be briefly noted. Among vegetable products are 

 oxalic acid, which was formed directly from carbonic acid, a combina- 

 tion of two carbon-atoms being necessary in the process ; valeric acid, 

 containing five carbon-atoms ; malic acid, with four carbon-atoms, one 

 of the most widely-distributed acids of the vegetable kingdom, being 

 contained in a large number of unripe fruits ; cinnamic acid, contain- 

 ing nine atoms of carbon ; tartaric acid, the acid of grape-juice. Win- 

 tergreen oil, obtained from Gaultheria procumhens^ has been found to 

 consist mainly of an organic ether, which can be, and has been, pre- 

 pared artificially. The oil of garlic {Allium sativum) contains car- 

 bon, hydrogen, and sulphur. It can be prepared with all its proper- 

 ties without the plant. The oil of mustard, with its peculiar arrange- 

 ment of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulphur, is now manufactured 

 on the large scale by a patented process, the mustard-plant being out- 

 rivaled by the chemist. The deadly poison conine, and the beautiful 

 colors alizarine and indigo, finally, belong in the same list. In regard 

 to alizarine or Turkey-red, it may be remarked that the discovery of 

 the methods for its artificial preparation has led to the establishment 

 of an important branch of indiistry of far-reaching influence. It is 

 doubtful, however, whether as much will ever be said concerning the 

 preparation of indigo. Among animal products that have yielded up 

 the secrets of their internal structure to the chemist are the simple 

 fats and the lactic acids. In a great many portions of the animal or- 

 ganism, as the brain, pancreas, liver, lungs, the thyroid and thymoid 

 glands, is found a substance, containing six atoms of carbon, which 

 has been called leucine. This substance is also a frequent product of 

 the decomposition of organic bodies. Leucine is obtained more readily 

 by artificial means than it can be extracted from the tissues in which 

 it exists ready formed. A constant ingredient of the juice of flesh 

 is creatine ; and one of the products of decomposition of creatine is 

 sarcosine. Both creatine and sarcosine can be constructed from the 

 elements by purely chemical processes. Taurine, which occurs in the 

 bile, in the contents of the alimentary canal, in the lung-tissue and 

 the kidneys, and contains carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and 

 sulphui-, can be prepared by a very simple process. 



These examples sufiice to indicate the character of the results al- 

 readv achieved, and furnish justification for the hope now entertained 

 by chemists that in good time it will be possible to produce all chemi- 

 cal substances in the laboratory. No one who has given the subject 

 a sufficient amount of attention to enable him to form an opinion can 

 for a moment feel a doubt on this subject. 



The old dogma no longer exists. There are those who sigh at its 

 death ; who consider that the sacrilegious step of Science which anni- 

 hilated it has, in some way, tended to lessen the mystery of life, and 



