CHAPTER IV 



THE ORIGINAL FORMATION OF 

 THE SIMPLER ORGANIC SUBSTANCES 



The question of the original formation 

 of organic substances. 



As a starting point for the study of the stages in the develop- 

 ment of matter which led at some time to tlie emergence of 

 life on the Earth, it seems best to begin by attacking the 

 problem of the original formation on our planet of the 

 simplest organic substances. Without these, life, as we know 

 it, is impossible and inconceivable.* All living beings, with- 

 out exception, have these substances as their basis. Moreover 

 metabolism, a phenomenon especially characteristic of life, 

 consists essentially of conversions involving organic com- 

 pounds. The very term ' organic substances ' was introduced 

 into the vocabulary of science because it expresses so well the 

 intimate relationship between these substances and living 

 organisms. 



The famous S'^vedish scientist J. J. Berzelius,^ when defin- 

 ing organic substances in 1827, stated that this class of 

 substances can only be formed in living organisms under 

 the influence of the special ' life force ' which there prevails. 

 But this incorrect and idealistic view was dispro\ed by 

 Berzelius' contemporary and pupil F. Wohler^ who syn- 

 thesised first oxalic acid and then urea under laboratory 

 conditions without the participation of living beings. 



After Wohler, syntheses of many diverse and sometimes 

 quite complicated organic compounds were carried out by 

 Kolbe, Butlerov and, especially, by M. Berthelot, who 

 was the first to prepare such compounds starting from their 

 component elements.* These and many other chemists 



* There was at one time an exchange of opinions both in scientific and 

 popular ^vritingsi as to whether organisms formed from silicon com- 

 pounds could exist. This is no more than speculation, having neither 

 a factual nor a theoretical basis. — Author. 



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